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This study evaluated the Parents Plus – Parenting when Separated Programme, an intervention specifically designed to address the needs of separated parents in an Irish context. In a randomized control trial, 82 separated parents with young children were assigned to the Parents Plus – Parenting when Separated Programme treatment group and 79 to a waiting-list control group. They were assessed on measures of client goals, parenting satisfaction, child and parental adjustment and interparental conflict at baseline (Time 1) and 6 weeks later (Time 2), after the treatment group completed the Parents Plus – Parenting when Separated Programme. From Time 1 to 2, significant goal attainment, increases in parenting satisfaction and decreases in child behaviour problems, parental adjustment problems and interparental conflict occurred in the Parents Plus – Parenting when Separated Programme group, but not in the control group. These results supported the effectiveness of Parents Plus – Parenting when Separated Programme, which should be made more widely available to separated parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The everyday lives of children with disabilities are not well understood, with few studies exploring how participation in everyday life is conceptualized and given meaning. The overall aims of this study were, first, to explore parental views of their children’s participation and, second, to identify barriers and facilitators in relation to participation in everyday activities. A qualitative research strategy was adopted, whereby parents of children with Down syndrome (DS) aged 6–12 years were selected using purposive sampling. Five interviews with seven participants were audio-recorded and analysed using a framework approach whereby the overall research aims guided the analysis. Analysis of the data identified two main themes and seven sub-themes. The first theme was the value of participation. Parents reported that through participation in activities, their children developed skills that in turn enhanced their well-being and sense of belonging. The second theme was barriers and facilitators of participation, which included four subthemes: child factors, attitudes and views of others, modifications to the environment and logistical issues. Findings also illustrate how the child and his/her physical, social and attitudinal environments are inherently intertwined, with parents identifying the influence of several interacting factors on their child’s participation in everyday activities. This study supports the view that while frameworks like the ICF have an important role in understanding disability, they need to be supplemented with personal experiences of children and others in their lives. Speech and language therapists need to consider activities and participation both from the perspective of factors within children themselves and also from the point of view of barriers and facilitators in the children’s environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diagnosing specific language impairment (SLI) in monolingual children is a complex task, with some controversy regarding criteria. Diagnosis of SLI in bilinguals is made more complex by the lack of standardized assessments and poor understanding of clinical markers in languages other than English. There is an added complexity when one of the languages being acquired is an endangered one, where the domains of use and input are restricted, and where input is affected by convergence with the majority language. This article explores the challenge facing speech and language therapists and psychologists in diagnosing SLI in bilingual children acquiring Irish and English. Six speech and language therapists and four psychologists took part in semi-structured interviews exploring the impact of the bilingual environment, the nature of bilingual language impairment, current practices and the needs of these children. Thematic analysis was carried out and here three of the main themes emerging in the areas of assessment, the bilingual environment and characteristics of language impairment in this population are discussed. For assessment, an overriding theme was the requirement of standardized testing to secure additional educational and therapy resources for these children. However, because there are no standardized tests available in Irish, both professions end up translating existing English-based language and psychological assessments, using the norms provided to achieve standard scores. Both professions expressed strong dissatisfaction with this practice but saw little choice, given the Department of Education’s approach to allocation of supports. Language impairment in Irish was characterized by lexical difficulties, particularly with verbs and prepositions, tense errors, and significant borrowing and code-switching with English. Other themes that emerged were the growing influence of English as the children became older, which affected both attitudes to the minority Irish language as well as the content and structure of the language itself. The implications for service provision for bilingual populations in general are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Aims: This paper discusses the evaluation of a multi-sector oral health promotion intervention in the Republic of Ireland for children with disabilities. It argues that a lack of awareness about the context of interventions means that sometimes people's health concerns remain unaddressed through a lack of participation. This may actually increase rather than decrease health inequalities. Implementing qualitative methods to provide a context before proceeding with interventions may assist in providing approaches that are fit for purpose when trying to include people in health promotion. Methods: A purposive sample of 15 parents or carers of children with disabilities and 18 non-dental professionals were interviewed in either focus groups or on a one-to-one basis. Results: The qualitative analysis indicated that budget constraints were affecting joint working because non-dental professionals were overstretched, feeling that they only had the capacity to carry out day-to-day work with parents and children. The daily demands of caring for a child with disabilities for many parents meant that they were tied to a day-to-day existence. Conclusions: The qualitative evaluation suggested that an initial lack of knowledge about structural, procedural, and budgetary barriers, coupled with insight into the daily demands on parents caring for children with disabilities, meant that all parents were not enabled. Therefore, achieving the aims of the plan could not be a total success for all parents and children from the outset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]