Development of a New Attention Rating Scale for Children With Intellectual Disability: The Scale of Attention in Intellectual Disability (SAID)

Abstract Difficulties with attention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity are thought to be as common among children with intellectual disability (ID) as they are in children without ID. Despite this, there is a lack of scales to specifically assess ADHD symptomatology in children and adolescents with ID. This article describes the development and evaluation of a teacher-completed measure; the Scale of Attention in Intellectual Disability (SAID). A community survey of 176 teachers of children 5–13 years of age, with ID at all levels of impairment indicated that the T-SAID is a reliable and valid measure. Integrating this scale with neuropsychological and clinical research holds exciting promise for enhancing our understanding of the nature of attention difficulties within populations with ID.

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Music Therapy in Enhancing Learning Attention of Children with Intellectual Disability

Journal of Intellectual Disability - Diagnosis and Treatment ◽

10.6000/2292-2598.2021.09.04.2 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 363-367

Author(s):

Akintunde Oluseyi Dada ◽

Owoade Philip Adeleke ◽

Samson Akinwumi Aderibigbe ◽

Michael Adeife Adefemi ◽

Martina Ayibeya Apie ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Intellectual Disability ◽

Music Therapy ◽

Intellectual Disabilities ◽

Rating Scale ◽

Home School ◽

Analysis Of Covariance ◽

Moderator Variables ◽

Treatment Package ◽

Therapy Treatment ◽

Children With Intellectual Disability

Inattention is one of the significant problems that inhibit learning among children with intellectual disabilities. However, several strategies and therapies have been developed to solve the problem. This study, therefore, investigates the effectiveness of music therapy in enhancing attention among children with intellectual disability. A pretest-posttest control experimental research design was adopted. The experiment was carried out for six weeks using Music Therapy Treatment Package on 24 children with intellectual disability that were randomly selected Modupe Cole Momerial Childcare and Treatment Home/School, Akoka, Yaba, Lagos. A validated Attention Observation Rating Scale (AORS) with a reliability coefficient of 0.88 was used for this study. Three hypotheses were tested in the study, and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used for data analysis. This study revealed that music therapy is effective in enhancing attention among children with intellectual disabilities. Sex and level of severity of the disability were also tested as moderator variables, but they have no significant main or interaction effect with music therapy in enhancing attention for children with intellectual disability. The finding is that music therapy is significantly effective in enhancing attention for children with intellectual disability regardless of their sex or level of severity. It was concluded that attention deficit could be improved for children with intellectual disability. Therefore, Music therapy was recommended for use in the school with adequate teacher training.

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Mental health of children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities in Britain

The British Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1192/bjp.bp.107.038729 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 191 (6) ◽

pp. 493-499 ◽

Cited By ~ 295

Author(s):

Eric Emerson ◽

Chris Hatton

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Intellectual Disability ◽

Intellectual Disabilities ◽

Children And Adolescents ◽

Psychiatric Disorders ◽

Significant Proportion ◽

Cumulative Risk ◽

Conduct Disorders ◽

British Children ◽

Children With Intellectual Disability

BackgroundFew studies have employed formal diagnostic criteria to determine the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in contemporaneous samples of children with and without intellectual disabilities.AimsTo establish the prevalence of psychiatric disorders against ICD—10 criteria among children with and without intellectual disabilities, the association with social/environmental risk factors, and risk attributable to intellectual disability.MethodSecondary analysis of the 1999 and 2004 Office for National Statistics surveys of the mental health of British children and adolescents with (n=641) and without (n = 17774) intellectual disability.ResultsPrevalence of psychiatric disorders was 36% among children with intellectual disability and 8% among children without (OR=6.5). Children with intellectual disabilities accounted for 14% of all British children with a diagnosable psychiatric disorder Increased prevalence was particularly marked for autistic-spectrum disorder (OR=33.4), hyperkinesis (OR=8.4) and conduct disorders (OR=5.7). Cumulative risk of exposure to social disadvantage was associated with increased prevalence.ConclusionsA significant proportion of the elevated risk for psychopathology among children with intellectual disability may be due to their increased rate of exposure to psychosocial disadvantage.

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