How Do Children Reason About Mirrors? A Comparison Between Adults, Typically Developed Children, and Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

The information about what one can see and what other people can see from different viewpoints is important. There are circumstances in which adults and children make systematic errors when predicting what is visible from their own or others’ viewpoints. This happens for example when reasoning about mirrors. We explored differences among three developmental groups: young adults (N=60) typically developing children (N=30); and children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD, N=30). We used an illustration of a top-down view of a room with a mirror on a wall (Room Observer and Mirror Perspective test: ROMP). Participants selected (circled on paper) which objects behind the observer in the room were visible, reflected from the mirror and from a given position (viewpoint). For half of each group, the observer in the room was described as a teddy bear; for the other half, it was described as a child. Overall, there were many errors in all groups, which we separate in errors of ignoring the viewpoint (same response to all three locations) and inversion errors (choosing objects on the left instead of the right or vice versa). In addition to the overall task difficulty, the ASD group made relatively more mistakes of ignoring the viewpoint compared to the other groups and underestimated how many objects were visible in the teddy bear condition that is when the viewpoint was an inanimate object. We suggest that this is related to a delay in theory of mind (ToM) development.

Directed Medical Role Play for Children: Review of the Teddy Bear Hospital Implementations, Objectives, and Reported Experiences

Background: Role-playing is often used as a pedagogical method for learning communication in medical education. Therefore, medical play using the Teddy Bear Hospital (TBH) is a concept that can quickly familiarize children with health care and help them develop positive experiences in these areas. This review aims to assess the strengths of TBH, as a form of directed medical role play, in improving health outcomes and well-being in children, along with implanting an awareness of preventive health care in young children.Methods: For this scoping review, we examined the list of recommendations, including 11 studies from two databases, PubMed and Google Scholar. We incorporated pre/post quasi-experimental studies, ANOVA, qualitative research studies, systematic reviews, and control group studies that deliberately utilize the teddy bear hospital as an intervention.Results: The results of individual studies were further categorized into three sections. The first being upon the analysis of 11 studies, the Teddy Bear Hospital was mainly conducted in Europe and Asia. It is evident that regardless of the different approaches and strategies used to implement the Teddy Bear Hospital, they all ultimately share the same intent: to raise health care awareness and alleviate young children's anxiety over medical treatment while focusing on the promotion of positive healthy lifestyle. All studies portray the teddy bear hospital as an intervention of medical roleplay which analyzed the children's feelings, behaviors, and health awareness after visiting the Teddy Bear Hospital.Conclusion: The application of the teddy bear hospital has overwhelmingly positive results, with lower levels of anxiety and improved health knowledge. Its reported efficacy calls for future studies on aspects that lead to its efficacy and potential effectiveness.

Children’s Beliefs about Pain: An Exploratory Analysis

Functional abdominal pain (FAP) is one of the most common childhood medical complaints, associated with significant distress and impairment. Little is known about how children understand their pain. Do they attribute it to personal weakness? Do they perceive pain as having global impact, affecting a variety of activities? How do they cope with pain? We explored the pain beliefs of 5- to 9-year-old children with FAP using a novel Teddy Bear Interview task in which children answered questions about a Teddy bear’s pain. Responses were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Results indicate that the majority of young children with FAP are optimistic about pain outcomes. Children generated many types of coping strategies for Teddy’s pain and adjusted their calibration of Teddy’s pain tolerance dependent on the activity being performed. Early warning signs also emerged: a subset of children were pessimistic about Teddy’s pain, and several children identified coping strategies that, while developmentally appropriate, could lead to excessive help seeking if not intervened upon (e.g., physician consultation and shot). The Teddy Bear Interview allows children to externalize their pain, making it a useful tool to access cognitive pain constructs in younger children. Thus, these findings highlight the importance of early intervention for childhood FAP.

Use of Polarized Light in the Diagnosis of “Fuzz” Granuloma in the Conjunctiva of a Child

Synthetic fiber granulomas, also known as “Teddy Bear” granulomas or “Fuzz Ball granulomas,” are usually seen in childhood. We present a case of a 5-year-old child with a “Fuzz Ball” granuloma of the conjunctiva. The resected specimen was processed routinely. The use of polarized light during microscopic examination of the resected tissue made the diagnosis evident due to the prominent birefringence of the synthetic foreign material fibers.

Healthcare Practitioner’s Views on the Teddy Bear Hospital (TBH) by IMACATS in Malaysia

Introduction: This is a part of a bigger study entitled “Exploring the Views of Healthcare Practitioners on the Teddy Bear Hospital (TBH) as a Personal Safety Module Towards Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse (CSA): A Qualitative Study”. TBH is a make-believe-play hospital utilising soft toys to demonstrate a pretend clinical setting with the aim to educate children on health issues. Studies has shown its effectiveness and reducing anxiety towards the hospital setting and increasing health-related knowledge. IMAM Children’s and Teen Super teen (IMACATS) is one of the non-governmental organisations (NGO) which has adopted this concept to tailor to the local community. The volunteers are healthcare practitioners who are engaged with children in their practice.Objective: To explore the views of healthcare professional towards TBH by IMACATS in Malaysia.Methods: In-depth qualitative audio recorded interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 18 healthcare professionals. The data obtained were transcribed and analysed thematically.Results: Three themes were derived from the interviews: i) Awareness of the TBH concept. Seven participants have volunteered in TBH previously. However, there was a speculation that many doctors are still unknowing of this concept. ii) Benefits of TBH. This includes reducing children’s anxiety, changing children’s presumption on healthcare, increasing children’s health knowledge and encouraging healthy behaviour and bridging the gap between the public and healthcare. iii) Suggestion of Module for future TBH: (a) More school-based programmes should be organised in addition to hospital and community based; (b) Ministry of Health (MOH) should encourage children health screening using this concept; (c) A module for hospitalised children should be conducted.Conclusion: Participants interviewed suggested for TBH to be organised in a wider scale as it is an approachable concept for educating children. There are many ways in which it can benefit this community.International Journal of Human and Health Sciences Supplementary Issue: 2021 Page: S18