Early intervention (EI) has been shown to be an essential resource for meeting the needs and priorities of children with intellectual and developmental disability and their families. The objective of this study was to examine (a) the perceived quality of life of families attending EI centers in Spain and (b) its relationship with characteristics of the children and their families. The Family Quality of Life Scale was administered to a sample of 281 families with children aged 0 to 6 years attending an EI center. To determine the relationship between family quality of life (FQoL) and the family and children’s characteristics, Student’s t test and one-way ANOVA were performed. Likewise, effect size was measured in those groups. The results show that the emotional well-being of families was high, although they were concerned about health and financial well-being. The perceived FQoL varies depending on income, family type, and severity of the child’s disability. Implications for professional practice in EI centers are presented.

One of the most important challenges that early intervention (EI) has faced in recent years is the transition process from child-based practices to family-centered programmes. This study’s main objectives were: (a) To understand the changes identified by the staff in their professional knowledge and practices with families during the transition from a center-based programmes to family-centered practices; (b) To explore the parents’ satisfaction with the family-centered practices; (c) To know how professionals perceive the transition from center-based to family-centered practices in EI. Participants were 11 families of children with intellectual disability and 11 professionals from six early intervention centres in Spain. Results showed that professionals valued family-centered services because it allowed them to gather relevant information about the families’ strengths and resources. Families perceived their participation as a real empowerment for all family members and positive for their children. Implications for professional practice in EI are discussed.

Background: The study assesses the support needs of individuals with intellectual disability and their families in Catalonia. The present authors examine family quality of life (FQoL), identify the individual services required and assess families' perceptions of the extent to which their family member with intellectual disability and they themselves receive the services they need.Materials and Methods: The N&S questionnaire (Needs and Supports for people with intellectual disability and their families) was administered to 2160 families with a family member with intellectual disability aged under 70 in Catalonia (Spain).Results: Overall mean FQoL was quite high. FQoL was associated with family income, education, employment and percentage level of disability. Neither people with intellectual disability nor their families receive the specific support they need.Conclusions: Besides providing specific support for individuals with intellectual disability, local policymakers and practitioners should apply a family‐centred approach to the provision of support for families in order to improve FQoL.

Digital tools can guide and support teachers in professional development programmes. The aim of this study was four-fold: (1) to explore changes introduced in classroom methodology by secondary school teachers during their participation in a professional development programme, using the digital tool EVALOE-DSS, based on conversational methodology; (2) to analyse the impact of introducing conversational methodology in the development of students’ oral competence; (3) to determine the relation between students’ self-perception of oral competence and self-perceived emotional competence; and (4) to find out the teachers’ opinion about their experience in the programme. The instruments used were the digital tool EVALOE-DSS, the Test of Self-Perceived Oral Competence, the Self-Report of Emotional Intelligence, the Trait Meta-Mood Scale, and a satisfaction questionnaire. The study was developed in four phases: initial intensive training, intervention using the digital tool for four months, students’ assessments and teachers’ evaluations. The results of teachers’ self-assessments using the EVALOE-DSS showed that their self-assessment of classes significantly improved throughout their participation in the programme. In addition, students whose teachers participated in the programme were self-perceived as more competent at oral language, and this had a positive influence on their self-perception of emotional competence. Finally, teachers were positive about their participation in the training process using the EVALOE-DSS. In conclusion, this study seems to suggest that a professional development programme using a Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) tool could provide an important strategy for increasing teachers’ oral language teaching quality and improving student learning.