PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to measure the effect of hippotherapy on functional outcomes using the Goal Attainment Scale (GAS) for children with physical disabilities. METHODS Participants included 4 children aged 5 to 9 years with physical impairments and/or documented motor delays. Individual measurable objectives were developed using the GAS for each child. Data were collected on...

BACKGROUND Although not widely recognized as such, asthma is the single most prevalent cause of childhood disability and has contributed to a substantial rise in the overall prevalence of disability among children during the past 25 years. OBJECTIVE To provide a national profile of the prevalence, impact, and trends in childhood disability due to asthma. (Disability is a long-term reduction i...

Although a large body of literature exists supporting the relationship between positive parenting and child outcomes for typically developing children, there are reasons to analyze separately the relevant literature specific to children with developmental disabilities. However, that literature has not been synthesized in any systematic review. This study examined the association between positiv...

Different types of software applications for mentally disabled persons are presented here, with their advantages and drawbacks. The specification of an authoring system is emphasized in this paper, as work is currently in progress to develop such a system in our university.

Provision of 'key workers' for disabled children and their families, working across health, education, and social services, has been recommended in the Children's National Service Framework. This study investigated the views of staff of key worker services concerning the organisation and management of the services. Interviews were carried out with key workers (N=50), managers (N=7) and members ...

Questionnaires were mailed to families of children with multiple disabilities to investigate whether differences in parental perception of stress and burden of care could be identified in those families who had previously been reported and substantiated as abusive or neglectful as compared to those families who had not been so reported. Two hundred and fifty-seven parents completed Friedrich's ...

This study examined communication interaction patterns when one sibling had a developmental disability as well as the role of communication skills in sibling relationship quality. Thirty sibling dyads were categorized into one of three communication status groups: emerging, context-dependent, and independent communicators. Independent communicators and their siblings did not differ in terms of ...

This paper provides an overview of the evolution of occupational therapy in public school systems. The focus of this history is the passage and implementation of the laws mandating service provision to children with disabilities and a cursory examination of the social, political, and economic currents that have influenced that service provision. An effort was made to cull the most salient issue...

The 21st century is witnessing a sea change in our thinking about 'disability'. Nowhere are these developments more apparent than in the field of childhood disability, where traditional biomedical concepts are being incorporated into--but expanded considerably by--new ways of formulating ideas about children, child development, social-ecological forces in the lives of children with chronic cond...