Welcome to this special issue on developmental disabilities. We have a range of interesting and stimulating articles for you that span early primary to post-school education. Some of the articles address generic issues that are potentially relevant for children with any type of developmental disability, two focus specifically on Autism Spectrum Disorder and one is relevant to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
The first paper by Suzanne Carrington, Donna Berthelsen, Julie Nickerson, Jan Nicholson, Sue Walker and Katrina Meldrum reports on a study of teachers’ experiences of inclusion across the first three years of primary schooling. Although the teachers believed that regular classrooms were appropriate for the young children with developmental disabilities in their classes and perceived a range of benefits, they also described a number of significant challenges. This study adds to a body of literature about inclusive practices, and highlights the critical need for higher levels of support and resourcing if inclusion is to be truly successful.
The next article by Alison Poulton, Samina Whale and Joanne Robinson introduces the Mental Effort Reward Imbalances Model. The authors describe two self-management strategies, positive rumination and positive reappraisal, that have the potential to reduce reward-seeking behaviour in students with ADHD by encouraging them to attribute value to an activity so that its achievement is emotionally satisfying.
The final article in the first section of this issue is from Terry Hanley, Nicky Toor and Judith Hebron. They provide a systematic review of qualitative research about access to further and higher education for young people with Autism Spectrum Conditions. The 12 studies they review illustrate a number of facilitators, as well as the obstacles and needs that make post-school education challenging. The findings will be useful for school psychologists and counsellors who are supporting students with Autism Spectrum Conditions as they prepare for the transition to further and higher education.
Our next section on applied practices is introduced by Editor Dr Susan Colmar and contains two papers about assessment and intervention that have particular relevance for practitioners.
Finally, our book review section in this special issue is noticeably different from the usual format and length. Instead of reviewing two or three recently released books, we present a very substantial review of more than 50 books that can potentially be used to promote awareness, understanding and acceptance of children with developmental disabilities. My colleague Glenn Howard and I provide an introduction and discussion of the book reviews that were prepared by postgraduate psychology students as part of their study of development and disability. The students are enrolled in the Master of Psychology (Educational and Developmental) program at Queensland University of Technology. In this program, psychologists are trained to work in a range of areas, including schools. Much of their coursework is applied in focus, as illustrated by this book review exercise. In addition to contributing to their professional training, the book reviews make a worthwhile contribution to the profession through this publication. Glenn and I would like to thank the 36 students (and Glenn's daughter who contributed one of the reviews) for their enthusiasm for this task and for their critical insights about the potential use of literature for promoting the inclusion of all children in schools, irrespective of their differences or disabilities. We hope that you will find this lengthy article to be a valuable resource in your professional practice as school psychologists and counsellors.
