We argue that the construct of support needs as used in the field of intellectual disability (ID) offers applicability for persons with motor disabilities. To explore the validity of the Supports Intensity Scale (SIS) in groups other than ID, we studied the criterion validity for persons with motor disability in a population sample. The SIS showed excellent criterion validity, explaining 62-69% of the variance depending on different combinations of variables suggested by the literature. A distinctive pattern of support needs specific to motor disability was evident, supporting the sensitivity of the SIS for this population. In conclusion, the SIS is found to be an appropriate and valid instrument for assessing support needs in persons with motor disabilities.
AbstractAn innovation in developing the Supports Intensity Scale—Children's Version (SIS-C) was the adoption of latent variable modeling approaches to norm development. In regard to translated versions of the SIS-C, the latent modeling approaches provided opportunities to leverage the large standardization sample generated in the United States (n = 4,015) to generate translation-specific norms from data collected on smaller samples in other countries and enable future cross-cultural analyses. In this study, data were collected on children in Iceland who received special education services (as defined and delivered in Iceland), a more diverse group of children with disabilities than the U.S. sample. This provided a unique context to explore cross-cultural differences. Findings indicated the structure of the SIS-C (i.e., seven support need domains organized under an overall support needs construct), was supported in the Icelandic context. However, findings also suggested that supports planning teams in Iceland must consider specific age-related factors that differ from other cultural contexts.
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