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Children and Adolescents with Neurodevelopmental Disabilities: Ecological Assessment Tools and...
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Children and Adolescents with Neurodevelopmental Disabilities: Ecological Assessment Tools and Cognitive Analysis

A special issue of Children (ISSN 2227-9067). This special issue belongs to the section "Pediatric Neurology & Neurodevelopmental Disorders".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 August 2025 | Viewed by 3451

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Yael Fogel

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Health Sciences, University of Ariel, Ariel, Israel
Interests: relationships between individuals’ daily functioning and higher-level cognitive processes (executive function and awareness); individuals with neurodevelopmental difficulties (attention, learning, and motor difficulties, autistic disorders, etc.); ecological and performed-based assessment tool; generation and implementation of cognitive strategies with cognitive graduated prompts training; mental effort during daily activities; developing and implementing therapy programs (FITTED)
Prof. Dr. Naomi Josman

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Social Welfare & Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel
Interests: cognitive rehabilitation; executive function; occupation; children with neurodevelopmental deficits; schizophrenia

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to invite you to submit articles to this Special Issue of Children on "Children and Adolescents with Neurodevelopmental Disabilities: Ecological Assessment Tools and Cognitive Analysis".

Ecological assessments evaluate how well a tool reflects a child or adolescent's functioning in their real-world daily life. In the literature, performance-based ecological diagnoses are widely recognized as effective for cognitive assessment, particularly for evaluating executive functions.

We seek papers on innovative ecological assessment tools, including their effectiveness, practical applications, interdisciplinary approaches, and evidence-based recommendations. This Special Issue aims to enhance our understanding and support for children and adolescents with neurodevelopmental disabilities by showcasing cutting-edge research and fostering a comprehensive discourse on novel strategies and interventions. We are particularly interested in original research articles, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and case studies that contribute to this critical field.

We look forward to your valuable contributions.

Dr. Yael Fogel
Prof. Dr. Naomi Josman
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Children is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • children and adolescents
  • functional cognition
  • ecological assessment
  • performances-based assessment
  • neurodevelopmental disorders

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 241 KiB  
Article
Developmental Patterns in Autism and Other Neurodevelopmental Disorders in Preschool Children
by Maria Eugenia Martelli, Federica Gigliotti, Federica Giovannone, Giuliana Lentini, Filippo Manti and Carla Sogos
Children 2025, 12(2), 125; https://doi.org/10.3390/children12020125 - 24 Jan 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1194
Abstract
Background: Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) encompass an inclusive group of conditions that appear during the developmental period but continue to persist in adulthood, ranging from particular difficulties to a global impairment of social, cognitive, and emotional functioning. The developmental trajectories associated with these conditions [...] Read more.
Background: Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) encompass an inclusive group of conditions that appear during the developmental period but continue to persist in adulthood, ranging from particular difficulties to a global impairment of social, cognitive, and emotional functioning. The developmental trajectories associated with these conditions are highly heterogeneous. This study aimed to analyze and compare developmental and adaptive profiles of preschool-aged children with different NDDs to better characterize their developmental trajectories. Methods: We analyzed data from the initial global evaluation of 196 children with NDDs (aged 20 to 71 months), enrolled in three subgroups: 108 with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), 52 with language disorder (LD), and 36 with mixed specific developmental disorder (MSDD). A comprehensive neuropsychiatric evaluation was performed using standardized tools (Griffiths-III, ADOS-2, VABS-II, and ADI-R), and the parents completed the DP-3 and the CBCL 1½-5. Results: Our results showed that all NDDs exhibited poor psychomotor skills, with children with ASD being the most impaired, although their profiles were comparable to those of MSDD in communication and motor areas. CBCL’s pervasive developmental problem scale has been shown to provide relevant information for distinguishing children with ASD. Furthermore, DP-3 and VABS-II measure highly differentiated developmental profiles of each diagnostic group. Conclusions: Our results highlighted the importance of including parents’/caregivers’ perspectives in defining children’s functioning and the possibility of using DP-3 as a screening tool for different neurodevelopmental disorders. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Children and Adolescents with Neurodevelopmental Disabilities: Ecological Assessment Tools and Cognitive Analysis)
21 pages, 1688 KiB  
Article
A Virtual Reality Platform for Evaluating Deficits in Executive Functions in Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children—Relation to Daily Function and to Quality of Life
by Shaima Hamed-Daher, Naomi Josman, Evelyne Klinger and Batya Engel-Yeger
Children 2024, 11(9), 1123; https://doi.org/10.3390/children11091123 - 13 Sep 2024
Viewed by 1774
Abstract
Background: Childhood hearing loss is a common chronic condition that may have a broad impact on children’s communication and motor and cognitive development, resulting in functional challenges and decreased quality of life (QoL). Objectives: This pilot study aimed to compare executive functions (EFs) [...] Read more.
Background: Childhood hearing loss is a common chronic condition that may have a broad impact on children’s communication and motor and cognitive development, resulting in functional challenges and decreased quality of life (QoL). Objectives: This pilot study aimed to compare executive functions (EFs) as expressed in daily life and QoL between deaf and hard-of-hearing (D/HH) children and children with typical hearing. Furthermore, we examined the relationship between EFs and QoL in D/HH children. Methods: The participants were 76 children aged 7–11 yr: 38 D/HH and 38 with typical hearing. Parents completed the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) and Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL), while the child performed a shopping task in the virtual action planning supermarket (VAP-S) to reflect the use of EFs in daily activity. Results: D/HH children showed significantly poorer EFs (as measured by BRIEF and VAP-S) and reduced QoL. Difficulties in EFs were correlated with lower QoL. BRIEF scores were significant predictors of QoL domains. Conclusions: Difficulties in EFs may characterize children with D/HH and reduce their QoL. Therefore, EFs should be screened and treated. VAP-S and BRIEF are feasible tools for evaluating EFs that reflect children’s challenges due to EF difficulties in real-life contexts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Children and Adolescents with Neurodevelopmental Disabilities: Ecological Assessment Tools and Cognitive Analysis)
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