Exeley Inc.

La Grow, Ed.D., Steven J.

Ebrahim, OAM, Grad. Dip. Rehab. Studies, Bashir

Towers, Ph.D., Andy

Development of the Difficulty with Mobility Questionnaire: A Pilot Study

Dewald, M.A., COMS, Hong Phangia

Smyth, M.S. (Ed.), TSVI, ECE Specialist, Catherine A.

Feasibility of Orientation and Mobility Services for Young Children with Vision Impairment using Teleintervention

Gallimore, Dr., Desirée

Steer, Dr., Mike

International Journal of Orientation & Mobility • Volume 6, Number 1, 2013-20146
Editorial
We join Dr. Barbara Blasch in welcoming you to IJOM’s sixth volume. Barbara’s
refl ections on the development and progress of O&M training in the U.S., that impacted 
many countries of the world, refl ects the progress, innovation, and progressive ideas that 
continue today. They are represented in this volume. 
Innovation and ‘exploring all options’ in the O&M profession was the theme of the recent 
AER, O&M Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, in December 2013. Delegates from
many parts of the world attended and many of the presentations on offer were certainly based 
on thinking ‘outside the square’. These presentations were exciting, suggesting that O&M, 
as a relatively young profession, has limitless potential for innovation as professionals seem
prepared to explore new ideas and alternative ways forward. As advertised in this volume,
we look forward to the International Mobility Conference (IMC) 15 in Montreal, Canada,
July 2015 and we are keen to share with our readers innovative and exciting ideas from this
conference in IJOM Volume 7.
In this volume, the lead article by Lloyd and Roe exemplifi es innovation in their detailed 
description of the Tellington TTouch method and the way this method could be used as an
adjunct to traditional guide dog training. As suggested by the authors, this method could be
used to reduce stress in guide dogs in order to enhance the dogs learning. Reduced stress 
in guide dogs is a highly benefi cial outcome given that dogs from a majority of guide dog
schools are sometimes withdrawn either from training or after having qualifi ed, because of 
anxiety-related issues.
In the same vein, La Grow, Ebrahim, and Towers pilot their mobility questionnaire to 
determine its potential use as an outcome measure for O&M instruction. In particular they
assess the tool’s reliability, validity, and sensitivity. Further, Hong and Smyth propose a
creative O&M early intervention solution for families living in rural and isolated regions.
These sorts of regions often experience a shortage of O&M specialists, thus, the authors
propose that teleintervention using telecommunication technology, might be an effi cient 
way to provide O&M coaching and consultation from a distance.
Exploring solutions to problems was considered by Yamamoto, Hart, Matsumoto, Ohta,
and Ohtani when investigating the effectiveness of targeted information programs about 
guide dogs to people with vision impairment and thereby increase the number of guide
dog users. In Japan, the take-up rate of guide dogs as a mobility tool compared with other 
countries is relatively small. The authors suggest that the small number of guide dog users 
in Japan might be a result of cultural aspects related to negative attitudes to dogs, as well
as their previous strategies to promote the guide dog as a mobility tool. Their investigation
reveals interesting information on targeting people with vision impairment about guide dogs. 
Progressive ideas and developments appear in articles by Deverell, Scott, Battista, and 
Hill; as well as Blasch and Gallimore. Deverell et al., provide an insightful rationale and 
International Journal of Orientation & Mobility • Volume 6, Number 1, 2013-2014 7
description of the recent ratifi cation of the O&M Association of Australasia (OMAA)
Quality Framework for the O&M profession including a Code of Ethics and Standards of 
Practice. This Quality Framework took four years to develop. It was a joint collaboration
between professionals in Australia and New Zealand. Further, Blasch and Gallimore discuss
the development of O&M training with reference to the U.S., and Australia. In particular, 
the authors discuss and provide a persuasive rationale for the expansion of O&M training to 
include people with sight who have mobility needs.
The expansion of O&M service is also considered by Taylor. She considers the ways
O&M specialists might assist to predict and reduce falls in an Australian-based elderly
population with vision impairment. Taylor reviews three falls assessment tools that predict 
an individual’s risk of falling and suggests that one tool in particular could be easily
implemented by O&M specialists to provide a basis for a falls prevention program. Finally,
Bosman examines current research relating to ocular toxoplasmosis which is due to one of 
the world’s most common parasites. She also discusses the implications of toxoplasmosis
for O&M training, and supports her proposition with two case studies.
We hope you enjoy this volume and encourage you to submit papers about innovative
O&M ideas, practice descriptions, research, policy analyses, and concepts. Your published 
work helps form a solid foundation upon which others can build that adds to the progression
of our profession.
Dr. Desirée Gallimore & Dr. Mike Steer


Editorial

Deverell, M.Ed., Grad Dip O&M, B.Ed., COMS., Lil

Scott, M.Ed., Grad Dip O&M, B. Psych. COMS, Bronwen

Battista, M.Ed., (Special Ed/O&M), B.Ed., Mark

Hill, Grad Dip O&M, B.Sc., BA(Hons)Psych., Jeremy

Developing O&amp;M Standards for Australasia

Alves, Daniele E.

Corliss, Heather L.

Roysamb, Espen

Zachrisson, Henrik D.

Oppedal, Brit

Gustavson, Kristin

Immigrant Preadolescents and Risk of Emotional Distress

Nguyen, Camilla

Ronald, Angelica

How do Girls with Low Functioning Autism Compare to Boys with Autism and Typically Developing Girls with regard to Behavior, Cognition, and Psychopathology?

Storebø, Ole Jakob

Rasmussen, Pernille Darling

Bölte, Sven

 93 
 
Scandinavian Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology 
Vol. 2(3):93-94 (2014) 
 
 
Editorial                                                                                                                                            Open Access 
 
 
 
 
There is no Such Thing as a Child 
 
Ole Jakob Storebø, Pernille Darling Rasmussen & Sven Bölte 
 
 
Winnicott’s assertion that young children do not 
exist independently but rather function in 
relationship to their primary caregivers (1) is the 
focus of the first four papers in this issue. His idea 
underlines the attachment between a mother and 
her child as well as the importance of the child’s 
family environment. Parents and their offspring are 
connected in an intimate way, and mothers and 
fathers can be both the causes and the cures of 
psychological problems within their children. Before 
the predominance of biological psychiatry, 
attachment and family factors were viewed as the 
most important components of the theoretical 
foundations of child and adolescent psychiatry in 
Scandinavia. Much of child psychopathology was 
attributed to psychodynamic processes (2,3). 
However, it seems that a slight paradigm shift back 
toward more of a focus on the child within the 
family may be occurring. This may offer a more 
balanced view of the child and his or her problems 
that does not neglect the importance of parenting 
and the family. The four articles presented here all 
tackle family relationships and the interactions 
between children and their parents. 
The first article by Bendiksen and colleagues 
discusses the Mother and Child Cohort Study, a 
prospective study (N = 807) that looked at the early 
identification of attention-deficit/hyperactivity 
disorder (ADHD) in young children (4). The 
authors show that added burdens and problems 
within family relationships were associated with 
more ADHD symptoms as measured by parental 
rating scales. This may well indicate early emerging 
coercive cycles and therefore be an important target 
for early prevention and intervention strategies. It is 
difficult to state anything causal here, but this 
research is important, because it indicates detectable 
early signs of ADHD in very small children.  
The association between ADHD and attachment 
has been demonstrated in many studies on many 
different levels and the research on the topic of 
attachment is again increasing in Scandinavia (5). 
For instance, in the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 
Department in Region Zealand, Denmark, a coming 
observational follow-up study will examine whether 
parents’ attachment competencies are important to 
treatment response and prognosis in children with 
ADHD. 
The second article in this issue deals with the risk 
for suicide among adolescents. Petersen and Elklit 
review the Faroese Adolescent Trauma Study (N = 
687), which provided important data about the roles 
of attachment, negative affectivity, and social 
support in suicide attempts in a total population of 
Faroese adolescents (6). The authors’ results show 
the necessity of taking gender into account when 
researching risk and protective factors for suicide 
attempts and when establishing arrangements to 
prevent and treat suicide attempts among 
adolescents. 
The study by Esbjørn and colleagues explores the 
relationship between maternal and paternal 
perceptions of parenting and childhood anxiety (7). 
The perceived rearing behaviors and the parental 
sense of competence (i.e., satisfaction and efficacy) 
of the parents of anxious children (n = 59) were 
compared with those of a nonclinical control 
sample (n = 44). In line with the findings from the 
literature that addresses externalizing disorders, it 
was found that the parental sense of competence 
was significantly associated with childhood 
outcomes. 
Finally, in the article by Alves and colleagues, the 
association between parental achievement values 
and emotional problems among preadolescent 
children was mediated by parents’ comparisons with 
their own achievement values (8). Higher levels of 
parental achievement values were associated with 
more comparisons, and this relationship was 
stronger for preadolescents with immigrant 
 94 
 
backgrounds. Comparisons were only linked to 
emotional problems among preadolescents with 
immigrant backgrounds. 
All four of these articles highlight the 
considerable complexity of researching psycho-
pathology in children and adolescents as well as the 
critical importance of understanding children within 
the context of their family units. Among other 
things, this means that it is necessary to look at the 
parents’ level of functioning and parental 
perceptions of their own abilities and opportunities 
in relation to the children’s well-being. Moreover, 
when studying children, the importance of taking 
factors such as age and gender into consideration is 
vital. 
On a more general note with regard to the 
development of the Scandinavian Journal of Child and 
Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology (SJCAPP), we are 
happy to be experiencing increased interest in our 
journal. This has been indicated by the fact that 
articles published in this journal are beginning to be 
cited; we also are receiving an increasing amount of 
submissions. 
At the moment, we are preparing an application 
to have SJCAPP indexed in the large databases. 
Most of these services require indexed journals to 
have at least two years of publishing activity, and we 
have now reached that point. Thus, we are hopeful 
that SJCAPP will soon be indexed in Thomas 
Reuter, with its first official impact factor calculated 
three years thereafter. In the meantime, we will have 
an unofficial impact factor calculated in the spring 
of 2016.  
One of the upcoming special issues of SJCAPP 
will focus on attachment and the development of 
psychopathology. Later this year, our dear readers 
can look forward to a special issue about personality 
disorder, with Mickey Kongerslev and Erik 
Simonsen serving as its editors. Next spring, a 
special issue about psychosis created in conjunction 
with Ulrik Haahr and Sune Bo will be published; we 
have just sent out a call for papers for that issue.  
 
 
References 
 
1. Winnicott DW. The maturational processes and the facilitating 
environment. Studies in the theory of emotional development. 
London: Hogarth Press Books Ltd., 1965. 
 
2. Bowlby J. A Secure Base: Clinical applications of attachment 
theory. London: Routledge, 1988.  
 
3. Thomsen PH (ed). Børne- og ungdomspsykiatrien i Danmark 
gennem 50 år. Et jubilæumsskrift. Børne- og Ungdomspsykiatrisk 
selskab i Danmark [50 years of child and adolescent psychiatry in 
Denmark] Avaialable from: http://bupnet.dk/media/03-10-29-
FestSkrift[1].pdf  
 
4. Bendiksen B, Aase H, Svensson E, et al. Symptoms of ADHD and 
co-occurring oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder in 
young preschool children; the impact on functional impairment. 
Scand J Child Adolesc Psychiatr Psychol 2014;2(3):95-105. 
 
5. Storebø OJ, Skoog M, Rasmussen PD, et al. Attachment 
competences in children with ADHD during the Social-Skills 
Training and Attachment (SOSTRA) randomized clinical trial. J 
Atten Disord 2014;Feb 14 Epub.  
 
6. Petersen T, Elklit A. Risk factors for suicide attempts in the total 
population of Faroese eighth graders Scand J Child Adolesc 
Psychiatr Psychol 2014;2(3):106-14. 
 
7. Esbjørn BH, Caspersen ID, Sømhovd MJ, Breinholst S, Reinholdt-
Dunne M. Exploring the contribution of parental perceptions to 
childhood anxiety. Scand J Child Adolesc Psychiatr Psychol 
2014;2(3):115-23. 
 
8. Alves DE, Gustavson K, Roysamb E, Oppedal B, Zachrisson HD. 
Preadolescents with immigrant backgrounds: the relationship 
between emotional problems, parental achievement values, and 
comparison. Scand J Child Adolesc Psychiatr Psychol 
2014:2(3):124-34- 
 
 


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Development of the Difficulty with Mobility Questionnaire: A Pilot Study

Feasibility of Orientation and Mobility Services for Young Children with Vision Impairment using Teleintervention

Editorial

Developing O&M Standards for Australasia

Immigrant Preadolescents and Risk of Emotional Distress

How do Girls with Low Functioning Autism Compare to Boys with Autism and Typically Developing Girls with regard to Behavior, Cognition, and Psychopathology?

There is no Such Thing as a Child

Determinants of Binge Drinking among Adolescents in Denmark

Using TTouch to Reduce Stress and Enhance Learning when Training Guide Dogs

Exploring the Contribution of Parental Perceptions to Childhood Anxiety

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