Social distance toward people with intellectual disabilities and empathy are important aspects of study for future special educators and rehabilitators. Special educators and rehabilitators should show a lower social distance toward people with intellectual disabilities and a high empathy index. The main goal of this research is to examine the correlation between social distance toward people with intellectual disabilities and empathy, as well as differences in the manifestation of social distance and empathy concerning the year of study. The sample consisted of 60 students divided into two subgroups: 30 students in lower years of study (first and the second year) and 30 students in higher years of study (third and fourth year). Three scales were used: The Social Distance subscale from the Mental Retardation Attitude Inventor-Revised (MRAI-R), the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), and the General Questionnaire. The research results showed that students in special education and rehabilitation show a low social distance toward people with intellectual disabilities, and students with higher years of study show less social distance compared to students with lower years of study. Students manifest a high index of empathy, and there are no differences concerning the year of study. There is no correlation between social distance toward people with intellectual disabilities and empathy among special education and rehabilitation students. The results indicate the need to analyze content and the hours of practical classes in the faculty study program, and to include content that will encourage the strengthening of empathy among students.

Empathy, the ability to understand other people, plays a key role in successfully supporting people with disabilities in their daily lives. Although in general most people are empathic, it is usually necessary to release empathy. This is most simply achieved by means of empathy tests that simulate different forms of disability and the difficulties that disabled people experience in their daily activities due to this impairment. The paper describes simple tests and their impact on changing attitudes towards people with disabilities and ways of supporting them.

Parents of children with disabilities receive many different forms of support, and among those is also the support provided by professionals from different systems. It is very important for parents to be informed about early support services so that their children can be included in the services in a timely manner. The aim of this research was to determine parents’ awareness of the system of early support services for children with disabilities and their families. In total, 152 parents participated in the study, out of which 63,8% were female and 36,2% were male. The average age of parents is 38 years. Data was collected using a questionnaire specifically designed for the purpose of this study, which is a component of a large-scale research on early support provided to children with disabilities and their parents. The first part of the questionnaire concerns socio-demographic characteristics, while the second part deals with the parents’ awareness of the system of early support services with regard to socio-demographic characteristics of parents. Considering the findings of the regression analysis, parents with a higher education were also better informed about early support services (ß = .25, p < .01). The collected data are a useful source about information of early support services by parents.

It is stated that people with intellectual disabilities (ID) have self-regulation difficulties when being compared to typically developing people. Process of planning self-regulated strategies for people with ID involves defining the goal, choosing the right strategy that would allow the person to achieve the predetermined goal, goal realization process and evaluating the outcomes. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of implementing self-regulated strategies into achieving the goal of dollar up technique usage for independent shopping for a 28 year old participant with Down syndrome and moderate ID. We defined the goal as recognition and use of 100 dinars bills. The set goal had four phases and for each phase the baseline probes were conducted, as well as materials for independent use by the participant were made. The results indicate that the participant mastered the first phase with 40% success, second one with 100% success, third one with 90% success and the fourth and final stage with 100% success. Even though the participant did not master the first phase in the required percentage, this did not disrupt the mastering of the final goal. This study extends the research regarding dollar up strategy implementation, by providing evidence that people with ID can benefit from self-regulation procedures and proves that they are able to learn them on their own when given the right materials, therefore obtain better community skills and obtain full participation in the society they live in. Study limitations and possible procedure modifications were discussed

The aim of this paper was to analyze the spelling errors of children with dyslexia, in order to determine whether they have a specific pattern of spelling errors or are simply late in acquiring spelling skills. The sample included 30 children with dyslexia and 30 spellinglevel-matched younger children. The research was conducted in the area of Sarajevo Canton and Tuzla Canton in the period from March to May 2022. The results showed that children with dyslexia make similar patterns of errors as spelling-level-matched group. The obtained results show that children with dyslexia in transparent orthography do not have a specific deficit in spelling, but rather delay in acquiring spelling skills.

Assistive technology is a collective term that refers to assistive devices and services for people with disabilities. The use of assistive technology in working with people with disabilities facilitates their learning and performance of activities of daily living. The knowledge and experience of experts is necessary for the selection, purchase, and use of assistive technology. For the purpose of this work, an online survey was conducted among experts in Bosnia and Herzegovina who had the opportunity to use and apply assistive technology through their work. The research participants (N=23) were educational rehabilitators, speech therapists, teachers, pedagogues, physiotherapists, and nurses. The online questionnaire consisted of 33 open and closed-ended questions. The data obtained were processed using quantitative and qualitative data processing methods. The aim of the research was to ask experts in Bosnia and Herzegovina about their experience with the use of assistive technology, their knowledge and attitudes, and the challenges they face in their work. The results show that assistive technology has not been used for long in Bosnia and Herzegovina and that experts encounter many challenges in their work, such as financial problems, lack of technical support, and difficulties in working with parents. They also emphasize the need for more training in assistive technology.

The aim of the research was to determine the difference in interpersonal trust and group affiliation of children without parental care in relation to contact with relatives. The research included a convenient sample of 122 respondents of both genders. In order to verify the research objective the Group Affiliation Scaler and the Interpersonal Trust Test were used. A t-test was used to determine the difference in interpersonal trust and group affiliation between children without parental care in relation to contact with relatives. The obtained data was processed in the statistical package SPSS 20 for Windows. Based on the results, it can be concluded that there is no statistically significant difference in the assessment of interpersonal trust and group belonging between children without parental care in relation to contact with relatives.