Iranian Rehabilitation Journal
Volume:15 Issue: 31, Mar 2017

Deaf and hard-of-hearing children are slow in language development, and language deficits are common in hearing-impaired children. Here, all areas of the language, including syntax, morphology, phonology, semantic and pragmatic, are involved, and this leads to a deficiency in reading and academic skills. Evidence shows that through early intervention, we can minimize or eliminate problems of children with hearing loss. Early intervention teaches parents how to communicate with their disabled child.
Internet search in databases including ISI Web of Knowledge, Embase and Pubmed from 1990 to 2014 was conducted. Key words such as children with hearing loss, deaf children, hard-of-hearing, family education program(s), early intervention, early detection, family’s approach, parent’s approach, and parent’s education program(s) were searched.
A total of 100 articles were initially found, and only 20 articles were finally selected for the study. The inclusion criteria for the study were as follows: the article should be interventional and written in English and should be published between 1990 and 2014.
Research showed the effectiveness of early intervention in the early development of language and vocabulary. In addition, early detection of hearing loss in the first 6 months of age has a positive impact on children and families interactions and consequently, on language and vocabulary development. The primary focus in the implementation of early intervention services is to reduce the negative effects of risk factors and facilitate optimum development over time. Finally, the combination of early diagnosis and early intervention for children with hearing impairment is necessary.

Encouraging active lifestyle is an essential part of successful rehabilitation programs, and this establishes the link between physical activity and quality of life (QOL) in patients with mobility disorders. The biomechanical aspects of a wheelchair design play an important role in determining the physical activity and social participation of disabled individuals. This review focuses on the key biomechanical features of wheeled mobility devices including propulsion methods and overuse injuries, tire and frame design, assistive technologies and prevention of pressure ulcers. We briefly reviewed the role of design modifications in increasing the physical activity and improving the QOL among the wheelchair-bound adults.

Leisure is a domain of life that is very important, particularly for people with neurological disorders. However, due to social and cultural differences, leisure activities have not been studied extensively. The aim of this study is to determine the different factors influencing leisure activities among people afflicted with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) within the framework of Iranian culture.
We used two independent qualitative studies: 1) interviews conducted with 11 professional that related to these patients and 2) open-ended questionnaires that were completed by 49 patients with MS. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were performed on the data obtained.
Six factors were extracted from the analyses on each of the two studies: social, individual, physical, art-cultural, spiritual/religious and educational.
Our results suggest that the leisure activities of the MS patients are influenced by six factors. We suggest that studies concerning leisure activities of Iranian MS patients should consider these factors.

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) are the most prevalent occupational diseases that are serious, fundamental and costly in nature.
This analytical descriptive study included 45 individuals of occupational and physiotherapy community in Hamedan, Nahavand and Malayer cities of Iran.
The standardized Nordic questionnaire was used to collect data. Data analysis was done by SPSS software, chi-square test, T-test and Kay Score tests.
Study results revealed the prevalence of MSD accounting for 65.9% (n=27) of the study population who at least had one part of their body infected. In a 12 months study period, the disorder symptoms were seen in wrist (34.1%), lumbar (31.7%), knee (29.3%), neck (26.8%), shoulder (19.5%), and back (17%). A significant relation was seen between the symptoms of the wrist and hand. This was more common among occupational therapists. The results also showed that the disorders in occupational therapists affected all the limbs, except the neck. In addition, the females were more susceptible to the disorders compared to the males.
This study confirmed the rate of prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders and injuries in occupational and physical therapists, with wrist and lumbar being the most affected. The promotion of therapist’s knowledge about MSD and following ergonomic principles and new approaches in the treatment may lower or prevent MSD.

Patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS) is one of the significant causes of knee pain that results in reduced functional performance.Interventional foot orthotics may lead to improvement in symptoms. In this study, the effects of custom-made foot orthoses with medial heel skive technique on pain and functional performance after four weeks were evaluated.
Fourteen subjects with PFPS were given custom-made foot orthoses. The pain and function parameters were evaluated with a visual analog scale (VAS) and Kujala Patellofemoral Score (KPS) before the treatment and at four weeks follow-up.
Significant improvements in pain was observed in participants with initial pain at four weeks (P In this study, the custom-made foot orthoses with medial heel skive technique was found to be an effective conservative treatment to reduce the pain and improve the functional performance of patients with PFPS.

Motor weakness is a notable symptom after stroke. Hence, the aim of this study was to find out the effect of bilateral quadriceps training compared to that of unilateral quadriceps training on balance, functional mobility and functional gait in patients with stroke.
Subjects: Male and female hemiparetic patients between 40-60 years of age with post-stroke of 1-6 months were included in the study. Study Design: Test re-test was performed.
Data was obtained through strain gauge, Berg balance scale, dynamic gait index and timed up and go test, and then again, data was obtained with the help of the above-mentioned instruments 6 weeks after providing the patient with strength training.
Functional mobility and isometric strength of unaffected side gave significant values and balance, functional gait and isometric strength on affected side gave insignificant values.
The findings of the present study suggested that bilateral quadriceps training is good to improve functional performances like timed up and go test and isometric strength on the unaffected side. However, to improve further, the Berg balance scale, dynamic gait index and isometric strength scores of affected side, for both the bilateral quadriceps and unilateral quadriceps training, are equally effective.

Studies around the world have shown that having a child with disability impacts a mother’s time use. The purpose of this study was to compare the time use of mothers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) with mothers of typically developing children.
Eighty-four Iranian mothers (42 with ASD children and 42 with typically developing children) completed the Mothers’ Time Use Questionnaire (MTUQ).
Mothers of ASD children spent more time doing childcare activities (P Mothers of ASD children are more prone to having an imbalanced life. Hence, there is a need for occupational therapists to work in partnership with mothers to support their occupational engagement and life satisfaction.

The aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of transactional analysis group training in reducing control-oriented behaviors of spouse in marital discords.
This study employed an experimental design with pre-test and post-test and a control group. The population consisted of women having marital disputes who were referred to counseling centers of Shahre-kord in the first six months of 2013. Among the sample, 40 individuals were randomly selected and assigned to two (experimental and control) groups of 20 members each. The subjects of the experimental group received eight transactional analysis training sessions, and control-oriented behavior scale of couple was used to collect data. The data obtained were analyzed by covariance analysis.
The results showed that there is a significant difference between experimental and control groups in the post-test in terms of control-oriented behaviors of spouse and its dimensions (P>0.05).
According to our findings, the use of transactional analysis training is effective in reducing marital discords and can be extended to other aspects of life that can help couples and families prevent and reduce problems.

Cognitive functions are the most important factors that influence the performances of students with dyscalculia. This study investigates the effect of computer-assisted neurocognitive rehabilitation on the inhibitory control of students with dyscalculia.
A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design was applied in this research. Thirty elementary students with dyscalculia were selected through convenience sampling. Then, a control and an experimental group (each containing 15 individuals) were formed and matched based on age, intelligence, gender, and school grades. The experimental group received neurocognitive rehabilitation in 20 sessions, each one taking 45 minutes. To gather data, the Wechsler Test (WISC-R), Key Math Test, and Go – No Go Test were used.
The results of covariance analysis showed that cognitive rehabilitation interventions did not lead to a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in inhibitory, omission, commission and reaction time scores (P>0.05).
The study findings suggest examining the effectiveness of long-term rehab during different ages and training strategies with follow-ups.

Identification of developmental disabilities in the initial years of life provides an opportunity for early intervention. However there are limitations in this procedure, like the lack of appropriate instruments. The purpose of this study was to develop a verbal and non-verbal communication screening instrument and determining its validity and reliability in Persian-speaking children aged between 12 and 24 months.
Parents of 147 children aged between 12 and 24 months participated in this study. Prior to the data collection, we reviewed communication tests and texts in Persian and English articles. We determined the content validity by calculating impact score of content validity ratio (CVR) and content validity index (CVI). Test-retest reliability was calculated within an interval of 1 week.
The CVR score for the first group was between 0.57 and 1, and for the second group, between 0.79 and 1. These values were acceptable. CVI score for both groups was within 0.79-1 range. Impact score for items in the first group was 3-4.7, and in the second group, 2.9-4.8. By calculating interclass correlation, the Cronbach α coefficient and Spearman’s rho in two administrations within 1-week interval, the test-retest reliability was evaluated, which was acceptable.
The findings of this study show that this checklist has reasonable validity and reliability for both groups. The checklist is an integrated instrument for screening children who are at risk of verbal and non-verbal communication delay or disorders.

Hope therapy is one of the psychological interventions to help the couples deal with addiction problem. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the hope therapy on the orientation of the purpose and meaning of life expectancy in women with addicted husbands.
This was a quasi-experimental study with pretest, posttest control group. The population of this study included all wives of male addicted patients who referred to drug rehabilitation institutions in Tehran to treat their husbands’ addiction in 2014. The sample size was 30 people. Convenience samplings were carried out to collect data. Data gathering were done by MLQ (Meaning of Life Questionnaire) and AGQ -Achievement Goal Questionnaire (goal orientation)- and analyzed by ANCOVA through SPSS software version 20.
The findings showed that hope therapy increased the orientation of purpose and meaning of life scores in experimental group (P The results revealed that the hope therapy intervention could raise the psychological positive elements like goal setting and the meaning of life among wives of male addicted patients. Rehabilitation counselors and psychologists could apply these interventions to reduce the burden and disturbance of those who live with their addicted couples.