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Down Syndrome Caregivers’ Support Needs: A Mixed-Method Participatory Approach, Katie M. Hart, Nicole Neil

Education Publications

Background

The purpose of the study was to explore the support needs of caregivers of children with Down syndrome from their perspective using a mixed‐method participatory research approach.

Methods

Concept mapping methodology was used to obtain caregiver perspectives. Twenty‐one caregivers answered the question ‘Are parents of individuals with Down syndrome supported, why or why not?’ Caregivers were involved in the analysis of the data through concept mapping procedures.

Results

Sorted data were analysed with multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis. Participants generated eight thematic clusters representing the support needs of caregivers of children with Down syndrome. The themes included online and …

Communication Intervention For Individuals With Down Syndrome: Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Nicole Neil, Emily A. Jones

Education Publications

A systematic review was conducted to identify effective intervention strategies for communication in individuals with Down syndrome. We updated and extended previous reviews by examining: (1) participant characteristics; (2) study characteristics; (3) characteristics of effective interventions (e.g., strategies and intensity); (4) whether interventions are tailored to the Down syndrome behavior phenotype; and (5) the effectiveness (i.e., percentage non-overlapping data and Cohen’s d) of interventions. Thirty-seven studies met inclusion criteria. The majority of studies used behaviour analytic strategies and produced moderate gains in communication targets. Few interventions were tailored to the needs of the Down syndrome behaviour phenotype. The results …

Repetitive Behavior In Children With Down Syndrome: Functional Analysis And Intervention, Nicole Neil, Emily A. Jones

Education Publications

Children with Down syndrome frequently display repetitive behavior including unusual routines, rituals, and stereotypy. Literature on intervention for repetitive behavior in individuals with Down syndrome frequently includes aversive procedures and interventions not informed by functional assessments. We used an analogue functional analysis to evaluate reinforcers maintaining repetitive behavior in 3 children with Down syndrome. Following identification of automatic functions, we used an ABAB design and a multiple-baseline design to demonstrate the effectiveness of differential reinforcement of other behavior in reducing repetitive behavior. DRO was effective in decreasing repetitive behavior and, for one participant, repetitive behavior remained low at 1, 2, …