Promoting School Engagement in Children with Cerebral Palsy: A Narrative Based Program

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Special Education

Background:

• Cerebral Palsy (CP) often impacts school engagement.
• Self-regulation and executive functions are crucial for academic success.
• Targeted interventions can potentially improve engagement in children with CP.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the efficacy of a novel educational program for enhancing school engagement in children with Cerebral Palsy.
• To investigate the program's impact on self-regulation and executive function skills.
• To provide evidence-based strategies for educational settings.

Main Methods:

• A 9-week narrative-based intervention program was implemented.
• Pre-post evaluations included neuropsychological assessments and self-report measures.
• Fifteen children diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy participated in the study.

Main Results:

• Significant improvements were observed across all three dimensions of school engagement.
• The intervention demonstrated a significant main effect of time on engagement.
• Statistical analysis confirmed the program's positive impact (p < 0.0001).

Conclusions:

• The educational program effectively promoted school engagement in children with Cerebral Palsy.
• Training in self-regulated competencies and executive functions is beneficial.
• Findings support the integration of such programs in educational curricula for children with CP.