Objective: Most previous studies have examined emotion recognition in autism spectrum condition (ASC) without intellectual disability (ID). However, ASC and ID co-occur to a high degree. The main aims of the study were to examine emotion recognition in individuals with ASC and co-occurring intellectual disability (ASC-ID) as compared to individuals with ID alone, and to investigate the relationship between emotion recognition and social functioning. Methods: The sample consisted of 30 adult participants with ASC-ID and a comparison group of 29 participants with ID. Emotion recognition was assessed by the facial emotions test, while. social functioning was assessed by the social responsiveness scale–second edition (SRS-2). Results: The accuracy of emotion recognition was significantly lower in individuals with ASC-ID compared to the control group with ID, especially when it came to identifying angry and fearful emotions. Participants with ASC-ID exhibited more pronounced difficulties in social functioning compared to those with ID, and there was a significant negative correlation between emotion recognition and social functioning. However, emotion recognition accounted for only 8% of the variability observed in social functioning. Conclusion: Our data indicate severe difficulties in the social-perceptual domain and in everyday social functioning in individuals with ASC-ID.

Introduction. Conditions in which speech therapy treatment is applied in autistic children are often not in accordance with characteristics of opinions and learning of people with autism. A systemic multimodal approach means motivating autistic people to develop their language speech skill through the procedure which allows reliving of their personal experience according to the contents that are presented in the their natural social environment. This research was aimed at evaluating the efficiency of speech treatment based on the systemic multimodal approach to the work with autistic children. Material and Methods. The study sample consisted of 34 children, aged from 8 to 16 years, diagnosed to have different autistic disorders, whose results showed a moderate and severe clinical picture of autism on the Childhood Autism Rating Scale. The applied instruments for the evaluation of ability were the Childhood Autism Rating Scale and Ganzberg II test. The study subjects were divided into two groups according to the type of treatment: children who were covered by the continuing treatment and systemic multimodal approach in the treatment, and children who were covered by classical speech treatment. Results. It is shown that the systemic multimodal approach in teaching autistic children affects the stimulation of communication, socialization, self-service and work as well as that the progress achieved in these areas of functioning was retainable after long time, too. Conclusion. By applying the systemic multimodal approach when dealing with autistic children and by comparing their achievements on tests applied before, during and after the application of this mode, it has been concluded that certain improvement has been achieved in the functionality within the diagnosed category. The results point to a possible direction in the creation of new methods, plans and programs in dealing with autistic children based on empirical and interactive learning.

Introduction. Type of housing is of great importance for the overall quality of life and general psychosocial well-being of persons with intellectual disabilities, as evidenced by the results of numerous studies showing that people with intellectual disabilities living in institutions have a lower level of life satisfaction compared to those living in the open community. Material and Methods. In order to determine the levels of experienced stress related to the type of housing in people with intellectual disabilities, we carried out a study including 122 persons with intellectual disabilities living in different types of housing; in institutions (n = 51), with families (n = 38), and in the supported housing program (n = 33). The Life Stress Inventory was used for the purpose of this research. Results. The results showed that people who were included in the supported housing program experienced the least stress, compared to the subjects who lived with their families or in institutions (p < 0.001). Stress was the least prevalent in the supported housing program, but the other two groups had similar results. The presence of stress did not differ significantly between subjects living with their families and those living in institutions. Conclusion. We can conclude that subjects living in supported housing experienced significantly less stress compared to the other two groups. Different types of housing were associated with different levels of stress. Overall, negative interpersonal relationship was identified as the stress factor that correlated most significantly with other stress factors.

Inroduction. Pathological characteristics of voice and speech in persons with benign and malignant vocal fold tumors present as different variations in the voice pitch, intensity and quality. The aim of the study was to determine the speech capacity of persons with malignant and benign vocal fold tumors before and after surgical treatment and to establish if there are differences in the speech capacity in relation to the type of tumor. Material and Methods. The sample included 67 subjects who were divided into two groups: group I - subjects with benign tumors, vocal cord lesions (polyps, cysts) and Reinke?s edema and group II - subjects with malignant tumors, aged 23 to 74 years (mean age 55.43; standard deviation 11.95). Acoustic voice analysis, maximum phonation time of the vowel /a/, analysis of temporal speech organization, and sentence melody analysis were used for measuring the speech capacity. Results. Before surgery, the speech capacity in both groups of patients was almost equal, without statistical significance between the compared groups. After surgery, there was a statistically significant difference between the speech capacity in the examined groups, with better speech capacity observed in group I (t = -3.807, p < 0.001). The study did not show an isolated effect of time or tumor type on the speech capacity, but showed a combined effect (F = 10.079, p = 0.002). Conclusion. The proposed method for the assessment of the speech capacity before and after surgical treatment of vocal fold tumors is a useful tool for the prediction of the voice outcome and in planning rehabilitation procedures.