Purpose: To investigate the relevance of education training to occupational therapists and physiotherapists (therapists) in their delivery of rehabilitation services in early child educational settings in Hong Kong.
Method: A qualitative study was carried out on seven therapists who were completing their educational studies at postgraduate level and six informed-consenting classroom educators, each of whom had worked with one of the therapists. A mainly open-ended questionnaire for collecting initial data was administered on the therapists, who were also requested to elaborate further on their responses. Concurrently, individual, audiotaped semi-structured interviews were held with the educators. The data were inductively analysed through categorical coding and themes derived separately for each group, with the authors reaching consensus in organizing the identified themes.
Results: The 100% response from the therapists revealed that they had acquired more confidence with increasing knowledge of educationally-relevant issues and applied them in collaborative practice with educators. Their current programmes extended beyond unidisciplinary paediatric habilitation. The educators' interview transcripts supported these findings. Some ways of applying knowledge and delivering educationally-relevant therapy were discussed.
Conclusions: Incorporation of education-training as continuing education for therapists employed in childhood educational settings is important for maximizing quality paediatric rehabilitation in these settings.
[Copyright of Disability and Rehabilitation is the property of Informa Healthcare . Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0963828031000090407]

Purpose: Children with hearing loss who require special school placement may have a wide range of audiometric configurations. Since such children will vary in auditory status their amplification requirements may also be diverse. This study examined the audiological records of 231 children attending four schools for hearing impaired children in Hong Kong to gain an understanding of common audiometric patterns found in the school children and their auditory rehabilitation needs. Method: Data on the children's aetiology of hearing loss, hearing status, tympanometric findings and the electroacoustic characteristics of their hearing aids were obtained. For 424 children's ears considered having essentially sensorineural hearing loss, k-means cluster analysis methods were used to categorize audiometric configuration groups Results: Cluster analysis that indicated that five distinct audiometric configurations could be found among the school children. Different clusters contained children who had differing amplification needs. The study analysed a number of parameters to check fitting outcomes, including average prescribed gain, frequency-specific measured versus prescribed gain, prescribed frequency response, measured versus prescribed frequency response and the predicted aided thresholds for the children. Conclusion: The amplification needs associated with these five configurations, including recommended prescription gain, maximum power output and possible signal processing strategies, were considered. The clustering algorithm approach proved useful as a means of grouping distinctive audiometric profiles.
[Copyright of Disability and Rehabilitation is the property of Informa Healthcare . Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09638280210148602]