Modern trends in the treatment of children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities (ID) emphasise the importance of an integrated approach that encompasses the treatment and stimulation of various aspects of their development. Therapeutic treatment of children and adolescents, including those with ID, is more effective when carried out using movement and various sensory processes.
This doctoral dissertation aims to examine the effects of a dance-movement intervention programme on different aspects of development in five children and adolescents with ID. In the theory section, we first defined the ID, associated disorders and diagnoses of each child or adolescent, and described in detail their characteristics in communication, social interaction, and movement, as well as the developmental disorders in these areas. We then defined the importance of encouraging movement for the holistic development of the child or adolescent, described dance as a type of movement, and finally defined the creative movement as an integrated teaching approach. We explained the significance of dance-movement therapy for children and adolescents with ID and focused on the Laban movement analysis. We summarised the research findings in the areas of communication, social interaction, and movement in children and adolescents with ID.
The main intent of the study was to analyze the effects of a dance-movement programme on various aspects of communication (establishing and maintaining eye contact), social interaction (level of social inclusion, social profile), and movement (movement repertoire, quality of mirroring and imitation of movement patterns of other people) in children and adolescents with ID. The sample used in this research consisted of five children and adolescents, aged 11 to 12, with moderate ID, who were included in the Vipava Centre for Education and Rehabilitation. All the participants had a mild motor impairment and a moderate or severe speech-language impairment. Two of the participants (one girl, one boy) were diagnosed with Down syndrome, while the other two (one girl, one boy) were diagnosed with an autisem, and one boy was diagnosed with overgrowth syndrome. Different aspects of communication were assessed using an Observation Scale of Establishing and Maintaining Eye Contact designed by the author. Motor skills and abilities were assessed using a Movement Observation Scale and the Movement Imitation Test designed by the author (Bergès and Lézine, 1972). The quality of social interaction was measured using the Social Profile, Assessment of Social Participation in Children, Adolescents, and Adults (Donohue, 2013), and the satisfaction with the dance-movement programme using a Satisfaction with Activity Evaluation Scale designed by the author. Specifically for the present study, we developed an integrated dance-movement programme, to encourage various aspects of development of children and adolescents with ID.
In this doctoral study, we were particularly interested in the characteristics shown by the children and adolescents with ID in the selected areas of communication, social interaction, and movement prior to the dance-movement programme, immediately after its completion, and six months later. The results show that all five children and adolescents with ID had difficulties in all of the selected areas that were the subject of research. After the programme was completed, all five children and adolescents with ID demonstrated improvement in all examined aspects, i.e., communication, social interaction, and movement. Six months after the programme, the results for the five programme participants in all three domains measured showed some decline in the programme's effects, but overall the individuals performed better than before the programme. A comprehensive comparison of selected characteristics of the study participants shows that at all three measurement times (before the programme, immediately after its completion, and six months later), in the aspects of communication and social interaction, the two participants with autism were more similar to each other than to the two participants diagnosed with Down syndrome, and none of them were similar to the participant diagnosed with overgrowth syndrome. However, the results obtained at three different measurement times in relation to the movement test show that differences were bigger among the participants with the same diagnosis than among participants with different diagnoses. Research results show that all of the participants were very satisfied with the programme.
The results of the research provide new scientific insight into the various characteristics of children and adolescents with ID in areas of communication, social interaction, and movement. We have also presented a model for designing a dance-movement programme for people with ID and ways to measure its effects on various areas of an individual’s functioning. Based on these results, guidelines for working with children and adolescents with ID, which include the use of the integrated dance-movement programme, can be made.
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