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This study aims to explore differences across Greece, the UK, the USA, Malaysia, Romania, and Turkey in terms of their attitudes towards inclusive education and validate the three-model structure for attitudes towards inclusion across the above six countries. All special education teachers were administered the ATTAS-mm scale. They were employed in mainstream schools or parallel support and/or resource classes in six countries. The identified differences were interpreted regarding the effect of years of teaching experience, educational work level of teachers, and the highest degree completed across the different participating countries. Two-step cluster analysis suggested a two-cluster solution for Greece, the USA and the UK, and a three-cluster solution for Malaysia and Turkey. Finally, years of teaching experience, educational work level, and the highest degree completed had a significant effect on teachers' attitudes towards inclusion in all countries. Results are discussed for their implications in teachers training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of this study is to explore early childhood teachers' social self-efficacy in Cyprus, Greece, and Portugal. In addition, this study examines the validity of the factorial structure of the Teachers' Social Self-Efficacy Scale (TSSES). A sample of 349 early childhood teachers across the three countries participated in this study. An exploratory analysis and then a confirmatory factor analysis were employed to reveal the structure of the TSSES. Configural and metric invariance were established for the one-factor structure of the TSSES. The results showed that teachers in Portugal and Cyprus experience high levels of social self-efficacy, whereas Greek teachers experience moderate to high levels of social self-efficacy. The TSSES seems to be a reliable instrument for assessing social self-efficacy beliefs. Possible implications for practice are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study focused on the intra-pair interaction of a pair of dizygotic twins with autism in pre-school age and explored: (a) the type of play and the level of symbolic play the twins prefer and are most frequently engaged with; (b) the attitudes the twins usually display; (c) the most frequent initiator of interactions; and (d) the way the quality of interaction is being affected by the above factors. The twins' interactions were observed in their classroom environment. Observational data were triangulated with data from a semi-structured interview with the twins' mother, their teacher, and the school psychologist. Results indicated a number of intra-pair differences in the twins' interactions. The triangulation revealed that the mother, the teacher, and the school psychologist had a slightly different understanding of these interactions. The need for a more systematic and consistent assessment of intra-pair interactions, coordinated by specialists, is highlighted.

The purpose of this study is to explore the association between marital satisfaction and social activities with parents' self-perception. Self-perception included parents' sense of self and their attitudes and beliefs about who they are as individuals and as parents. Three hundred and twenty-seven parents, having either a child with (D1-target group) or without (D2-control group) a disability, were enrolled in the study. We hypothesized that self-perception of parents in the target group would be lower in all measures. We also hypothesized that low self-perception will correlate with parents' marital satisfaction and social activities. We found that parents of a child with disabilities reported significantly lower levels in all domains (self-perception, marital satisfaction and social activities) than parents of children without disabilities. Moreover, multigroup analyses confirmed that the structural paths between self-perception, marital satisfaction and social activities do not differ between D1 and D2 parents (χ2(127, N = 327) = 134.62, p>.05, CFI = 1.00 ≥ 0.90, RMSEA=.063 ≤.080, SRMR = 0.054 < 0.08, TLI = 1.000 > 0.95). Results are discussed in terms of children's educational placement and their implications on children with and without disabilities unobstructed co-development and co-existence with their parents in the family context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aims of this study were to: (a) provide descriptive data of twins with physical difficulties among 120 Greek twins of preschool age; and (b) to investigate the impact of twins' health condition on parental perceptions towards twins' separation, closeness and friendship. The administration of School Policy for Twins and Higher Multiples Questionnaire to the parents of 60 twin pairs led to the following three-group sample based on twins' health condition: Group 1 consisted of pairs of healthy twins, Group 2 consisted of pairs of a healthy twin and a non-healthy co-twin and Group 3 consisted of pairs of non-healthy twins. The main results of this study are summarised as follows: (a) twins' health condition did not affect parents' preference to keep their twins together (school/home), rather than separate them; (b) twins' health condition affected twins' emotions towards separation; and (c) twins' health condition did not affect significantly twins' closeness and twins' preferences in friendship. This study attempts to advance investigation of the impact physical difficulties may have on parents' perceptions.

Recent research findings confirm the mediating role of animals, especially dogs, between a therapist and a child during therapy sessions. The presence of dogs has been studied in clinical studies. In cases of children with disabilities dogs facilitate the therapeutic session as they distract children from their real problems and make them feel relaxed. However, there is a research gap on the impact of a therapy dog in a school setting. The present study aims to explore the effectiveness of therapy dogs' presence in an intervention programme for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Three primary school students with ASD, their teachers and parents, and a therapy dog with its attendant were enrolled in the study. Data collection was based on teachers' and parents' observations of students' social responses and behavioural difficulties before and after the intervention, on teachers' diaries, and on the micro-analysis of the six videotaped therapeutic sessions. Results show that the dog's presence increased student response to social stimuli and reduced the symptoms of ASD, not only during the intervention but also in the post-intervention phase. No aggressive or self-injurious behaviours were exhibited during the sessions. The study highlights the healing impact for children with ASD when a dog is incorporated in a school setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study explored the effect of the context in which an imitation act occurs (elicited/spontaneous) and the experimenter's facial expression (neutral or smiling) during the imitation task with young children with autism and typically developing children. The participants were 10 typically developing children and 10 children with autism (mean chronological age: 72 months). They were tested in imitation of tasks and facial expressions posed by the researcher. The results showed that, compared with typically developing children, children with autism: (a) engaged less in imitation of action with objects, (b) had more difficulties with the imitation of facial expressions in the elicited condition, and (c) performed less accurately both at imitating the experimenter's facial expression and on tasks involving the simultaneous imitation of action with objects and facial expression, and (d) the type of the experimenter's facial expression did not influence the imitative performance of either group in either the elicited or the spontaneous condition. The present study attempts to advance investigation of imitative ability and impairment in autism.

This study explores the integration of two key ideas and working frameworks: a community of educational practice formed by the synergy between a natural history museum and a university department of pre-school education, which undertook participatory action research aimed at the creation of innovative museum programmes for young children. Data analysis and the evaluation of the research process show that the community was able to bring its situated knowledge into question and interrogate propositional knowledge by means of re-evaluating the learning targets, the nature of children's activity, the nature of interaction between adults and learners, and the nature of resources used in existing and newly designed programmes offered to young children. Participatory action research enabled the community to monitor the implementation of theory with scientific rigour and formulate a new "knowledge strategy", which in theoretical terms will guide future developments. (Contains 6 tables.)

The early detection of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) by teachers can contribute to the prevention of secondary disorders in a child and this can have serious implications for the child's overall development. The aims of the present study were to examine: (1) the validity of the original assessment of the teachers in detecting school-age children nominated as children with ADHD by their teachers; and (2) the factors that influence teachers' evaluations on a rating scale assessing ADHD, such as child's gender, the parents' level of education, the child's social and academic behaviour in the classroom, the teacher-student relationship, as well as the teachers' cooperation with the parents. Teachers were asked to fill in a Greek standardised rating scale for the detection of children with ADHD and a student behaviour questionnaire for 420 primary-school students nominated as children with ADHD by teachers. The study's findings showed that teachers detect far more students with ADHD than the number expected from the norms based on the standardised ADHD rating scale. Teachers not only nominated more boys than girls as students with ADHD, but also made more accurate identifications for girls than for boys, particularly in the later primary-school grades. Children's age or parental educational background did not influence the teachers' initial nominations or their later ratings. Multiple regression analyses indicated that the teachers' beliefs about a child's peer relations and the quality of teacher-child relationships predicted teachers' ratings on the ADHD scale more than other factors did. (Contains 4 tables and 1 figure.)