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This chapter investigates the ongoing process of academization within the field of educational therapy in Germany, particularly in the context of the introduction of university degrees in integrative educational therapy and the psychology of learning. The introduction of these degrees brought about transformative changes in the professional landscape. Educational therapists holding such degrees often demonstrate a more advanced understanding of their roles, which is underpinned by thorough university education and the legitimizing influence of their academic titles. Prior to the establishment of these degree programs, the field of educational therapy was notably unregulated, devoid of a protected professional title or a specific qualification. This lack of regulation resulted in a proliferation of varied providers, giving rise to what’s known as the “after-school market” phenomenon. This chapter explores the genesis and institutionalization of degree programs in educational therapy as a path toward professionalizing the field. It reveals the crucial role that professional associations along with scientific experts have played in launching these degree programs. Additionally, it discusses the impact of competition among different approaches to educational therapy within this rapidly evolving landscape.

This chapter sought to answer the following questions: (a) what does special education means for students with intellectual disability?, (b) what is being done, and (c) how do we maintain tradition? The answers, while complicated, suggest special education for students with intellectual disability historically and currently involves attention to what, how, and where, with the how being the key elements of special education for students with intellectual disability. This chapter discussed the what, how, and where for students with intellectual disability in a historical and current framework while also providing evidence-based practices for students with intellectual disability to implement to maintain the tradition of high-quality services.

The purpose of this study is to provide a bibliometric analysis of global research publications on virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) technologies in the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders.

The SciVerse Scopus database was used to retrieve relevant documents using a validated search strategy for the study period from 1980 to 2021.

In total, 1,233 research articles were found. Research in this field has experienced steep growth since 2017; was disseminated by journals in the fields of clinical psychology, neuroscience, psychiatry and computer sciences; was mainly carried out by scholars in high-income countries with advanced digital technology; has a relatively high number of authors per article but with a relatively poor cross-country research collaboration; was led by researchers and institutions mainly from the USA, Spain and Italy; and has received the highest number of citations for articles on anxiety and phobias.

Bibliometric methodology is a useful tool for identifying evolution growth patterns and research hot topics in the use of emerging technologies in clinical practice. Research on implementing AR/VR technologies in medicine will be enhanced by strengthening international research collaboration. More research attention should be paid to new emerging technologies in the mental health field.

The use of VR/AR technologies became popular as an alternative to or adjunct to traditional therapy in mental health practice. The rapid increase in research publications in recent years suggested that AR and VR technologies were both acceptable and simple to use. A wide range of mental health disorders could be managed by AR/VR technologies. Training medical and nursing students on various new technologies is important to cope with the digital revolution.

Based on the volume and growth patterns of research publications, there is a promising future for the use of VR/AR technologies in the field of mental health. Teaching and training health-care professionals on the proper use of VR/AR are needed to support their potential future use.

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) present challenges in their social and communication skills such as difficulties in developing interpersonal relationships and verbal and nonverbal communication; repetitive and restricted behaviors concerning resistance to environmental change, stereotyped movements and unusual reactions to sensory stimuli; and significant delays in motor development and performance. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a combined visual arts and exercise program on the communication and social behavior skills of people with ASD.

The research was conducted in a Creative Employment Center of People with Disabilities, and the sample consisted of 18 participants with ASD divided randomly into a control group (CG) (n = 8) and an experiment group (EG) (n = 10). The Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) was used prior and after the implementation of the intervention program. EG participants attended an intervention program, whereas CG individuals followed their daily routine activities, and they only completed the SCQ prior and after the program.

EG demonstrated statically significant improvements in communication skills and social behavior, compared to the results of the CG. Furthermore, participants with Asperger’s syndrome showed a higher improvement rate compared to participants with autism, while no statistically significant differences were noticed concerning gender and age of the participants.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to investigate the effect of a combined visual arts and adapted physical activity program on the social and communication skills of people with ASD.

The objective of this paper is to study the efficacy of the ASPECTSS Design Index's concepts as drivers of design intervention for educational environments for students on the autism spectrum. Based on the seven principles of acoustics, spatial sequencing, escape spaces, compartmentalization, transitions, sensory zoning and safety, ASPECTSS formed the basis for a preliminary post-occupancy evaluation (POE) and survey of an existing school environment.

Concepts drawn from the review of other strategies for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) friendly design were integrated with the seven ASPECTSS principles to create a design framework and consequent design retro-fit for a Pre-K-12th grade public school for students on the autism spectrum. The following design interventions were proposed: colour-coding based navigation; acoustical treatments in key circulation spaces; introduction of transition alcoves; classroom reorganisation using compartmentalization principles and the introduction of escape spaces for de-escalation. Specifically, a classroom template of modules of ASPECTSS-compliant layouts was provided to all staff. The efficacy and impact of these interventions were assessed using a whole campus online staff survey with further probing using classroom observations and subsequent interviews.

The results show alignment between the implementation of the ASPECTSS informed design interventions and responses to nine of the Likert scale items were all significantly lower than the middle response, indicating a high degree of satisfaction from survey respondents. These questions and responses related to the colour scheme facilitating ease of navigation for visitors of the school, the acoustics of the building successfully mitigating sound magnification and subsequently student distractibility, the organisation of the classrooms enhancing learning and the de-escalation zones allowing improved management of disruptive behaviours in the classroom.

This study focuses primarily on the Autism ASPECTSS Design Index as a framework for assessing classroom efficacy. Other tools and frameworks may produce different insights. A single school site was studied. Validation of these findings in other school environments is necessary before generalising these strategies at scale. The use of qualitative tools, primarily teacher and staff surveys, provides one lens into the efficacy of these design strategies. Further research using measurable biometric indicators such as heart-rate and stress levels measured through wearable technology could provide a first step towards the triangulation of these findings.

These findings could help provide more standardised best practices for designing learning environments for autism, potentially providing supportive strategies with real impact on learning quality, skill development and knowledge acquisition in school environments. This could potentially have economic implications by supporting more efficient progress for autistic students through their school curriculum.

Similar to economic impact, if validated and generalised, these findings could help with sense of accomplishment, general mental health improvement, alleviation of family stress and potential reduction of stigma in the autism community.

There is a slowly emerging field of design guidance for autism schools, but very little empirical evidence on the measurable efficacy of these strategies. This research provides one type of such evidence, as measured by the perceived impact from the point of view of staff and teachers at the school.

Recent research has proposed a specific female phenotype within autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It suggests females exhibit differences in social communication styles with higher levels of camouflaging and compensatory strategies, as well as variance in restrictive repetitive behaviours (RRBs); however, many existing studies have been based on either small, disproportionate or child and adolescent samples, leaving questions about the specific phenotype. This study aims to explore the sex difference and phenotype in a clinic sample of individuals diagnosed with autism.

A service evaluation of sex/ gender differences on 150 historical ASD assessment reports (75 males, 75 females) using a 103-item questionnaire developed from a quantitative review of existing literature was undertaken.

Females camouflaged more significantly than males in five different areas (thinking how to act next, preparing conversation in advance, making lists of prompts/social responses, wearing a mask/acting, less monotone voice); however, these were not maintained in post-analysis correction.

This study points the evidence towards a different phenotype of Autism that is more common in women than men rather than a unique female phenotype.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) refers to a group of complex neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by repetitive and characteristic patterns of behavior and difficulties with social communication and interaction. Puberty is an important period for teenagers with ASD. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of educational program on increasing social skills (SS) and sexual knowledge (SK) in adolescent boys with high-functioning autism (HFA) disorder.

This study was conducted using a single-subject design. Participants were three boys diagnosed with HFA disorder, selected using purposive sampling. The social skills improvement system scale and the sexual knowledge questionnaire were used to measure SS and SK. The training program consisted of 49 sessions.

Results showed that, given the comparison of scores before and after the intervention, the training program was effective in improving SS and SK.

With regard to the importance of puberty, training programs for parents and adolescents play an effective role in increasing SS and SK of adolescents with HFA disorder.

Looked after children (LAC) are criminalised at five times the rate of children in the general population. Children in contact with both child welfare and child justice systems have higher rates of neurodisability and substance use problems, and LAC in general have high rates of school exclusion, homelessness and unemployment. This study aims to understand whether these factors persist in LAC who are in prison as adults.

Administrative data collected by the Do-IT profiler screening tool in a prison in Wales, UK, were analysed to compare sentenced prisoners who were LAC (n = 631) to sentenced prisoners who were not LAC (n = 2,201). The sample comprised all prisoners who were screened on entry to prison in a two-year period.

Prisoners who were LAC scored more poorly on a functional screener for neurodisability (effect size = 0.24), and on four self-report measures capturing traits of dyslexia (0.22), attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (0.40), autism spectrum disorders (0.34) and developmental co-ordination disorder (0.33). Prisoners who were LAC were more likely to have been to a pupil referral unit (0.24), have substance use problems (0.16), be homeless or marginally housed (0.18) and be unemployed or unable to work due to disability (0.13).

This study uniquely contributes to our understanding of prisoners who were LAC as a target group for intervention and support with re-integration into the community upon release. LAC in prison as adults may require additional interventions to help with employment, housing and substance use. Education programmes in prison should screen for neurodisability, to develop strategies to support engagement.

Children with developmental disabilities (e.g. learning disability and autism) often struggle with handwriting skills. This study aims to implement an adapted handwriting programme for children with developmental disabilities to improve their handwriting skills.

Six children with developmental disabilities aged 9–15 years received an adapted Handwriting Without Tears® (HWT) programme in small groups over eight weeks. The programme was delivered by typical teaching staff (i.e. paraprofessionals) at a special education school following a brief training session and with ongoing supervision. A range of measures assessed the children’s handwriting and related skills. Social validity interviews were conducted with school staff following the intervention to evaluate the programme’s acceptability.

Typical teaching staff implemented the handwriting programme with 92.3% average fidelity and delivered a minimum of three sessions per week. Social validity interviews demonstrated the acceptability of the intervention to school staff. After eight weeks of intervention, all children improved their handwriting on various assessments. Improvements were only partially maintained at follow-up.

This study supports the feasibility of using an adapted HWT programme to teach handwriting to children with developmental disabilities in special education settings. Typical teaching staff can be trained to support the delivery of the programme to children in small groups.

This review aims to examine the literature on refugees’ and asylum seekers’ resilience, its historical evolution, key principles, assumptions and recommendations, while focusing on the Canadian context.

A narrative literature review has been applied to this manuscript. This approach allows the integration of a wide scope of literature and perspectives, from academic literature to grey literature (e.g. governmental reports and dissertations). Nevertheless, the limitations of this type of review were also discussed.

In spite of the gaining popularity of the resilience lens, which emphasizes an individual’s ability to overcome adversities and stressful events, more work is required for its effective integration into health practice, programs and policies, particularly as it relates to refugees’ and asylum seekers’ mental health care.

Careful consideration of refugees’ and asylum seekers’ mental health needs and Canadian mental health service delivery and policies is a critical first step in reaching such a goal.