Research Interests:
The impairments that are present in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) may lead to deficits in the development of daily activities, such as personal care and personal hygiene skills that are essential for independence. We used... more
The impairments that are present in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) may lead to deficits in the development of daily activities, such as personal care and personal hygiene skills that are essential for independence. We used shaping procedure to teach three children with ASD nose blowing skills and this is the first ever research addressing this procedure application in children with ASD. We divided the skill into five steps and we used modeling prompt. All three participants mastered the nose blowing skill in 17 or 21 sessions. The first participant had the most difficulty with steps three and five, because of the transition from exhaling through the mouth to forceful exhaling from the nose. Shaping procedure was proven to be a successful as a teaching tool with children with ASD. These results are significant because the participants will be able to use the acquired skill every day and it will prevent possible future health issues. We believe it is necessary that both...
Deca sa poremećajima iz spektra autizma (PSA) često imaju abnormalne reakcije na gustativne nadražaje. Najčešći problem ishrane do kog dolazi u gustativnom domenu je pika, koja predstavlja konzumiranje nenutritivnih supstanci, a kao... more
Deca sa poremećajima iz spektra autizma (PSA) često imaju abnormalne reakcije na gustativne nadražaje. Najčešći problem ishrane do kog dolazi u gustativnom domenu je pika, koja predstavlja konzumiranje nenutritivnih supstanci, a kao posledice pike navode se trovanje, infekcije, gušenje, gastrointestinalne smetnje i smrt. Stoga je cilj ovog rada da prikaže procedure primenjivane kod osoba sa PSA za redukciju pike. Za pretragu literature korišćeni su pretraživači Google Scholar, SCIndex, Pro- Quest i KoBson. U pregled su uključeni radovi koji su istraživačkog karaktera i koji prikazuju rezultate intervencija za redukciju pike kod dece sa PSA, a kod kojih se pokazalo da je funkcija pike autostimulacija. U pregled literature je uvršćeno ukupno pet radova. Primenjivane procedure u istraživanjima su blokiranje odgovora, pružanje potkrepljenja nezavisno od ponašanja, pronalaženje podudarajuće stimulacije, prekidanje odgovora i omogućen pristup hrani nezavisno od odgovora, trening diskrimin...
Od velike je važnosti da se pre tretiranja problematičnog ponašanja, utvrdi njegova funkcija. Intervencije za redukciju problematičnih ponašanja koja deca ispoljavaju zbog želje da izbegnu zadatak se mogu podeliti na one koje menjaju... more
Od velike je važnosti da se pre tretiranja problematičnog ponašanja, utvrdi njegova funkcija. Intervencije za redukciju problematičnih ponašanja koja deca ispoljavaju zbog želje da izbegnu zadatak se mogu podeliti na one koje menjaju prethodnika ponašanja, samog ponašanja i posledice koju ponašanje izaziva. Intervencija fokusirana na izmenu samog problematičnog ponašanja podrazumeva podučavanje deteta da na socijalno prihvatljiv način dobije priliku da izbegne zadatak i naziva se funkcionalni komunikacioni trening (FKT). Cilj ove studije slučaja je bio ispitati efikasnost FKT procedure u cilju redukcije problematičnog ponašanja kod sedmogodišnjeg ispitanika sa poremećajem iz spektra autizma (PSA). Primena FKT je dovela do potpune redukcije problematičnog ponašanja (100%) kod ispitanika za 39 tretmana. Značaj ove studije se ogleda u tome što prisustvo problematičnih ponašanja u funkciji izbegavanja zadatka onemogućava decu sa PSA pri usvajanju novih veština i znanja, a redukcijom i p...
Research Interests: Physics and Humanities
Due to COVID-19 pandemic faculties were closed and online educational platforms were used, which caused the process of transferring from conventional learning to online learning at majority of higher educational institutions across the... more
Due to COVID-19 pandemic faculties were closed and online educational platforms were used, which caused the process of transferring from conventional learning to online learning at majority of higher educational institutions across the world. The aim of this research was to examine types of technology students of Faculty for special education and rehabilitation own, types of technology their faculty owns, self-perceived level of proficiency in using certain programs, students’ satisfaction with certain services or spaces provided to them by their faculty, students’ belief in usefulness of certain aspects of technology use at their faculty, perception of usefulness of particular technologies at their faculty, as well as their opinions about technology use during lectures. The sample included 156 students and the survey distributed to respondents was a survey designed by Honeychurch & McCluckie (2007).Almost all respondents own smartphone (97.4%) and a computer, while only 26.3% of th...
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Research Interests:
Practical skills involve activities that enable independent functioning. People with intellectual disability (ID) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) require systematic teaching in order to acquire them which excludes barriers. The aim is... more
Practical skills involve activities that enable independent functioning. People with intellectual disability (ID) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) require systematic teaching in order to acquire them which excludes barriers. The aim is to determine correlation between the level of self-help skills and the presence of teaching barriers. The secondary aim is to determine the predictors for acquisition of both. The sample comprised of 53 participants of different age and gender, diagnosed with ID or ASD. The level of self-help skills was determined with the use of Checklist for self-help skills assessment (Verbal Behavior Milestones and Assessment protocol - VB Mapp Self Care Checklist Supplement - Sundberg, 2008), while the presence of teaching barriers was assessed by using the Barriers Assessment Scale (VB-Mapp Barriers Assessment - Sundberg, 2008). The results show that gender and diagnosis are not significant predictors of either self-help skills or teaching barriers. The parti...
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There is an increasing number of people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and therefore different software and hardware solutions are made for them. The effectiveness of any type of treatment is connected to its intensity and... more
There is an increasing number of people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and therefore different software and hardware solutions are made for them. The effectiveness of any type of treatment is connected to its intensity and interventions based on the use of technology can allow that. The aim of this literature review is to examine the effectiveness of interventions focused on teaching people with ASD with the use of Nao robots. For the literature search, we used Google Scholar, SciIndex and ProQuest search engines. The articles were searched by using keywords: autism, autism spectrum disorders, Nao robots, and humanoid robots. We included articles published in the last 10 years that were original research articles focused on teaching people with ASD certain skills. In the review section, we included eight research. The average effectiveness of these interventions was 40.3%. The reasons for insufficient success are a subjective measurement of intervention success and a low numbe...
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The aim of this research was to examine characteristics and predictors of auto stimulatory behavior in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), as well as to determine the presence of auto stimulatory behavior exhibited by children... more
The aim of this research was to examine characteristics and predictors of auto stimulatory behavior in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), as well as to determine the presence of auto stimulatory behavior exhibited by children with ASD. The sample included 43 participants diagnosed with ASD. The instrument used was Behavior Problems Inventory (BPI-01, Rojahn et al., 2002), subscale for stereotyped behavior. Our results show that children with ASD from our sample have lower rates of auto stimulatory behavior, with the most common ones being repetitive body movements, arm shaking, bouncing around, running and pacing. The school type has not proven to be a predictor of auto stimulatory behaviors. However, male participants and those with low functioning ASD exhibit more auto stimulatory behaviors than females and those with high functioning ASD. The presence of auto stimulatory behaviors persists through age. Auto-stimulatory behaviors exhibited by children with ASD can be r...
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The aim of this research was to examine the frequency of different barriers faced by special education teachers in working with children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The sample included 53 participants of both genders and of... more
The aim of this research was to examine the frequency of different barriers faced by special education teachers in working with children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The sample included 53 participants of both genders and of different ages who were diagnosed with ASD. The instrument used to assess the presence of barriers in teaching refers to the Assessment of Barriers in Teaching (VB-Mapp Barriers Assessment -Sundberg, 2008). In our sample, it was found that all respondents have a pronounced presence of teaching barriers, while the most frequent barriers are prompt dependence, generalization difficulties, socialization problems, escape or avoidance of given tasks and the absence of the tact ability. Having in mind the obtained results, it is highlighted as a necessity to develop an approach that would lead to elimination of the mentioned barriers, as well as to develop a treatment plan to address those teaching barriers in working with children with PSA and consequently e...
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Research Interests:
NTC - Sistem učenja (Centar Nikola Tesla - Odeljenje Mensa za nadarene), je sistem učenja zasnovan na teorijskim osnovama neurologije, neuropsihologije, pedagogije, didaktike i metodologije za predškolski i osnovnoškolski uzrast.... more
NTC - Sistem učenja (Centar Nikola Tesla - Odeljenje Mensa za nadarene), je sistem učenja zasnovan na teorijskim osnovama neurologije, neuropsihologije, pedagogije, didaktike i metodologije za predškolski i osnovnoškolski uzrast. Spomenuti sistem učenja utiče na teorijsko znanje i daje uputstva o tome kako povezati teoriju sa obrazovnom praksom. Ranko Rajović, dr.med., specijalista interne medicine, osnivač Mense u nekoliko država, saradnik UNICEF-a za edukaciju i književnik Uroš Petrović ističu se kao osnivači NTC - sistema učenja. Namena NTC programa prvenstveno je bila prepoznavanje i podsticanje darovitih. Međutim, uočene su pozitivne promene kod učenika sa lošijim uspehom kao i da primena programa pomaže i razvoj poželjnih vrednosti kod učenika; kao i to da učenici kod kojih su identifikovane neke razvojne smetnje, pokazuju bolje rezultate u izvršavanju školskih obaveza i akademskim veštinama (Rajović i sar., 2013). Program je primenjivan u Slovačkoj, Italiji, Češkoj, Rumuniji,...
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Stimulus-stimulus (ss) pairing procedure can be used in a variety of ways in treatment of people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), however it is mostly used in inducing vocal speech in nonverbal children. Research shows that using... more
Stimulus-stimulus (ss) pairing procedure can be used in a variety of ways in treatment of people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), however it is mostly used in inducing vocal speech in nonverbal children. Research shows that using this procedure is more efficient for increasing the number of emitted words when compared to other procedures. Therefore, the aim of this case study is to examine the effectiveness of the use of ss pairing procedure in order to induce vocal speech with a nonverbal child diagnosed with ASD. At the very first session of the procedure implementation, the child spoke clear words, while in the last session, the number of spoken words per session was 192. Having in mind the effectiveness of the implemented procedure, as well as data that parents of children with ASD can be successfully trained to use this procedure in their home environment, it is important to train them to implement it correctly. This is of great importance because the majority of the child...
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Video modeling is a teaching strategy in the form of presentation of a video of a personperforming a skill correctly, while the observer of the video performs that skill simultaneously or afterwards. The aim of this literature review is... more
Video modeling is a teaching strategy in the form of presentation of a video of a personperforming a skill correctly, while the observer of the video performs that skill simultaneously or afterwards. The aim of this literature review is to examine the possibilities of video modeling use with people with disabilities, and to examine the effects of interventions implemented by the use of this technique on skill acquisition.Following online resources have been used for literature search: Google Scholar search engine, SCIndex, ProQuest, and Serbian Library Consortium for Coordinated Acquisition – KoBson. The articles have been searched in Serbian and English languages. The literature review includes ten studies that used video modeling technique in teaching the participants different skills, such as cooking, shopping, performing house chores, oral hygiene, writing, injury sanitation, maintaining eye contact, and motor skills. The overall sample consisted of 46 participants, and the aver...
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People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit different impairments in the domain of auditory processing of pitch, altitude and prosody of sounds and voices from the environment. It is believed that altered sensory processing of... more
People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit different impairments in the domain of auditory processing of pitch, altitude and prosody of sounds and voices from the environment. It is believed that altered sensory processing of these individuals originates from insufficient stimulation from the persons’ surroundings, therefore they have the need to stimulate themselves in a way of emitting vocal stereotypes of different forms. Having that in mind, the aim of this literature review is to present interventions used in reducing vocal stereotypy in children with ASD, as well as to examine their efficiency. For literature search engines Google Scholar, SCIndex, ProQuest and Serbian Library Consortium for Coordinated Acquisition – KoBson were used. Original research articles were searched in Serbian and English language. Literature review focused on interventions whose primary aim was reducing vocal stereotypy with the self-stimulatory function in participants diagnosed with ASD. A ...
Research Interests:
Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have difficulties in independent performance of everyday tasks, therefore the aim of this study was to teach a child with ASD to tie shoelaces by using a total task chaining procedure. The... more
Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have difficulties in independent performance of everyday tasks, therefore the aim of this study was to teach a child with ASD to tie shoelaces by using a total task chaining procedure. The participant was a ten year old boy diagnosed with ASD and the procedure used was total task chaining. The task analysis was divided into 13 steps and the teaching procedure was divided into two phases. Independent performance and generalization probes were also conducted. Total task chaining procedure was proven to be successful as a independence skills teaching tool, as the child mastered this skill in only 15 sessions with 100% success. These results are particularly significant in light of the demonstration of generalization by the participant, as he will be able to use the skill in present and future. Key words: total task chaining, shoelace tying, autism, independence.
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Developing creativity and thinking outside the box is key in modern education. When students are able to combine ideas, techniques, approaches that enable them to solve problems in different ways we can assert that they were taught... more
Developing creativity and thinking outside the box is key in modern education. When students are able to combine ideas, techniques, approaches that enable them to solve problems in different ways we can assert that they were taught creativity in their mathematical instructions. Most tests for evaluation of mathematical creativity measure the flexibility, fluency, and originality of student responses. Creativity tends to be hindered in the case of students with mild intellectual disabilities. Studies on the application of creativity in the teaching of mathematics to students with intellectual disabilities are limited. The article analyzed the academic achievement in mathematics and development of students' creativity.
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It is necessary to teach children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) delayed reinforcement skills. The aim of the present case study was to examine the effectiveness of shaping procedure application in order to increase appropriate wait... more
It is necessary to teach children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) delayed reinforcement skills. The aim of the present case study was to examine the effectiveness of shaping procedure application in order to increase appropriate wait time with a six year old boy diagnosed with ASD. In this study we applied delayed reinforcement protocol, which is based on the shaping procedure. The procedure was applied during discrete trial training, natural environment teaching and in home environment by parents. Baseline data was collected regarding adequate wait time exhibited by a participant in three different sessions, where it was established that average wait time duration was four seconds. In eleven sessions, the child mastered the desired skill. A significant progress was related to the application of the protocol in home environment by the parents and the autonomous use of behavior self-regulation strategies. It is relevant to mention that the alternative activities delivered during...
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Parents of children with disabilities are eligible to apply for additional services to aid their child in the education process. Parents frequently use the service of shadow teachers, but they often end up unsatisfied with the service and... more
Parents of children with disabilities are eligible to apply for additional services to aid their child in the education process. Parents frequently use the service of shadow teachers, but they often end up unsatisfied with the service and change shadow teachers repeatedly. The aim of this research is to a) examine shadow teachers' beliefs about their obligations; b) determine what are their obligations; c) determine what they believe is their level of proficiency in different areas of shadow teaching position and d) determine the discrepancy between what shadow teachers believe their job should be and what job obligations they were expected to do while shadowing a child. The instrument used was the survey distributed by Manansala & Dizon (2008), it was translated into Serbian language and modified. The sample consisted of 36 students of Faculty for Special education who currently work or have worked in the past as a shadow teacher. Since the sample consisted of shadow teachers w...
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The diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) itself can include problems with hyper responsiveness to different sensory stimuli. These difficulties can lead to different maladaptive behavioral manifestations and prevent children... more
The diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) itself can include problems with hyper responsiveness to different sensory stimuli. These difficulties can lead to different maladaptive behavioral manifestations and prevent children diagnosed with ASD from participating in certain activities. The aim of the present case study was to examine the effectiveness of shaping procedure application in order to increase compliance with haircutting with a six year old boy diagnosed with ASD. The procedure used for increasing compliance while getting a haircut was shaping and we divided the intervention into two phases. Phase one involved teaching the participant to tolerate the presence of the hair clipper on his head, while phase two consisted of increasing participant’s toleration of the sound emitted by the hair clipper. Generalization probe involved taking the participant into a hair salon, where he would receive hair grooming performed by a professional hair stylist. The child mastered p...
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Although the attitudes toward people with disabilities had improved, there is still evidence that they remain stigmatized. The aim of this research was to determine the differences in attitudes toward people with disabilities among... more
Although the attitudes toward people with disabilities had improved, there is still evidence that they remain stigmatized. The aim of this research was to determine the differences in attitudes toward people with disabilities among participants based on their sociodemographic characteristics and attitudes toward inclusive education. The sample consisted of 261 students that were surveyed using the Multidimensional Attitudes Scale toward Persons with Disabilities, and a questioner designed by the authors regarding attitudes toward inclusion. Students who have had previous contact with people with disabilities had more positive attitudes. The majority of them had positive attitudes towards inclusive education and had the opinion that children who are enrolled in inclusive classes do not disrupt typically developing children‟s‟ educational process. It is of great importance to examine attitudes of students toward people with disabilities, because it is considered that attitudes of stud...
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The aim of this review was to systematically identify, analyze, and summarize research involving interventions based on sensory integration and activities that promote sensory integration in children with ASD. Based on the selection... more
The aim of this review was to systematically identify, analyze, and summarize research involving interventions based on sensory integration and activities that promote sensory integration in children with ASD. Based on the selection criteria ten out of thirty studies were selected and described in terms of: a) participant characteristics, b) assessments used in the studies, c) intervention procedures, d) study goals, e) intervention outcomes and whether or not there was improvement in behavior or clinical conditions. The results of the analyzed studies indicate a remarkable heterogeneity profile of sensory function in children with ASD, which affect the applicability of different forms of treatment. Based on the results of these studies, we can conclude that treatments based on SI theory can reduce stereotypical, aggressive, auto-aggressive, irritable, and hyperactive behavior, as well as improve self-regulation of behavior.