نشریه کودکان استثنایی
سال بیست و چهارم شماره 1 (پیاپی 91، بهار 1403)

The present study aimed to study the effectiveness of equine-assisted therapy (EAT) on the symptoms of children with Autism spectrum disorders.

The study population included children who were diagnosed as autistic in a rehabilitation center in Tabriz City, Iran during 2017-2018. For this purpose, using a quasiexperimental research design with pre-test and posttest and a control group, 20 children were randomly assigned into two groups (one experimental group and one control group). These two groups of children had been diagnosed with behavioral problems using Gilliam Autism Rating Scale (GARS). The experimental group was trained by horses and the control group did not receive any training. The data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA).

The results showed that EAT was not effective to improve the communication skills of children with Autism disorder; however, it increased the social skills of children with Autism disorder with an effect of 0.37. EAT influenced the stereotyped behaviors of children with an effect of 0.38.

Due to the fact that autistic children often prefer interactions with objects over interactions with people and respond positively to the presence of non-human living creatures. the positive effects of this treatment on children with autism spectrum can be explained.

Considering the importance of skill training curriculum in improving the social and individual skills of intellectually disabled students, the aim of the present study was to phenomenological analyze the perception of teachers of students with special needs regarding the skills training curriculum for the mentally disabled group in order to provide future-oriented educational solutions.

This study was conducted using qualitative approach and phenomenological method. In order to collect data, semi-structured qualitative interviews were used and with targeted sampling, data saturation was obtained after conducting nine interviews.

In-depth analysis of teachers' views led to the identification and categorization of eight categories needed and emphasized in skill training curricula from the point of view of teachers participating in this research, including rehabilitation skills, life skills, teaching logical-mathematical concepts, selfsufficiency, health promotion and Safety, creating a positive attitude towards oneself and the surrounding environment, sexual education and social-emotional development and thirty-three subcategories were the main categories. The categories obtained by categorizing the required skills in the background of the study have commonalities and differences that show the effect of the background and context and the teachers' perception of the needs.

The approaches and suggestions derived from this study have confirmed the necessity of paying attention to the opinions of teachers in order to enrich the curriculum of learning skills of mentally retarded students in order to pay attention to educational interventions.

The present study was conducted with the aim of explaining children's behavioral disorders based on mothers' attachment styles.

Overall, 318 pre-school children (168 girls and 150 boys) were selected from the statistical society (which included the preschool centers of Isfahan City) by cluster random sampling. The required data were collected using the Achenbach' child behavior questionnaire (CBCL) – parents' version- and the Hazen and Shavar Attachment Styles Questionnaire. Data were analyzed by means of correlation and regression analysis.

The results showed that mothers' avoidant insecure attachment style was positively correlated with externalizing problems and internalizing problems while their ambivalent insecure attachment style and externalizing problems were positively correlated. Among the mothers' attachment styles, avoidant insecure attachment style had a positive role in predicting externalizing and internalizing problems in children.

The findings showed that mothers with insecure attachment style have a significant effect on the development of behavioral disorders in children.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of filial therapy along with computer games on reducing the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder in children aged 8-10 years affected by the earthquake in Kermanshah Province. Filial therapy is a kind of familycentered play therapy, which uses play as a primary tool to help parents and children communicate, work on their problems, and build a stronger relationship (O’Connor, 1997).

The research method was based on a quasiexperimental method with a pretest-posttest design and follow-up with a control group. The statistical population included all children diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder residing in different earthquake-stricken areas of Kermanshah Province in the first half of 2018. Among them, 24 people diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder were entered into the study using available sampling method and were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. In the experimental group, the patients received eight sessions of filial therapy along with computer games, while the control group patients did not receive any intervention. The research instrument included a checklist questionnaire on posttraumatic stress disorder (Wooders, Hooman, Hoska and Kane 1994; Goodarzi 2003).

The data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance. The results showed that filial therapy along with computer games was significantly effective on reducing the severity of symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder in these children in all dimensions (P<0.05).

Based on the present study findings, it can be concluded that filial therapy along with computer games is an adjunctive and effective therapeutic method to reduce the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder in children with post-traumatic stress disorder. However, generalization of this effect requires further research.

The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the family-oriented sensorymotor empowerment program on the reading ability of students with Down syndrome.

The research design was a quasi-experimental pre-testpost-test with a control group. The statistical population included all students with Down syndrome in Kashan City in the academic year of 2021-2022. The research sample consisted of 30 students in the age range of 8-12 years, who were selected by available sampling method and assigned to experimental and control groups (each consisted of 15 children). The data collection tool was Kormi Nouri and Moradi's reading and dyslexia test (2004). Covariance test was used to analyze the data.

The results showed a substantial difference between the experimental and control groups in terms of reading ability (p<0.01).

Based on the research results, we suggest the family-oriented sensory-motor empowerment program as a suitable intervention to improve the reading ability of students with Down syndrome.

With the increasing number of individuals diagnized with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), various interventions have been developed to improved their condition. This systematic review aimed to investigate art intervantions for ASD.

analyze relavant articles from domestic and foreign journals, theses, dissertations, and domestic books published between 2001 and 2021. Sixteen studies were analyzed using the “COAT” model.

showed art interventions with individuals with ASD is a supportive and therapeutic including music therapy, rhythmic movements, drama, painting and pottery. The majority of studies focused on music therapy, while the least were on pottery therapy. These children were initially unable to properly use their artistic tools and express their emotions, but in the end, they were able to do so. Art therapist play a faciliative and supportive role. The goals of art interventions are consistent with the results in two main areas: improving communication and social skills and reducing behavioral problems such as stereotyped, limited and repetitive behaviours.

Based on limited descriptive evidence of participant characteristics, art therapists, and workspace, extensive research is recommended on the process of art therapy with individuals with ASD .

Cinema represents political, social and cultural realities. The discourse analysis of Laklau and Moufee also represents the realities of the linguistic text according to components such as ideology, society, culture and politics. The representation of disability in the media is important in the sense that the media plays an important role in creating and changing attitudes towards disability. The aim of the research is to show how the social elements of disability have been reinforced or reproduced in the movie "Mime Like Mother" and what meaning system has been formed around disability in the society.

The film "Mime Like Mother" was analyzed at two levels of text and performance with the conceptual and methodological tools of Lacla and Mouffe. Then the complete data of the film were described and analyzed using the discourse components proposed in their theory.

Three articulations (articulation of the character of the mother, the character of the father, and the character of the disabled person) and three discourse orders (rational, emotional, violent discourse) were achieved.

The research results showed that what has been represented in this film about disability is based on three existing discourses; while the emotional discourse is highlighted, the rationality of rejection and the violent discourse are marginalized.

The purpose of the present research was to compare the effectiveness of educational program based on response to intervention and sensory-motor integration intervention on the cognitive rhythm of students with learning disabilities.

The research method was semi-experimental with a pre-test/post-test design with a control group and a follow-up period. of the research population included students with dyslexia in the first, second and third grades of elementary school who referred to the learning disorders center in Semnan City in the academic year 2021-2022. Overall, 45 students with dyslexia (aged 8-10 years) were selected through purposive sampling and randomly replaced in three groups of 15 (two experimental groups and one control group). The experimental groups were subjected to intervention for eight sessions of 60 minutes. The control group did not receive any intervention. Follow-up was done after three months. The measuring tool was slow cognitive rhythm (SCT) symptoms checklist. The data were analyzed using the mixed two-factor ANOVA method by SPSS-26 software.

The findings showed a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in the SCT score (P<0.05). According to the results, both interventions were effective and had a stable effect, but the educational impact based on the response to intervention was more than that of the sensorymotor integration intervention.

Educational intervention based on response to intervention and sensory-motor integration intervention can be used as a beneficial approach to help students with dyslexia and slow cognitive rhythm in elementary schools and centers for learning problems.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the mediating role of mentalization in the relationship between attachment style and traumatic events in adolescents with signs of confrontational disobedience.

The statistical population of the current correlational description research was male teenagers who were studying in Urmia City schools in 2021-2022. The sample (n=384) was selected by staged cluster sampling method. The participated responded to Fonagy's reflection performance questionnaire, Hazen and Shiver's attachment styles, Ahmadi's traumatic events and Achenbach's adolescent behavior list. The data were analyzed using structural equation analysis, multiple regression, and Pearson’s correlation using the SPSS-26 and the LISREL-8.8 software.

Data analysis showed that mentalization plays a mediating role in the relationship between attachment styles and traumatic events in adolescents with signs of confrontational disobedience. The coefficient of direct effect of mentalization in attachment style and traumatic events on the signs of confrontational disobedience was 0.54 and its t-statistic was 7.95, which was significant at the level of 0.001. Also the coefficient of indirect effect was 0.38, which was significant at the 0.001 level. The overall effect was 0.91, which was significant at the 0.001 level.

This research showed that mentalization plays a mediating role between attachment styles and traumatic events in adolescents with the signs of confrontational disobedience

investigating the effectiveness of art therapy with reliance on painting therapy in alleviating the symptoms of separation anxiety disorder, school phobia, and oppositional defiant disorder in female students in Rafsanjan, Iran in 2021-2022.

this is a quasi-experimental method with a pretest and posttest outline with a control group. In this study, the statistical population included 30 female first-graders with symptoms of separation anxiety, scolion phobia, and oppositional defiant disorder who were chosen and put to the test randomly in two groups of 15 for test and control. The test group was intervened collectively for eleven 45-minute sessions, while the control group remained in the waiting list. All of the participants in pretest and posttest were evaluated via Pediatric Symptom Checklist as well as school phobia checklist. The data were analyzed with descriptive statistics as well as covariance analysis in SPSS.

the results demonstrated that the symptoms of separation anxiety disorder, school phobia, as well as oppositional defiant disorder have decreased meaningfully (P<0.001).

painting therapy will lead to a decline in the symptoms of separation anxiety disorder, school phobia, and oppositional defiant disorder and implies the acceptability and a more widespread use of painting when encountering fear, anxiety, and disobedience.