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Background: The new special educational needs and disability legislation in England has introduced Education Health and Care plans as statutory documents for children with special educational needs, and has extended provision beyond compulsory education, placing transition in a compelling position. This policy recognises the need to include the views, wishes and aspirations of children and young people in the development of provision to cater for their needs. For young people with autism spectrum disorders and their families, transition to post-16 education and employment could be challenging. This study aimed to explore how voices of young people with autism spectrum disorders are captured in their Education Health and Care plans. Methods: These views were collected from the Education Health and Care plans of 12 young people with autism spectrum disorders. These plans were analysed inductively and deductively through content analysis, using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health: Children and Youth Version as a coding framework. Results: Discrepancies were found between plans concerning the ways in which the voices of young people with ASD were elicited. A total of 189 functioning codes were identified, with a prevalence of activities and participation codes to reflect their views, followed by body functions and lastly environmental factors. Conclusion: These disparities are discussed in light of the biopsychosocial model of functioning and health, and the new English policy. Implications for adopting the International Classification of Functioning framework to give voice to young people with autism spectrum disorders are also discussed. Young people with autism spectrum disorders face many challenges in their transition to post-16 education and employment. Engaging young people with autism spectrum disorders in matters that affect their own lives contribute to the development of provision that is aligned with their wishes and aspirations. Practitioners collaborating in the development of Education Health and Care plans should ensure that young people are effectively involved in the development of their own plans. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, Children and Youth Version provides a systematic framework and language for coding and recording data from different sources with which to capture young people's views. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A crucial issue in special educational needs and disability policy and provision is the documentation of children's functioning, for which many countries have a statutory document. In England this is the education health and care plan. Recent research challenges the quality of these plans. Purpose: To provide evidence on the usefulness of the international classification of functioning, disability and health as a system with potential to support the development of higher quality plans in England. Methods: Twenty-five professionals participated in a one-day training session on the international classification of functioning disability and health, with a focus on designing higher quality SMART targets to be included in children's plans. Results: Overall, participants regarded the system as useful. Comparison of targets written before and after the training show improvements in relevance, specificity and on the extent to which they were action-oriented and measurable. Conclusions: Results are discussed in light of international lessons learned around the potential of the international classification of functioning disability and health to support policy change. A "no policy is an island" approach is proposed, suggesting local policy-makers should open horizons beyond geographical boundaries in evidence-based decision-making for supporting children with disabilities. The ICF can be regarded as a useful framework for supporting professionals developing targets for children with Education Health and Care (EHC) plans in England. For developing SMART targets with the ICF, professionals can use the taxonomy to look for detailed aspects of functioning, relevant to a certain developmental stage. Using the ICF can support in making more measurable targets in EHC plans if the universal qualifier scale is applied when describing detailed aspects of functioning. Professionals trained on the ICF recognise its usefulness for writing EHC targets. More in-depth training is recommended for supporting the development of more holistic biopsychosocial EHC plans in England. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ([2]), neurodevelopmental disorders include all developmental disorders; intellectual disabilies, communication disorders, autism spectrum disorders (ASD), attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), specific learning disorders (i.e. dyslexia), motor disorders (including developmental co-ordination and movements disorders, Tourette's, and tic disorders), and other specified and unspecified neurodevelopmental disorders. A better understanding of teachers' self-efficacy in relation to specific neurodevelopmental disorders would allow useful information for supporting teachers' beliefs for teaching students with ASD. Although studies have examined the views of teachers with regards to the support students with neurodevelopmental disorders should receive within the classroom, study by [15] (this issue) is one of the first to examine the views and believes of teachers as well as specialist professionals working with these children. Examining adjustments to the classroom for children with neurodevelopmental disorders, [14] (this issue) provides evidence for the first time concerning the question on whether children with ASD have increased mental capacity. [Extracted from the article]

Background and aims: There is a paucity of literature investigating health-related quality of life in neurodevelopmental populations including children with developmental language disorders and children with autism spectrum disorder. Health-related quality of life in these two groups remains poorly understood. Furthermore, studies have typically relied on reports from caregivers and teachers rather than using self-report measures. The aim of the current study is to compare the levels and profiles of self-reported health-related quality of life of children with developmental language disorders and children with autism spectrum disorder. Methods: Participants comprised 114 7-to-13-year-old children with developmental language disorders (n = 63) and children with autism spectrum disorder (n = 51) attending mainstream school. Self-reported health-related quality of life was measured using the KIDSCREEN-52. We also collected standardised measures of receptive language, autism spectrum disorder symptoms, nonverbal IQ and emotional and behavioural problems. Results: Children with developmental language disorders reported health-related quality of life commensurate with normative ranges, except for 2 of the 10 dimensions; the Moods and Emotions domain and the Social acceptance/bullying domain, which were below norms. Children with autism spectrum disorder reported significantly lower health-related quality of life compared to norms and the developmental language disorders group. However, when the effects of non-verbal ability and language – on which the groups were not matched – were covaried most group differences fell to non-significance or disappeared. Child characteristics showed few associations with dimensions of health-related quality of life across groups. Conclusions: Children with autism spectrum disorder may be particularly vulnerable to poorer health-related quality of life and the relevant professionals need to be aware of this. Children with developmental language disorders exhibit a profile of health-related quality of life more in-line with average ranges. However, certain domains warrant monitoring and may benefit from intervention. Many of the between-group differences in self-reported health-related quality of life disappeared when non-verbal and language ability were covaried, though neither of the covariates was systematically related to scores. Other within-child factors such as emotional understanding and competence should be explored in future studies. Implications: Further research into child and contextual factors may elucidate risk or protective factors for health-related quality of life in children with neurodevelopmental disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]