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Cognitive Functioning of Children with Severe Intellectual Disabilities and Children with Deafblindness: A Study of the Perceptions of Teachers and Parents in the USA and India
Author(s) -
Narayan Jayanthi,
Bruce Susan M.,
Bhandari Reena,
Kolli Padmavathi
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of applied research in intellectual disabilities
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.056
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1468-3148
pISSN - 1360-2322
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-3148.2009.00529.x
Subject(s) - psychology , globe , perception , narrative , developmental psychology , typically developing , intellectual disability , space (punctuation) , medical education , medicine , autism , psychiatry , linguistics , philosophy , neuroscience
Background Teachers and parents play a very important role in providing valuable information for the assessment of children with severe disabilities. The needs of children, educational goals, and parental aspirations are similar irrespective of the part of the globe they live in. This study focused on the perceptions of teachers and parents of children with severe intellectual disability and children with deafblindness in the USA and India. Method A total of 125 teachers and parents from both countries formed the participants for the study. A questionnaire of 13 yes/no items with space for narrative comments was administered to participants. Results Analysis of the yes/no questions revealed that many of the perceptions of the participants were similar in both countries. Furthermore, the examples cited in the narrative were also similar across both countries. The teachers in this study tended to credit performance more readily than parents and teachers were more likely to report emerging skills and teaching strategies. The narratives highlighted the importance of functional assessment in the child’s natural environment over time to most fully capture the child’s present abilities and potential. Conclusions While detailed study with larger samples is necessary, the present study implies that it may be possible to develop assessment tools that can be used across countries for educational planning.