The influence of teaching experience and professional development on Greek teachers' attitudes towards inclusion

This is a postprint of an article whose final and definitive form has been published in the European Journal of Special Needs Education© 2007 Copyright Taylor & Francis; European Journal of Special Needs Education is available online at http://www.informaworld.comOn the assumption that the successful implementation of any inclusive policy is largely dependent on educators being positive about it, a survey was undertaken into the attitudes of Greek teachers to inclusion. The 155 respondents were general education primary teachers drawn from one region of Northern Greece, with a proportion deliberately selected from schools identified as actively implementing inclusive programmes. The analysis revealed positive attitudes towards the general concept of inclusion but variable views on the difficulty of accommodating different types of disabilities in mainstream classrooms. Teachers who had been actively involved in teaching pupils with SEN held significantly more positive attitudes than their counterparts with little or no such experience. The analysis also demonstrated the importance of substantive long-term training in the formation of positive teacher attitudes towards inclusion. The paper concludes with recommendations for developing critical professional development courses that can result in attitudinal change and the formulation of genuinely inclusive practices

Health-related quality of life of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder versus children with diabetes and healthy controls

The impact of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is reported to be similar to that of other mental health and physical disorders. In this cross-sectional study, we hypothesized that children with ADHD and children with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) would have significantly worse HRQoL compared with healthy children, and that better clinical status in ADHD and T1DM would be associated with better HRQoL. Children were recruited from three outpatient services in Scotland. Responses to two frequently used validated HRQoL instruments, the Paediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) and Child Health and Illness Profile-child edition (CHIP-CE), were obtained from parents/carers and children (6–16 years) with/without ADHD or T1DM. Child and parent/carer-completed HRQoL measurements were evaluated for 213 children with ADHD, 58 children with T1DM and 117 healthy children (control group). Significantly lower self and parent/carer ratings were observed across most PedsQL (P < 0.001) and CHIP-CE (P < 0.05) domains (indicating reduced HRQoL) for the ADHD group compared with the T1DM and control groups. Parent/carer and child ratings were significantly correlated for both measures of HRQoL (PedsQL total score: P < 0.001; CHIP-CE all domains: P < 0.001), but only with low-to-moderate strength. Correlation between ADHD severity and HRQoL was significant with both PedsQL and CHIP-CE for all parent/carer (P < 0.01) and most child (P < 0.05) ratings; more ADHD symptoms were associated with poorer HRQoL. These data demonstrate that ADHD has a significant impact on HRQoL (as observed in both parent/carer and child ratings), which seems to be greater than that for children with T1DM

Behavioural and Developmental Interventions for Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Clinical Systematic Review

Background: Much controversy exists regarding the clinical efficacy of behavioural and developmental interventions for improving the core symptoms of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). We conducted a systematic review to summarize the evidence on the effectiveness of behavioural and developmental interventions for ASD. Methods and Findings: Comprehensive searches were conducted in 22 electronic databases through May 2007. Further information was obtained through hand searching journals, searching reference lists, databases of theses and dissertations, and contacting experts in the field. Experimental and observational analytic studies were included if they were written in English and reported the efficacy of any behavioural or developmental intervention for individuals with ASD. Two independent reviewers made the final study selection, extracted data, and reached consensus on study quality. Results were summarized descriptively and, where possible, meta-analyses of the study results were conducted. One-hundred-and-one studies at predominantly high risk of bias that reported inconsistent results across various interventions were included in the review. Meta-analyses of three controlled clinical trials showed that Lovaas treatment was superior to special education on measures of adaptive behaviour, communication and interaction, comprehensive language, daily living skills, expressive language, overall intellectual functioning and socialization. High-intensity Lovaas was superior to low-intensity Lovaas on measures of intellectual functioning in two retrospective cohort studies. Pooling the results of two randomized controlle

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

How do children with mild intellectual disabilities perceive loneliness?

The present study examined 154 children with mild intellectual disability (MID) attending special schools with regard to their reports of loneliness. Semi-structured interviews revealed that more than half of the students with MID reported feelings of loneliness. They tend to have as friends children from their neighborhood, friends of their siblings, children of their parents&apos; friends and from their school. Lonely children with MID tend to attribute their isolation to interpersonal deficits, lack of contact with peers and physical appearance, while one fourth cannot justify why they do not have any friends. Children with MID report that they withdraw from social interactions, engage in solitary activities and actively look for friends to cope with their feelings of loneliness and rejection, while very few resort to physical or verbal aggression. Moreover, boys and children living in smaller towns reported less feelings of loneliness than girls and children living in the capital

Hybrid Photo-Thermal Sulfur-Ammonia Water Splitting Cycle: Thermodynamic Analysis Of The Thermochemical Steps

Solar driven hybrid sulfur-ammonia water splitting cycle (HySA) integrates a solar-photocatalytic hydrogen, H2, production step (H2 sub-cycle) with a high-temperature solar thermochemical oxygen, O2, evolution step (O2 sub-cycle), implementing efficient thermal energy storage as part of the cycle operation. Previous studies of the cycle omitted intermediate products, such as ammonium bisulfate, from the O2 sub-cycle and, thus, neglected their potential impact on the cycle\u27s chemistry. Also, there are discrepancies in reported literature for the thermodynamic properties of ammonium sulfate, (NH4)2SO4 and ammonium bisulfate, NH4HSO4. In this study, thermal analysis experiments were conducted in order to determine the phase transition temperatures and enthalpies, and the heat capacity temperature dependence of the ammonium sulfate, (NH4)2SO4 and ammonium bisulfate, NH4HSO4. Our experimentally determined values for these parameters agree well with the data reported in DIPPR Project 801 database. Moreover, an exploratory thermodynamic analyses was performed using AspenPlus© and FactSage©, that included all potential reaction products, in order to identify critical parameters for an optimum O2 sub-cycle. A methodology is proposed and evaluated to mitigate AspenPlus©\u27s deficiency to handle solid phase changes. The thermodynamic analyses demonstrate that the NH4HSO4 inclusion in the O2 sub-cycle reduces the overall process energy requirements, and allows its use as an energy storage medium. Finally, we show that the use of molten salts, in combination with their interactions, significantly affects the efficiency and the operating conditions of the process, as well as the state of the mixtures

Particle Model Investigation For The Thermochemical Steps Of The Sulfur–Ammonia Water Splitting Cycle

Solar-driven hybrid sulfur–ammonia water splitting cycle (HySA) is a promising technology for energy and environment applications. The advantage of the proposed cycle is the utilization of both solar photon and thermal radiation in a series of reaction steps from ambient temperature to less than 900 °C. It uses molten salts as reagents to control products of each step and as potential thermochemical energy storage. The use of a solar aerosol based reactor for the thermochemical steps of the cycle appears promising, therefore a particle model is required. Reliable thermodynamic data are necessary to develop an efficient conceptual particle model. Therefore, in this present study, we perform thermal analysis experiments and thermodynamic calculations for the related compounds and their reciprocal mixtures. Based on the experimental and numerical findings, we discuss the conceptual particle model according to the thermochemical steps of the hybrid sulfur–ammonia water splitting cycle