TOPIC

School-based research

Everything we have read on school-based. Each paper is summarised from the full article rather than its abstract, so the limitations are in there too, and the funding wherever the paper declares it.

582 PAPERS · PAGE 7 OF 12 · NEWEST FIRST

• OTSLPQualitative2022Parents' perceptions of children's emotional well-being during spring 2020 COVID-19 restrictions: A qualitative study with parents of young children in England.Child: care, health and developmentParents of preschoolers in England described children losing sleep and having more tantrums when nursery closed. Some children bonded more with family. Parents struggled to create routines without external support. These are reported perceptions, not measured outcomes.
• OTSLPOther2023A comparison of the content and nature of worries of autistic and neurotypical young people as they transition from school.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceAutistic teens worry about the same things as neurotypical peers but feel more distress and anxiety. They specifically fear unexpected routine changes, social skills, and noise. Use concrete discussion tools to explore these worries before transition.
• PTOTOther2022Motor function, muscle strength and health-related quality of life of children perinatally infected with HIV.The South African journal of physiotherapyIn 30 ambulatory children with perinatally acquired HIV, 36.7% were delayed and 23.3% were at high risk of motor delay on a standard motor test. Manual dexterity was worst, with sixty percent at risk or delayed. Girls had lower jump distance than boys.
• OTSLPSurvey2023Caregiver-Child Agreement in Health-Related Quality of Life of Autistic Children and Adolescents.Journal of autism and developmental disordersCaregiver and child quality of life ratings usually agreed, but caregivers tended to rate emotional functioning lower than children, especially in children aged 8 to 12. Ask children directly when planning care.
• OTQualitative2023Barriers and facilitators to participation in everyday activities for children with intellectual disabilities in China.Child: care, health and developmentCaregivers of children with intellectual disabilities in China described barriers: limited caregiver knowledge and skills, child impairments, stigma and lack of family, financial and policy support. Facilitators included optimistic caregivers, family help, peer interaction and school activities.
• OTSLPQualitative2023Parents' perceptions of the impact of COVID-19 and school transition on autistic children's friendships.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceParents reported that autistic children who moved to a new school with existing friends or to a setting with staggered starts and reduced crowds experienced smoother transitions. Children without these supports often struggled with isolation or peer difficulties during the pandemic.
• OTSurvey2022COVID-19 Vaccines for Children with Developmental Disabilities: Survey of New York State Parents' Willingness and Concerns.Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBPMost parents of children with developmental disabilities were willing to vaccinate their children against COVID-19, especially for adolescents. Willingness dropped for younger children and among Black and Hispanic parents. Key concerns were side effects, exclusion from trials, and impacts on development.
• PTOTSLPQualitative2023Stakeholder perspectives on navigating the pediatric concussion experience: Exploring the needs for improved communication across the care continuum.NeuroRehabilitationStakeholders reported that communication from healthcare providers to schools is often ineffective or absent. Parents who actively advocated secured more accommodations. Schools frequently lack a designated point person, and non-athlete students receive less coordinated support than athletes.
• OTSurvey2022Child Media Use During COVID-19: Associations with Contextual and Social-Emotional Factors.Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBPChildren spent about 4 hours daily on entertainment screen media outside schoolwork. Mobile apps and games were linked to more behavioral difficulties, problematic media use, and shorter sleep, while video chat and streaming were linked to more prosocial behavior.
• OTSLPQualitative2022Parents with intellectual disability reporting on factors affecting their caregiving in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study.Journal of applied research in intellectual disabilities : JARIDParents with intellectual disability reported that the pandemic overwhelmed their caregiving capacity. They struggled to understand abstract health information and lost access to home-based professional support. This led to increased isolation, strained parent-child relationships, and in one case, the placement of children in out-of-home care.
• PTOTSLPQualitative2023Factors influencing participation in home, school, and community settings by children and adolescents with neuromuscular disorders: A qualitative descriptive study.Developmental medicine and child neurologyChildren with neuromuscular disorders valued decision-making and planning as participation, even when they could not perform tasks. They relied on adapted equipment and peer inclusion to maintain confidence, while inaccessible community spaces caused withdrawal.
• OTCase-Control2023Mammillary body abnormalities and cognitive outcomes in children cooled for neonatal encephalopathy.Developmental medicine and child neurologyAmong cooled children without cerebral palsy, 11 of 32 had mammillary body abnormalities on MRI, and these children scored lower on all cognitive domains than controls and cooled children without abnormalities.
• PTOTSLPCohort2023Sleep problems in autism: Sex differences in the school-age population.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchAutistic girls had the highest rates of sleep problems, affecting 84.4% compared to 65.8% of autistic boys and about 43% of typically developing children. Anxiety predicted poor sleep in boys, but not in girls.
• PTOTSLPCohort2023Teacher- and parent-reported trajectories of maladaptive behaviors among individuals with autism and non-spectrum delays.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchAcross ages 9 to 18, hyperactivity and irritability improved for most participants, but social withdrawal stayed stable. Participants with lower verbal intelligence or more autism features started with higher symptom levels and improved less over time, regardless of teacher or parent report.
• OTSLPOther2023Predictors of individual differences in minimally verbal peer communication exchanges following peer-oriented social intervention.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchChildren with higher baseline social communication difficulties or restricted behaviors showed less progress in peer interactions. However, those with greater sensory or executive challenges sometimes improved more with intervention, suggesting specific barriers might respond well to structured peer support.
• PTOTQualitative2023Participation in everyday life for young people with chronic pain in Saudi Arabia: "you feel lacking in life and you feel that time is flying by".Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesYoung people with chronic pain described pain as a heavy burden that limited walking, sleep, mood, concentration, and social contact. They tried to keep daily life going with medication, distraction, rest, family help, and avoiding triggers.
• PTOTCohort2023Education and employment as young adults living with spina bifida transition to adulthood in the USA: A study of the National Spina Bifida Patient Registry.Developmental medicine and child neurologyYoung adults with spina bifida in a US registry had low employment rates. Any employment was associated with higher education, sacral-level leg function, bowel continence, private insurance, and recent non-shunt surgery.
• OTSLPCohort2023The effect of medical/therapeutic clowns on the playfulness of children with intellectual disabilities.Journal of applied research in intellectual disabilities : JARIDChildren with intellectual disabilities showed increased observed playfulness after weekly medical clown sessions. Those who received the intervention for six months improved more than those who received it for three months. Teachers reported children initiating play and engaging more with peers.
• OTQualitative2023Autistic and non-autistic young people's and caregivers' perspectives on COVID-19-related schooling changes and their impact on emotional well-being: An opportunity for change?Autism : the international journal of research and practiceAutistic young people reported reduced anxiety and better focus during lockdown due to removed social and sensory demands. Non-autistic peers reported benefits less frequently. Both groups valued flexible pacing and reduced sensory load, suggesting schools should retain these adjustments post-pandemic.
• PTOTSLPOther2023Prevalence and sociodemographic characteristics of US community-dwelling older adults with communication disabilities, using the national health and aging trends survey.Journal of communication disordersAbout one in four community-dwelling US adults over 65 has a communication disability. These individuals are more likely to be male, Black or Hispanic, have lower education and income, and have very small social networks compared to peers without disabilities.
• OTCohort2023Challenging behaviour and its risk factors in children and young people in a special school setting: A four wave longitudinal study.Journal of applied research in intellectual disabilities : JARIDAcross four time points, challenging behaviour did not show a clear trend: 58.2% met criteria at the first point, and 64% at the last. Lower adaptive skills and autism were linked to more behaviour, while profound intellectual disability was linked to less overall behaviour.
• PTOTSLPCohort2023Fine motor skill and expressive language in minimally verbal and verbal school-aged autistic children.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchIn autistic children aged 4 to 7, better fine motor skills linked to clearer speech only in minimally verbal children. For all children, fine motor skills and adaptive behavior predicted longer utterances. Conversational turns depended on adaptive behavior alone, not motor skill.
• OTCohort2023Predicting academic success of autistic students in higher education.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceAdministrative data like age, secondary school grades, and application timing can predict which autistic students are at risk of dropping out. The models were more accurate for autistic students than for their peers, but overall predictive power remained low.
• PTOTSLPSurvey2023Everyday life during the childhood cancer trajectory-childhood cancer survivors' descriptions of the role of caring support.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesChildhood cancer survivors rated emotional presence as the most significant aspect of care. Older survivors valued this more. Men and those treated with radiation reported lower confidence in their ability to cope. This highlights the need for tailored long-term psychosocial support.
• PTOTSLPOther2022Cross-Cultural Validation of Health and Quality of Life Measures for Children in Hong Kong.Occupational therapy internationalChildren with special educational needs reported lower quality of life than peers, particularly in physical and social functioning. Parents generally agreed with their children's views, except for school performance, where parents rated it lower.
• OTCohort2022Factors affecting cross-linguistic transfer of handwriting performance among elementary-school bilingual students.The British journal of occupational therapyHandwriting transfer between languages depends on which language is dominant and how complex the script is. Arabic-speaking students wrote Hebrew as fast as their native Arabic, but Hebrew-speaking students wrote Arabic much slower than their native Hebrew. Legibility stayed high in both groups.
• OTSLPPilot2023Feasibility and Acceptability of an Online Family Literacy Program in an Under-Resourced Community During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBPAn online bilingual literacy program for Latino families was feasible and acceptable during the pandemic. Parents valued the ability to participate alongside their children and access healthcare professionals. The study tested feasibility, not whether the program improved children's school readiness or language skills.
• PTOTSLPCohort2023Variable patterns of daily activity participation across settings in autistic youth: A latent profile transition analysis.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceMost autistic teens stay in low-participation groups at school and in the community from early to middle adolescence. Only 8% are active across all settings. Environmental supportiveness predicted participation more strongly than income or IQ, suggesting barriers matter more than ability.
• OTSurvey2023Establishment in productive occupations and perceived work ability among former students with special educational needs one year after upper secondary education.Work (Reading, Mass.)One year after school, 63% of students with special needs were working or studying. Those who passed all subjects and did not need time-management aids were more likely to be established. Interviews revealed daily routines and workplace support were key barriers to work ability.
• OTQualitative2023Swimming Lessons for Children With Autism: Parent and Teacher Experiences.OTJR : occupation, participation and healthParents sought swimming lessons primarily to prevent drowning, but later valued them for family connection and sensory regulation. Teachers relied on trial and error due to a lack of specialized training, creating access barriers based on individual teacher personality rather than standard support.
• OTSLPQualitative2023Factors influencing the mental health of autistic children and teenagers: Parents' observations and experiences.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceParents identified school environment and communication skills as critical for their autistic teenagers' mental health. Bullying, sensory overload, and rigid academic expectations worsened anxiety, while specialist schools with accepting peers and visual supports improved well-being. Lack of ongoing support services left parents feeling helpless.
• PTOTSLPSurvey2023Learning challenges in Physical Therapy, Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences, and Occupational Therapy undergraduate programs during the COVID-19 pandemic.CoDASPT, OT, and SLP students and their professors mostly preferred in-person learning and rated it essential. They saw some remote-learning benefits, but students rated professional and communication skill gains lower than professors did.
• OTSLPCohort2023Working memory of school-aged children on the autism spectrum: Predictors for longitudinal growth.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceFor autistic children, learning behaviours and teacher closeness predicted working memory gains, but special education services did not. Higher socioeconomic status meant better starting scores, yet the gap never closed. Early support matters most, as later services failed to catch those behind.
• PTOTOther2023Reliability Analysis of In-person and Virtual Goniometric Measurements of the Upper Extremity.International journal of sports physical therapyGoniometric measurements taken from static screenshots during a virtual visit are as reliable as in-person assessments. For shoulder, elbow and wrist flexion and extension, clinicians can use a standard goniometer on a captured image to obtain objective range of motion data.
• OTCase Report2023Cognitive orientation to daily occupational performance (CO-OP) approach as telehealth for a child with developmental coordination disorder: a case report.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesAn eight-year-old boy with developmental coordination disorder improved his handwriting, cycling, and playground skills after ten weekly telehealth sessions. The therapist coached him to discover strategies via video, while his mother filmed homework practice for review.
• PTOTSLPCohort2022A Network Analysis of the PART-O at 1 and 2 Years After TBI: A Veterans Affairs Model Systems Study.The Journal of head trauma rehabilitationSocial relationships and internet use were the most central parts of participation for veterans with TBI. Seeing friends and providing emotional support became more strongly linked over time, suggesting these social interactions deepened during recovery.
• OTQualitative2023"They had the lunch lady coming up to assist": The experiences of menarche and menstrual management for adolescents with physical disabilities.Disability and health journalParents of adolescent girls with physical disabilities said period management was hard because products require both hands, school help is often unavailable, and they wanted more anticipatory guidance from providers.
• PTOTCase Report2024Multidisciplinary physical rehabilitation program of individuals with spinal muscular atrophy in an inclusive school setting.Journal of pediatric rehabilitation medicineA nine-year-old girl with type 2 SMA improved in sitting and rolling after a year of combined physiotherapy and hippotherapy. She sustained sitting for five minutes and gained strength, but could not walk. This single case cannot prove the treatment works.
• PTOTSurvey2024Performance of the Physical Functioning Activities of Daily Living Scale in the 2020 Medicare Health Outcomes Survey.Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitationThe 8-item PFADL scale reliably measures physical function in Medicare patients. It is best for identifying limitations, as 26% of respondents scored at the maximum, leaving little room to detect differences among those with higher function. Use it to screen for disability, not to grade top performers.
• PTOTSLPQualitative2023Understanding and Supporting Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in the Primary School Classroom: Perspectives of Children with ADHD and their Teachers.Journal of autism and developmental disordersChildren with ADHD often cannot explain their own diagnosis, describing it only as trouble concentrating. Teachers knew the symptoms but missed the cognitive reasons behind them. Both groups relied on visual aids and movement, yet children hid fidgeting strategies from staff.
• OTOther2024A multi-perspective study of Perceived Inclusive Education for students with Neurodevelopmental Disorders.Journal of autism and developmental disordersTeachers rated inclusive practices significantly higher than students and parents did. Students reported the lowest scores for preparation for unstructured social situations and early communication of schedule changes, while parents rated staff knowledge of neurodevelopmental disorders as low.
• OTQualitative2023A Qualitative Study on Parental Experience of Involvement in the Transition from Kindergarten to Primary School for Chinese Children with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.Journal of autism and developmental disordersParents of children with intellectual disabilities often start the school transition by forcing intense academic training and strict obedience, driven by denial of the diagnosis. When children regressed or resisted, support from family and peers helped parents shift to slower, child-led routines focused on well-being rather than test scores.
• OTOther2023The Associations Between Accelerometer-Measured Physical Activity Levels and Mental Health in Children and Adolescents with Intellectual Disabilities During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Journal of autism and developmental disordersIn children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities, more light, moderate, or vigorous activity was linked to better quality of life or self-concept. Vigorous activity was linked to lower self-concept. Only 13.7% met the 60-minute moderate-to-vigorous guideline.
• OTSLPCase-Control2023Discrimination and Harassment Experiences of Autistic College Students and Their Neurotypical Peers: Risk and Protective Factors.Journal of autism and developmental disordersAutistic college students did not report more discrimination or harassment than their non-autistic peers. However, participating in campus groups was linked to higher rates of negative experiences, especially for autistic students. Strong faculty support and academic problem-solving skills were associated with fewer incidents for everyone.
• PTOTSLPCohort2023Social-Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties in Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Emotion Perception in Daily Life and in a Formal Assessment Context.Journal of autism and developmental disordersChildren with ASD, ADHD, and DLD showed similar delays in emotion discrimination and high rates of behavioural problems. Poor voice tone discrimination was linked to having no friends, affecting 32% of the clinical group. These difficulties appeared regardless of specific diagnosis.
• PTOTSLPSurvey2024Social support needs of caregivers rearing children with severe motor and intellectual disabilities at home in Japan.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesCaregivers of children with severe motor and intellectual disabilities most urgently need more places to leave their children for care. They also asked for help with medical tasks at home, support for siblings, and plans for when the caregivers themselves grow old.
• PTOTSLPSurvey2024Parent-Therapist Partnership Survey: Parent Feedback and Psychometric Properties.Journal of autism and developmental disordersParents of children receiving school-based therapies rated needs in two areas: being informed and empowered as team members, and needing support and guidance. A 36-item survey can ask these needs directly. It does not show that using it improves child or family outcomes.
• PTOTSLPSystematic Review2024Digital tools for direct assessment of autism risk during early childhood: A systematic review.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceDigital tablet and smartphone tasks measuring social preference and motor movements consistently distinguished autistic children from typical peers in 38 pilot studies. These tools are brief and automated, but none are validated for clinical screening yet.
• OTSurvey2024Parents' Perceptions: Environments and the Contextual Strategies of Parents to Support the Participation of Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder-A Descriptive Population-Based Study from Switzerland.Journal of autism and developmental disordersHalf of parents reported more home, school, and community supports than barriers; the other half did not report clear supports or barriers. Sensory overload and social demands were common barriers. Parents often described preparing, accompanying, and motivating their children.
• PTOTSLPQualitative2024Mental health in children with disabilities and their families: red flags, services' impact, facilitators, barriers, and proposed solutions.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesCaregivers and clinicians identified red flags like school isolation and sleep changes. System barriers, especially waitlists, drove negative experiences. Both groups urged family-centered care, standardized mental health training for all disciplines, and decoupling mental health support from disability diagnoses.