The Importance of Assessing the Pre-school Children’s Participation at Home, Preschool and Community Setting

ABSTRACT

Children with disabilities are at an increased risk of being less likely to participate when compared to their typically developing peers. The objective of this study was to determine whether there is a difference in the frequency of participation in the home, preschool and community setting between typically developing children and children with disabilities. The survey comprised 203 children aged one to five years. The general questionnaire (used for identifying socio-demographic characteristics of sample) and a standardized questionnaire assessing Young Children’s Participation and Environment Measure (YC-PEM) were used for data collection. Results suggest that the groups of children with and without disabilities significantly differ in the frequency of participation in preschool, so the incidence of participation of children with disabilities is lower than the incidence of participation among typically developing children. These data can further contribute to the creation of customized support programs in line with the needs of both children and parents.

KEYWORDS:

• Assessment
• children with disabilities
• community
• participation

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sanela Slavković

Sanela Slavković associated professor at Faculty of Medicine Novi Sad, Department of Special education and rehabilitation, University of Novi Sad, Republic of Serbia. Field of interest: early development, social participation, quality of life, assistive technology, developmental and motor disorders, etc. She is a prolific researcher. She is currently an author or co-author on many research papers published in international and national scientific journals.

Sara Pavić

Sara Pavić master's degree student at Faculty of Medicine (special edification and rehabilitation program). Employed at the Elementary and secondary boarding school “Milan Petrović”, Novi Sad, Republic of Serbia.

Špela Golubović

Špela Golubović full professor at Faculty of Medicine Novi Sad, Department of Special education and rehabilitation, University of Novi Sad, Republic of Serbia. Field of interest: early development, early intervention, children with developmental disorders, etc. She is a prolific researcher. She is currently an author or co-author on many research papers published in international and national scientific journals. She was and is an active participant in national and local research projects.