A study of developmental assessment among children with special needs in early intervention programme in Kuching, Sarawak

Haironi, Yusoff (2008) A study of developmental assessment among children with special needs in early intervention programme in Kuching, Sarawak. Masters thesis, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS).

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Abstract

There is an estimate of around 12 to 26 percent of children with special needs attending early intervention programmes throughout Malaysia. However, very little research has been done on evaluation and monitoring of children with special needs attending these programmes. In order to determine a new method of developmental assessment of children with special needs attending early intervention programmes and to compare their development between clinic (n=27) and community-based (n= 29) centres, a cross-sectional study was conducted. A modified Schedule of Growing Skills (MSGS) assessment was used for this purpose. Concurrent validity was established when MSGS was compared with Denver Developmental Assessment (DDA) which sh9wed an excellent correlation between the two measurements (Spearman's rho = 0.87, p<O.OOI). Reliability statistical analysis (Cronbach's Alpha = 0.856-0.984) verified MSGS as an appropriate tool to be used for the developmental assessment. The inter-item factpr analysis showed consistency between the nine items assessed. The sensitivity and specificity of MSGS in this study was observed to be 83.33% and 33.33% respectively. When the mean scores for children from both centres were compared, it was noted that the children attending the community-based programme (mean = 111.69, CI 95%, 102.18 to 121.20) were more delayed than the clinic-based programme (mean = 80.04, CI 95%, 69.16 to 91.02) and the results were significant (p< 0.05). However, there was no difference for gender, diagnosis and severity of developmental delay. This study provides a preliminary data that implicates the usefulness of MSGS as a tool for assessment of developmental milestone for children with special needs. It also has the potential to be used as a tool for monitoring developmental milestone of those attending the intervention programme. Moreover, more studies are recommended to assess the early intervention programmes so that its approach, methods and facilities can be further improved.

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