Early intervention (EI) based on behavioral science is one of the most promising treatment options for children with autism. Ever since Ivar Lovaas study from 1987, researchers are aware of the benefits of intensive early intervention in improving the outcomes of children with autism. Children who receive EI often show remarkable improvements in their social, cognitive, and adaptive skills. These interventions typically involve structured teaching methods, intensive behavioral therapies, and a variety of support services tailored to the individual needs of each child. By addressing the core symptoms of autism early in a child's development, these programs aim to foster better long-term outcomes. In this paper, we presented an overview of the main topics in the field of EI for children with autism published in major scientific journals. For this purpose, we performed a search of the Web of Science citation base and identified 91 articles published in the period 2019-2023 that had the words “early intervention” and “autism” OR “ASD” in their titles. The selected articles dealt with several interesting topics ranging from improving social communication and joint attention to topics dealing with quality of life and parent mediated EI programs. We concluded the paper with a discussion on the future directions of EI research. Despite the significant progress made, there is still much to learn about optimizing these early behavior interventions. Future research should aim to personalize intervention strategies to meet the unique needs of each child with autism and their families. Additionally, more longitudinal studies are needed to understand the long-term impacts of EI on various life outcomes.

Scientific journals play a critical role in disseminating knowledge, and staying up to date with research findings in a particular field can be challenging given the vast number of journals and research topics available. Therefore, there is a need for researchers to occasionally summarize the main research topics in order to help fellow researchers navigate the contents more effectively. In this context, this article aims to review the research topics published in the Problems of Education in the 21st Century journal between 2018 and 2022. A total of 285 abstracts were retrieved from the Web of Science database and analyzed to identify the most common research topics and the contributing countries. The top 10 research topics identified were self-efficacy, distance education, professional development, critical thinking, foreign language, thinking skills, Covid-19, academic achievement, emotional intelligence, and special education. The authors of the papers came from 62 countries, with most of the papers coming from Türkiye, South Africa, Indonesia, Brazil, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Malaysia, Sweden, Lithuania, and Serbia. In conclusion, this study highlights the relevance and diversity of research topics in the Problems of Education in the 21st Century journal, underscoring the need for a nuanced, context-specific approach to education research. The findings of this study have important implications for researchers, policymakers, and educators seeking to address the key challenges and opportunities facing education in the 21st century. Keywords: content analysis, scientific journals, Problems of Education in the 21st Century, research topics

BACKGROUND Autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) are neurodevelopmental disorders that most often have profound impact on a person itself, as well as on parents, caretakers, and family life in whole. Parents of a child with ASD often have higher levels of stress and psychological distress. Aim of this study was to examine the stress sources, its frequency and predictability in parents of children with ASD, in relation to the communication and language skills of their children. SUBJECTS AND METHODS The sample consisted of 80 participants who are parents of children with ASD. The study was conducted using a questionnaire made for this research. Three groups of variables were analyzed: parental stress; child's communication; and child's language variables. Statistical analysis was performed by SPSS and included basic statistical parameters and multiple regression analysis. RESULTS The most common sources of parental stress are caring for the child's future; difficulties of the child with speech, language and communication; difficulties of the child in establishing contact with peers and other persons; and inappropriate behavior of the child (anger, aggression, stereotypical behaviors…). Multiple regression analyses used to determine whether a child's communication and language skills were valid predictors of parental stress showed significance. CONCLUSIONS ASD child's skills like showing gestures; looking, answering, and turning when called by name; making it known when he/she needs help or wants an object; answering simple 'Yes/No' questions; and establishing contact with peers, are valid predictors of some stress sources of the parents. Proper involvement in the development of a child's communication and language skills has numerous benefits, not only for the child, but also for the parental stress recognition and its potential frequency decrease.

Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability, which is a biologically based neurodevelopmental disorder that affects a child’s social interaction and communication skills. Core deficits are identified in two domains: social communication/interaction and restrictive, repetitive patterns of behavior. Children and youth with ASD have service needs in behavioral, educational, health, leisure, family support, and other areas. Autism is a set of heterogeneous neurodevelopmental conditions, characterized by inability to acquire social skills, repetitive behaviors and failure of speech and nonverbal communication development. Objective: To examine frequency, correlation and predictivity of communication and language skills of autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) children and their parents’ emotions. Methods: The sample consisted of 80 participants who are parents of children with ASD. The study was performed using a questionnaire made out for this research. Three groups of variables were analyzed: parental emotions variables; child’s communication variables, child’s language variables. Statistical analysis was performed by SPSS, and included basic statistical parameters and multiple regression analysis. Results: The most common ways of communicate for children with ASD are: Allowing to cuddle; Recognizes familiar faces; and Makes it known when he needs help or wants an item. The most common language forms of children ASD are: Following simple instructions; Understanding connected words/phrases; Pronouncing single words; and Looking at when called by name. Parents of children with ASD expressed the greatest agreement with the following statements: “My child is more demanding than most other children”; “It seems to me that my child is very sensitive and easily upset”; “My child can’t do much of what he’s expected to know to do”, and “I often lack energy.” Conclusion: Parents of children with ASD proved that their children have significant delays in communication and language. Developed communication and language skills of the child with ASD are valid predictors of parents’ emotions/attitudes. Speech and language therapy work focused on developing the ASD child’s communication and language skills can be expected to improve parents’ emotions/attitudes.

Abstract The goal of the present study was to examine the predictors of reading speed and reading comprehension in third-grade students from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH). The sample consisted of 168 third-grade students (86 boys, 82 girls) attending regular schools in Canton Sarajevo, BIH. We examined the effects of phonological awareness (phoneme deletion and rhyming), rapid automatized naming (RAN) of letters and objects, semantic fluency, working memory, and processing speed, on three reading speed tasks and a reading comprehension task. For the reading speed tasks, total amount of explained variance was 33% for reading a text passage, 40% for word reading and 36% for pseudoword reading. The most important predictors of reading speed tasks were phoneme deletion task and RAN: Letters. On the other hand, the model explaining reading comprehension was much less predictive and explained about 11% of variance. Significant predictors of reading comprehension were working memory and processing speed. The results of this study are very informative in creating better models of reading. This in turn will help create better reading intervention programs and potentially reduce the number of children with reading disabilities.

Quality of life (QOL) is one of the most researched topics in the field of disability in the last 30 years. However, there are few studies that examined the QOL in relation to the type of disability and self-reported health status. The goal of the present study was to examine the QOL in people with disabilities in relation to the type of disability and self-reported health status. The sample for this study consisted of 286 people with disabilities who were interviewed using the Personal Outcomes Scale as a measure of QOL. The results of this study revealed statistically significant differences in the self-reported QOL between people with different types of disabilities. The results also revealed a moderating effect that self-reported health status had on QOL across disability categories. There were no interaction effects of self-reported health status and disability category on the QOL. Generally, people with intellectual disability reported lower QOL than people in other disability categories. Self-reported health status had a significant impact on the QOL across the disability groups. Non-governmental organizations can, through their policies and practices, enhance the person-referenced QOL outcomes.

Abstract Quality of life (QOL) of people with intellectual disability is increasingly becoming the target for intervention and a measure of success of different support programs. Knowing the predictors of QOL might make the support programs more effective. In the present study, QOL of 152 persons with intellectual disability was assessed through the personal outcomes scale (POS)-self report. Total score on the POS was used as a dependent variable and age, sex, level of intellectual disability, employment status and marriage status were assessed as the potential predictors of QOL. The statistically significant predictors of QOL were level of intellectual disability and employment status. These predictors explained 19% of variance in POS scores. The results of this study indicate that the strategies aimed at increasing the QOL of people with disability must focus on finding and expanding the employment opportunities for people with intellectual disability. The role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) can be very significant in this regard. The article concludes with a discussion of how predictors of QOL outcomes reported by other investigators could be incorporated into the policies and practices of NGOs to enhance person-referenced QOL outcomes.

Purpose: The goal of this study was to assess the prevalence of speech and language disorders (SLD) in children with intellectual disability. Method: The sample comprised 167 children of both sexes, with mild and moderate intellectual disability of varied etiologies. Data on their language disorders were taken from the educational records in the school files. Results: It was demonstrated that the total prevalence of SLD in this sample was high (71.3%). While there were no statistical differences in the prevalence of SLD in relation to the sex of the child, there were significant differences in relation to the level and etiology of intellectual disability. Conclusion: Given the high prevalence of SLD, it is necessary to provide speech and language therapy to all children with intellectual disability who attend regular schools and special education centres. Speech therapy should begin as soon as they are admitted to preschool and school institutions. doi 10.5463/DCID.v24i1.214

Fine motor skills are prerequisite for many everyday activities and they are a good predictor of a child's later academic outcome. The goal of the present study was to assess the effects of age on the development of fine motor coordination and visual-motor integration in preschool children. The sample for this study consisted of 276 preschool children from Canton Sara­jevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. We assessed children's motor skills with Beery Visual Motor Integration Test and Lafayette Pegboard Test. Data were analyzed with one-way ANOVA, followed by planned com­parisons between the age groups. We also performed a regression analysis to assess the influence of age and motor coordination on visual-motor integration. The results showed that age has a great effect on the development of fine motor skills. Furthermore, the results indicated that there are possible sensitive periods at preschool age in which the development of fine motor skills is accelerated. Early intervention specialists should make a thorough evaluations of fine motor skills in preschool children and make motor (re)habilitation programs for children at risk of fine motor delays.

The goal of this study was to assess the prevalence of articulation disorders and its relationship with visual-motor integration (VMI) in preschool children. An additional goal was to check for the effect of the child's gender on both articulation disorders and visual-motor integration. The sample consisted of 286 preschool children ages 3 to 6 years and attending preschool institutions in Canton Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. We measured visual-motor integration skills by using the Beery VMI- Test of Visual Motor Integration (6th ed.) Short Form and language skills by using the Bosnian test for the assessment of articulation disorders. The prevalence of articulation disorders in the sample was 34.3%. There was a significant difference in VMI between children with and without articulation disorders. The effect of gender was significant for both articulation disorder and VMI, with boys having a higher risk to have articulation disorder and VMI deficit. There is a high prevalence of articulation disorders and VMI deficits in preschool children. Given this high prevalence of visual-motor and speech disorders, preschool institutions should provide early speech and fine-motor screening of the children and subsequent speech and occupational therapy.