Special Needs & At-Risk Children

CRCD’s research on special needs and at-risk children focuses on understanding and supporting learners with developmental, behavioral or socio-emotional challenges, including those with disabilities such as autism and language disorders. We examine early identification, transitions, and long-term outcomes, while also developing tools and approaches to support children in inclusive and at-risk contexts such as those from low-income families or with early vulnerabilities.

 

Representative Projects

The Transition and Adjustment of Children with Special Educational Needs in Primary or Special Schools: A Study of Three Year Outcomes and their Determinants

Background: Transitions, whilst being a part of life, are a challenge, particularly for young children with special educational needs (SEN). Research describing factors affecting the outcomes of transition is limited and the contextual conditions of education in Singapore further limit the transferability of such findings. The recently announced incorporation of children with SEN within the Compulsory Education Act heightens the need for research into transition outcomes of children with SEN.

Aims: This proposed longitudinal study seeks to (a) understand the outcomes of children with SEN as they transition into primary or special education and to (b) understand the factors which influence the first three years of outcomes of children with SEN into primary or special education.

Method: This multiple cohort prospective study adopts a mixed design. It seeks to recruit 400 children with SEN building upon an ongoing study of young children with SEN attending early intervention programs in Singapore. The outcomes of these children will be examined via child testing at yearly intervals via a battery of assessment activities involving standardized tests and surveys. The information from child assessment will be augmented by surveys completed by parents and school personnel (e.g., teachers, allied educators, or counsellors). Additionally, parents and school personnel supporting 80 children will be purposefully sampled. This subsample would be interviewed annually to shed light on the perceptions and complexities of transition and subsequent adjustment process.

Contributions: It is expected that this study would yield insights into the profile and needs of children with SEN accessing both primary and special education in Singapore leading to more accurate educational support. Furthermore, the characteristics of children with SEN who make successful and unsuccessful transitions allowing the development of evidence informed recommendations that can guide the choice of school placements for children with SEN in Singapore.

Principal Investigator:

Co-principal Investigator:

Collaborator:

  • Kang Ying Qi (NUH)
  • Faye Yang (KK Women's and Children's Hospital)
  • Lim Luck Siew

 

Related Information

Poon Kin Loong, Kenneth

Prof Poon Kin Loong, Kenneth

National Institute of Education

Kenneth is Lien Foundation Chair Professor of Education at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University. He is also Dean, Education Research, as well as Centre Director of the Centre for Research in Child Development. Trained ...

Appointments:
Dean, Research and Centre Director, Centre for Research in Child Development Lien Foundation Chair Professor in Education Professor, National Institute of Education - Psychology and Child & Human Development

Keywords: Child Development | Mental Health | Psychology | Special Education

Goh Kok Yew Shaun

Dr Goh Kok Yew Shaun

National Institute of Education

My research activity over the past 7 years examined if and how language is related to socio-emotional mental health, across multiple cohorts of children in Australia, UK and Singapore. I was awarded a PhD (Clinical Psychology) by the Australian Natio ...

Appointments:
Education Research Scientist, Centre for Research in Child Development Research Scientist, National Institute of Education - Office for Research

Keywords: Education

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S Tsotsi, S Goh, RJ Coplan, E Bølstad, NO Czajkowski, D Smajlagic (2023). Co-occurrence of internalizing difficulties and aggression in early childhood and risk of mental health problems in middle childhood. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 5(47), 384-396.

Nah, Y. H., Chen, M., & Poon, K. K. (2022). Supporting Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder in Singapore. Intervention in School and Clinic, 57(5), 348-354.

Shaun KY Goh, Sarah Griffiths, Courtenay F Norbury (2021). Sources of variability in the prospective relation of language to social, emotional, and behavior problem symptoms: Implications for developmental language disorder. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 130(6), 676.

Goh, S. K., Yang, H., Tsotsi, S., Qiu, A., Chong, Y. S., Tan, K. H., ... & Rifkin-Graboi, A. (2020). Mitigation of a prospective association between early language delay at toddlerhood and ADHD among bilingual preschoolers: Evidence from the GUSTO Cohort.Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 48(4), 511-523.