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Papers by Sumari van Biljon

Early Child Development and Care, 2017

This article examines early developmental histories of learners who attended a government-funded ... more This article examines early developmental histories of learners who attended a government-funded school for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in South Africa from 1992 to 2014. A total of 141 complete historical admission records of learners were analysed. Frequencies, means and correlations were determined for perinatal conditions and developmental milestones. Low birth weight and preterm birth did not occur more than in the general South African population. Only 7.6% of the participants had delayed motor development. Self-help skills, except for feeding, were mostly achieved according to typical developmental criteria. Half of the participants started talking after the age of three years and that was the main reason why parents became concerned about their development. The percentage of participants who were non-verbal and had regressed speech was higher than that reported in other studies. Public information should focus on early developmental factors associated with ASD risk to expedite early identification and diagnosis.

South African Journal of Childhood Education, 2019

Background: Despite inclusive education (IE) policies and legislation being introduced in South A... more Background: Despite inclusive education (IE) policies and legislation being introduced in South Africa (SA), learners with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are still placed in autismspecific public and private schools. Limited data are available on who makes use of the two different types of schools. Results may provide information on the profiles and education of learners with ASD in Gauteng schools. Aim: A quantitative, cross-sectional, comparative research design was used to compare the profiles of autism-specific public with autism-specific private schools and learners in Gauteng Province. Setting: The research was conducted in two autism-specific public and two private schools. Methods: Two survey questionnaires were used to collect data from four principals of two autism-specific public and two autism-specific private schools and 150 caregivers of learners attending the participating schools. Results: Results showed that because of their size autism-specific public schools make a significant contribution to the education of learners with ASD in Gauteng, compared to autismspecific private schools. Autism-specific public schools offer more therapy services than the autism-specific private schools, despite lower fees than autism-specific private schools. Significantly more black learners attend autism-specific public schools than autism-specific private schools. Regardless of the differences in population groups across the participating schools, the mean age when caregivers became concerned about their child's development was similar across the two types of schools. Learners enrolled at the autism-specific private schools were diagnosed with ASD earlier than learners enrolled at the autism-specific public schools. Also, they commenced school earlier than the learners in the autism-specific public schools. Lastly, three of the four principals expressed a preference that learners with ASD be placed in autism-specific schools. Conclusion: The results highlight the need to raise awareness of ASD symptoms among parents with young children in all communities and to determine the barriers that hinder IE for learners with ASD in SA.

International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 2019

Late identification of children with ASD remains a concern. Due to limited research in low and mi... more Late identification of children with ASD remains a concern. Due to limited research in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) such as South Africa (SA), the early management of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) should be further explored. The aim was to describe the demographic characteristics and early management of ASD that may influence identification, diagnosis, and intervention of learners with ASD in SA. Participants included 234 (28.4% of total approached) caregivers of children with ASD enrolled at the only six autismspecific government-funded schools in SA. Data were collected from parent-completed questionnaires. The majority of caregivers became concerned about their child's development on average at 25.2 months, but only a few (3.8%) thought it was ASD. Late identification was significantly associated with the respondent, nationality, qualification of the father and qualification of the mother. It appears that late identification sets a trajectory of late intervention. Factors underlying the trajectory appear to be unfamiliarity with ASD, and limited services and schools for children with ASD. Public awareness should focus on early symptoms associated with ASD risk to expedite early intervention.

Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, 2015

Research on the various aspects of child language development in South Africa has generally been ... more Research on the various aspects of child language development in South Africa has generally been an area neglected by specialists in the study of language. In South Africa"s multilingual urban settings, English is the language of mutual understanding in most classrooms. The assessment of language (including speech sound production) in English additional language (EAL) pre-schoolers is hampered by the fact that insufficient standardized resources are available for use with young multilingual South African children. Research indicates that the Goldman-Fristoe Test of Articulation-Second Edition (GFTA-2) is a popular formal assessment instrument used for assessing children"s articulation abilities by many speechlanguage therapists in South Africa. The study described the performance of English second language learners, aged between four and nine years, on the GFTA-2 in an urban region in the Gauteng province of South Africa. A descriptive, dominant-lessdominant model research design was used. No significant difference in performance between the second language learners and the normative indicators was noted. The results illustrate the need to adapt the GFTA-2 for the South African context.

Journal of Family Studies

South African Journal of Childhood Education

Limited research has been published about the demographic characteristics of children with Autism... more Limited research has been published about the demographic characteristics of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in South Africa. Describing the profiles of learners from a school for children with ASD may contribute to local knowledge in the field. A retrospective comparative design was utilised to compare the demographic characteristics of learners over two time intervals: 1992-2002 (Group 1, n=32) and 2003. A total of 141 historical admission records in paper-based files were reviewed. Results indicated that there is a large male gender bias (8.4:1) in learners, which increased over the years. The age of the child when parents first became concerned and the age at diagnosis and assessment at school increased over both time periods. There was also an increase in the diversity of home languages after 2002. Parental qualifications decreased, but social class improved in recent years. The low qualification of a mother was associated with an advanced age of the child at school entry. The data serves as a point of reference for future studies about the characteristics of school children with ASD in South Africa.

Research on the various aspects of child language development in South Africa has generally been ... more Research on the various aspects of child language development in South Africa has
generally been an area neglected by specialists in the study of language. In South Africa’s multilingual
urban settings, English is the language of mutual understanding in most classrooms. The
assessment of language (including speech sound production) in English additional language (EAL)
pre-schoolers is hampered by the fact that insufficient standardised resources are available for
use with young multilingual South African children. Research indicates that the Goldman-Fristoe
Test of Articulation – Second Edition (GFTA-2) is a popular formal assessment instrument used
for assessing children’s articulation abilities by many speech-language therapists in South Africa.
The study described the performance of English second language learners, aged between four and
nine years, on the GFTA-2 in an urban region in the Gauteng province of South Africa. A descriptive,
dominant-less-dominant model research design was used. No significant difference in performance
between the second language learners and the normative indicators was noted. The results
illustrate the need to adapt the GFTA-2 for the South African context.

Early Child Development and Care, 2017

This article examines early developmental histories of learners who attended a government-funded ... more This article examines early developmental histories of learners who attended a government-funded school for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in South Africa from 1992 to 2014. A total of 141 complete historical admission records of learners were analysed. Frequencies, means and correlations were determined for perinatal conditions and developmental milestones. Low birth weight and preterm birth did not occur more than in the general South African population. Only 7.6% of the participants had delayed motor development. Self-help skills, except for feeding, were mostly achieved according to typical developmental criteria. Half of the participants started talking after the age of three years and that was the main reason why parents became concerned about their development. The percentage of participants who were non-verbal and had regressed speech was higher than that reported in other studies. Public information should focus on early developmental factors associated with ASD risk to expedite early identification and diagnosis.

South African Journal of Childhood Education, 2019

Background: Despite inclusive education (IE) policies and legislation being introduced in South A... more Background: Despite inclusive education (IE) policies and legislation being introduced in South Africa (SA), learners with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are still placed in autismspecific public and private schools. Limited data are available on who makes use of the two different types of schools. Results may provide information on the profiles and education of learners with ASD in Gauteng schools. Aim: A quantitative, cross-sectional, comparative research design was used to compare the profiles of autism-specific public with autism-specific private schools and learners in Gauteng Province. Setting: The research was conducted in two autism-specific public and two private schools. Methods: Two survey questionnaires were used to collect data from four principals of two autism-specific public and two autism-specific private schools and 150 caregivers of learners attending the participating schools. Results: Results showed that because of their size autism-specific public schools make a significant contribution to the education of learners with ASD in Gauteng, compared to autismspecific private schools. Autism-specific public schools offer more therapy services than the autism-specific private schools, despite lower fees than autism-specific private schools. Significantly more black learners attend autism-specific public schools than autism-specific private schools. Regardless of the differences in population groups across the participating schools, the mean age when caregivers became concerned about their child's development was similar across the two types of schools. Learners enrolled at the autism-specific private schools were diagnosed with ASD earlier than learners enrolled at the autism-specific public schools. Also, they commenced school earlier than the learners in the autism-specific public schools. Lastly, three of the four principals expressed a preference that learners with ASD be placed in autism-specific schools. Conclusion: The results highlight the need to raise awareness of ASD symptoms among parents with young children in all communities and to determine the barriers that hinder IE for learners with ASD in SA.

International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 2019

Late identification of children with ASD remains a concern. Due to limited research in low and mi... more Late identification of children with ASD remains a concern. Due to limited research in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) such as South Africa (SA), the early management of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) should be further explored. The aim was to describe the demographic characteristics and early management of ASD that may influence identification, diagnosis, and intervention of learners with ASD in SA. Participants included 234 (28.4% of total approached) caregivers of children with ASD enrolled at the only six autismspecific government-funded schools in SA. Data were collected from parent-completed questionnaires. The majority of caregivers became concerned about their child's development on average at 25.2 months, but only a few (3.8%) thought it was ASD. Late identification was significantly associated with the respondent, nationality, qualification of the father and qualification of the mother. It appears that late identification sets a trajectory of late intervention. Factors underlying the trajectory appear to be unfamiliarity with ASD, and limited services and schools for children with ASD. Public awareness should focus on early symptoms associated with ASD risk to expedite early intervention.

Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, 2015

Research on the various aspects of child language development in South Africa has generally been ... more Research on the various aspects of child language development in South Africa has generally been an area neglected by specialists in the study of language. In South Africa"s multilingual urban settings, English is the language of mutual understanding in most classrooms. The assessment of language (including speech sound production) in English additional language (EAL) pre-schoolers is hampered by the fact that insufficient standardized resources are available for use with young multilingual South African children. Research indicates that the Goldman-Fristoe Test of Articulation-Second Edition (GFTA-2) is a popular formal assessment instrument used for assessing children"s articulation abilities by many speechlanguage therapists in South Africa. The study described the performance of English second language learners, aged between four and nine years, on the GFTA-2 in an urban region in the Gauteng province of South Africa. A descriptive, dominant-lessdominant model research design was used. No significant difference in performance between the second language learners and the normative indicators was noted. The results illustrate the need to adapt the GFTA-2 for the South African context.

Journal of Family Studies

South African Journal of Childhood Education

Limited research has been published about the demographic characteristics of children with Autism... more Limited research has been published about the demographic characteristics of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in South Africa. Describing the profiles of learners from a school for children with ASD may contribute to local knowledge in the field. A retrospective comparative design was utilised to compare the demographic characteristics of learners over two time intervals: 1992-2002 (Group 1, n=32) and 2003. A total of 141 historical admission records in paper-based files were reviewed. Results indicated that there is a large male gender bias (8.4:1) in learners, which increased over the years. The age of the child when parents first became concerned and the age at diagnosis and assessment at school increased over both time periods. There was also an increase in the diversity of home languages after 2002. Parental qualifications decreased, but social class improved in recent years. The low qualification of a mother was associated with an advanced age of the child at school entry. The data serves as a point of reference for future studies about the characteristics of school children with ASD in South Africa.

Research on the various aspects of child language development in South Africa has generally been ... more Research on the various aspects of child language development in South Africa has
generally been an area neglected by specialists in the study of language. In South Africa’s multilingual
urban settings, English is the language of mutual understanding in most classrooms. The
assessment of language (including speech sound production) in English additional language (EAL)
pre-schoolers is hampered by the fact that insufficient standardised resources are available for
use with young multilingual South African children. Research indicates that the Goldman-Fristoe
Test of Articulation – Second Edition (GFTA-2) is a popular formal assessment instrument used
for assessing children’s articulation abilities by many speech-language therapists in South Africa.
The study described the performance of English second language learners, aged between four and
nine years, on the GFTA-2 in an urban region in the Gauteng province of South Africa. A descriptive,
dominant-less-dominant model research design was used. No significant difference in performance
between the second language learners and the normative indicators was noted. The results
illustrate the need to adapt the GFTA-2 for the South African context.