Objective: Parents’ positive attitudes and psychological wellbeing play an important role in the development of the children with developmental disability. This study aimed to measure the prevalence of psychological problems among mothers of children with autism disorder, intellectual disability, and Down syndrome. The second aim was to assess the differences in mothers’ attitudes and psychological problems among their children with intellectual disability, autism disorder, and Down syndrome. The third aim was to identify whether negative attitude was a predictor of psychological problems in these mothers.
Methods: In this study, 112 mothers of children having mild and moderate levels of autism disorder, Down syndrome, and intellectual disability were assessed using the Parental Attitude Scale and General Health Questionnaire–28.
Results: Overall, mothers of children with intellectual disability were found to have the most negative attitude towards their child. Mothers of children with autism disorder exhibited higher scores on somatic symptoms, anxiety, and social dysfunction when compared with their counterparts with Down syndrome and intellectual disability. Negative attitude was a significant predictor of psychological problems.
Conclusion: Parental attitudes and psychological problems would vary among mothers of children with different types of developmental disability.
Key words: Autistic disorder; Down syndrome; Intellectual disability; Mothers
Compared with US or European countries, there are fewer mental health services for mothers of children with developmental disabilities in Latin American and/or Southeast Asian countries.
The aim of this study was to explore the assessment, intervention, and family-centred practices of Malaysian and Australian speech-language pathologists (SLPs) when working with children with developmental disabilities who are pre-symbolic. A questionnaire was developed for the study, which was completed by 65 SLPs from Malaysia and 157 SLPs from Australia. Data reduction techniques were used prior to comparison of responses across questionnaire items. Results indicated that SLPs relied mostly on informal assessments. Malaysian and Australian SLPs differed significantly in terms of obtaining information from outside the clinic to inform assessment. When providing intervention, SLPs focused mostly on improving children's pre-verbal skills. A third of Australian SLPs listed the introduction of some form of symbolic communication as an early intervention goal, compared to only a small percentage of Malaysian SLPs. Regarding family involvement, SLPs most often involved mothers, with fathers and siblings being involved to a lesser extent. Overall, it appeared that practices of Malaysian SLPs had been influenced by developments in research, although there were some areas of service delivery that continued to rely on traditional models. Factors leading to similarities and differences in practice of SLPs from both countries as well as clinical and research implications of the study are discussed.
While there is a growing body of literature in the quality of life of families that include children with disabilities, the majority of research has been conducted in western countries. The present study provides an initial exploration of the quality of life of Malaysian families that include children with developmental/intellectual disabilities. Dynamics characterising Malaysian society are described as developments in social policy and service delivery that support persons with disabilities and their families.
This study determined the accuracy of Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT) in detecting toddlers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other developmental disorders (DD) in community mother and child health clinics. We analysed 19,297 eligible toddlers (15-36 months) who had M-CHAT performed in 2006-2011. Overall sensitivities for detecting ASD and all DD were poor but better in the 21 to <27 months and 27-36-month age cohorts (54.5-64.3%). Although positive predictive value (PPV) was poor for ASD, especially the younger cohort, positive M-CHAT helped in detecting all DD (PPV = 81.6%). This suggested M-CHAT for screening ASD was accurate for older cohorts (>21 months) and a useful screening tool for all DD.