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Second-order mental state attribution in two groups of children with non-specific intellectual disability and Down syndrome was investigated. The children were compared to overall mental age-matched group of typically developing children. The aim of the present study was to determine the specificity of the theory of mind deficit to different groups of children with intellectual disability. The results clearly showed that children with Down syndrome performed more poorly than the children with non-specific intellectual disability, and that typically developing children perform significantly better than do other groups. The findings are discussed in terms of the specificity of the etiology-related profiles of intellectually disabled groups. Several critical issues related to intervention strategies in the field of intellectual disability are also discussed, considering the educational practices.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between the Test of Detection and Investigation of Attention and Concentration, the Test of Executive Function (Simos et al., 2007a,b) and the Test of Psychosocial Adjustment and Self-Report Scale (Hatzichristou et al., 2007), in a sample of 44 Greek 5 th grade students with writing disabilities. The results in our study indicated that there were significant Pearson correlations ranged from 0.39 to 0.43 between cognitive, academic and social factors. Additionally, regression analysis indicated that certain scales of the Test of Attention and Concentration have predictive power to emotional sufficiency (t = 2.001, p < 0.05) and academic self-concept (t = 2.072, p < 0.05). Further implications of these findings for a schoolbased neuropsychological evaluation and planning of individualized educational interventions are discussed.

Written language is a difficult endeavour as the demands of transcription require self-regulatory skills from a motor, cognitive and attention perspective. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relation between the Test of Writing Difficulties (Porpodas et al., 2007) and the Test of Detection and Investigation of Executive Functions (Simos et al., 2007) in a sample of 50 Greekspeaking, 5th-grade students with writing disabilities. The results of our study indicated that there were significant Pearson correlations ranging from .35 to .44 between executive functions and written expression. Furthermore, regression analysis showed that the subscales of the Test of Executive Functions had significant predictive power for spelling correctness and correction of jumbled sentences. Further implications of these findings for a school-based neuropsychological evaluation and planning of individualised educational interventions are discussed.

<p>Although deaf role model projects have existed for some time and their benefits and outcomes for deaf children/young people and their parents have been recorded, almost no attention has been paid to the experiences of the deaf people who take on these roles. Additionally, the experiences of being a deaf role model have been little explored in the literature. This paper explores available literature on role models for supporting families of deaf children and hearing practitioners. Most deaf people (about 95%), all over the world, have hearing parents and do not meet deaf adults and sign language before the age that formal primary education starts. The majority of hearing parents do not come in touch with deafness even after their child is diagnosed of being deaf. But it’s really crucial for families to have resources that allow them to help their child develop language and have full interaction with their family. Additionally, deaf role models can play a vital role in the development of deaf children’s knowledge, skills, and perceptions. Further work would be also required to understand the longer-term benefits and further developments that deaf role models may wish to initiate.</p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0909/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>