Mental Retardation in African Countries: Conceptualization, Services, and Research

Spring is not yet here: raising a child with ASD in rural southwest China

PURPOSE

This study aims to reveal the parenting experiences of parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in rural southwest China under the framework of ecological systems theory.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 parents of children with ASD from rural southwest China and the interview data were analyzed using the three coding steps of the grounded theory method, namely open, axial, and selective coding.

RESULTS

The results showed four themes: challenges from within the family; relationships between parents, the school, and the community; scarcity and low accessibility of available resources and services; the culture of discriminating against people with disabilities and the loss of eligibility for welfare. The mismatch between the needs of families of children with ASD and the resources available in social-environmental systems is the major issue faced by parents.

CONCLUSIONS

Raising a child with ASD in rural southwest China is affected by the interactions between the families and the internal structures in different environmental systems. The culture of discriminating against people with disabilities formed in the macrosystem could be the essential factor that affects the smoothness of the parenting process of children with ASD.

African families' and caregivers' experiences of raising a child with intellectual disability: A narrative synthesis of qualitative studies

Background

The prevalence of intellectual disability was high in Africa, particularly amongst low socio-economic communities. Despite this, there was limited literature on primary caregivers and parents of people with intellectual disabilities regarding their experience raising an individual with the condition, especially within the African context.

Objectives

The aim of the current systematic review was to investigate experiences of caregivers and parents of children with intellectual disability in Africa.

Method

We used strict eligibility criteria to identify suitable studies. We identified Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms and other keyword terms and, after conducting searches in electronic databases, identified articles that met the inclusion criteria for articles published between 1975 and the end of 2019.

Results

164 articles were assessed for eligibility. Nine studies met the review's criteria. Six major themes emerged: understanding of intellectual disability (ID), worries about the future, burden of care, lack of services, coping strategies and stigma and discrimination.

Conclusion

Caregivers of children with intellectual disability in Africa faced substantial challenges. Current findings suggested that there was the need for both formal and alternative healthcare workers to work together towards an understanding and management of intellectual disability in Africa.

Theories of Developmental Psychology for a Cultural Perspective: A Viewpoint from Africa

This paper examines the emergence of scientific psychology as a Euro-American product, which was later imported into Africa. It is argued that the current theorising in and the orientation of developmental psychology are essentially "Euro-centric" in nature and hence have limited applicability in the context of Africa. The role of culture in development is emphasised. An Afro-centric concept of child is examined and an attempt is made to demonstrate how the representation of the life course in Africa reflects African social systems and cultural realities. The author presents a new paradigm—an eco-cultural model as a conceptual framework—that takes culture and local views of human nature and development. Issues are raised pertaining to research in African cultures within the eco-cultural framework.

Some growth points in African child development research

We reflect on ways in which research presented in earlier chapters responds to challenges of generating an African child development field and identify additional issues calling for the field's attention. The chapters collectively display a variety of African contexts and reflexive evidence of the authors' African cultural roots. Connecting research with African audiences demands cooperative communication between educational practitioners and parents with low literacy, and cross-sector communication among professionals. Intracultural exploration of factors influencing the pattern of human development has begun to document the potential of indigenous African cultures as a fund of resources for enhancing child development. Priority topics for future African developmental research include multilingualism, musical performance, socially distributed caregiving, and the relation between adolescence and economic activity. Integration of multiple disciplines in the application of research-based principles to service delivery in the fields of community-based (re)habilitation and early childhood care and education calls for researcher collaboration with practitioners.

Translating the covenant: The behavior analyst as ambassador and translator

Behavior analysts should be sensitive to how others react to and interpret our language because it is inextricably related to our image. Our use of conceptual revision, with such terms as punishment, has created communicative confusion and hostility on the part of general and professional audiences we have attempted to influence. We must, therefore, adopt the role of ambassador and translator in the nonbehavioral world. A number of recommendations are offered for promoting, translating, and disseminating behavior analysis.

Family quality of life in Nigeria

BACKGROUND

The limited literature that exists about intellectual disabilities (ID) in Nigeria suggests that perceptions of ID may be shaped by social and cultural beliefs, and that socio-economic factors have prevented the development of policy and services. The present study sought to explore these suggestions in more detail by administering the Family Quality of Life Survey, an instrument used extensively throughout the world to collect comprehensive data on family quality of life. Its specific purposes were: (1) to describe the family quality of life of Nigerian families that have a son or daughter with ID and (2) to provide some initial ideas about the relationship between the families' life experiences and government policy and provision of services.

METHOD

Eighty main caregivers from 80 families that received services for their sons and daughters with ID from two community agencies volunteered to participate. Two trained assistants administered the Family Quality of Life Survey in accordance with the administration methods set out by the Survey authors. Quantitative data and explanatory comments were also collected.

RESULTS

Regarding the first study purpose, all nine life domains of the Family Quality of Life Survey were rated as important. The two main outcome measures, Attainment and Satisfaction, showed that three domains (Family relationships, Influence of values and Health) were sources of quality for families, but that three domains (Support from services, Support from others and Leisure) detracted from family quality of life. Measures of Opportunities, Initiative and Stability were somewhat related to one another, and with the two main outcome measures. Participants' explanatory comments suggested that the main caregivers perceived some domains to make their lives better and others did not. Regarding the second study purpose, it was only possible with the data available to make suggestions, but it seemed that there is a strong need for the development of government policy and services, and for education and training.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this study suggest that some areas of family life contribute to quality of life for Nigerian families and other areas of life are problematic for families. Although this study is not representative of all Nigerian families that have a son or daughter with ID, it provides important initial information on the family experience with disability in Nigeria.

Basic Education for Children with Special Needs in Zambia

Zambia’s national policy on the formal education of children with special educational needs (CSEN) began to evolve following the completion of a nation-wide campaign to reach disabled children (ZNCRDC), which was spurred by the UN declaration of 1981 as the International Year of Disabled Persons (IYDP). The campaign generated epidemiological estimates of the prevalence of various types of disability among the population of basic school age (5–15 years), that showed that existing special educational provisions were reaching less than 10 per cent of those ascertained as severely disabled. The first phase of public policy focused on programmatic expansion in the 1980s of the number of units, located within the premises of existing basic schools, and offering specialised educational support to children with one particular broad type of disability (hearing, intellectual/learning, physical/mobility, or visual). This expansion programme was retarded by a number of fac-tors: resource constraints arising from a severe, national economic recession; refocusing of the principle of affirmative action to ensure equity to prioritise action to redress the disadvantages faced by girls (PAGE), and by children orphaned by the AIDS pandemic (OVC); and heightened emphasis on the principle of inclusion, which was often operationalised in the form of mainstreaming. Concurrently with the expansion of specialised units for CSEN, the quality of instruction and certification for specialist teachers was upgraded by the re-staffing and rehabilitation of the national college (LCTH/ZAMISE). Despite the enlarged output of qualified teachers from the College, staffing of CSEN units has remained problematic, largely due to poorly managed deployment of the college’s graduates. A recent shift in policy at the college in response to this problem has involved preparing graduates with skills to address the special educational needs of children with all four broad types of disabilities. Several lines of evidence are reviewed on these trends, including government policy documents and statistical reports, as well as a qualitative analysis of interviews with a sample of key informants. Major challenges currently faced by the government in attaining its policy objectives are itemised and some strategic options for addressing them are presented.

Performance of Zambian children on the NEPSY: a pilot study

Forty-five literate schoolchildren aged 9 (n = 25) and 11 (n = 20) from urban Zambia were given core and expanded tests on the NEPSY and their performance was scored according to age-equivalent norms for U.S. children. This study indicates that in urban, literate Zambian children, the NEPSY is relatively insensitive to language and cultural influences that often compromise the applicability of Western tests in the developing world. No consistent improvement in the standard scores was found as a function of educational experience. Comparison against the U.S. normative average revealed that both age groups were poorer in the domains of language and attention and executive functions, whereas their performance was better in the visuospatial processing domain. It is concluded that the NEPSY in its present form may be clinically useful, but its results should still be treated with caution, taking into account cultural, language, and personal demographic information. More studies, with divergent and larger samples of varying age ranges are required. It seems that the NEPSY could serve as the initial step in the development of neuropsychological practices in Zambia.