Examining the Effects of AAC Intervention on Oral Language in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Systematic Review

This systematic review researched the efficacy of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) in increasing oral communication in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It may be used to inform best practice when working with children with ASD. The search strategy reviewed medical, social science, and communication databases. Inclusionary criteria consisted of peer-reviewed, quantitative research published after 2007 regarding children with ASD under age 18. The included studies used AAC interventions and measured spoken language outcomes. After conducting an initial database search with these criteria, a manual search was performed using references from the found articles. Results varied across studies. Although the trend demonstrates increases in verbal language with AAC intervention, few studies show statistically significant outcomes. The studies indicate that additional factors, such as verbal communication at baseline, may affect outcomes. AAC use did not decrease verbal language. Limitations included few randomized control trial designs, few study replications, and varied outcome measures. Based on the studies analyzed, implementation of AAC may increase the number of communicative acts, but may not reliably increase verbal language. Further research is needed to understand the most effective implementation of AAC intervention to increase verbal language. Higher quality research in the form of randomized control trials, and the replication of studies to confirm results is necessary to inform evidence-based practice. The findings are consistent with those of previous systematic reviews and meta analyses. Future considerations should include type of AAC, communicative act being measured, longitudinal studies, and increased use of formal measures.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/csdms/1002/thumbnail.jp

Teens, Video Games, and Civics

Analyzes survey findings on trends in teenagers' video gaming, the social context, the role of parents and monitoring, and the link between specific gaming experiences and civic activities. Explores gaming's potential as civic learning opportunities

S17RS SGFB No. 10 (24 Hour Student Union)

to allocate a maximum of eight hundred fifty dollars and zero cents ($850.00) from the Student Government Initiatives account to fund the security costs for the Student Union’s extended hours during the Spring 2017 final examination perio

Leadership: Self-Awareness of Leadership Styles in Occupational Therapy

Successful organizations and professions depend on quality leadership. However, the literature on leadership in the field of occupational therapy, particularly understanding the effects of self-awareness, is limited. The qualitative, hermeneutic, phenomenological methodology combined with grounded theory analysis utilized in this study, examines the perceived effects of self-awareness of leadership styles on occupational therapy leaders’ decision making. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews, four weeks after the completion of two self-awareness assessments. There were a total of four participants. All participants were occupational therapists and currently held a formal leadership title in the Midwest United States. The data was transcribed verbatim and coded for themes by multiple researchers. Several methods were utilized to ensure trustworthiness. Results identify several perceptions into the effect that self-awareness of leadership styles has on decision making. Participants discussed increased confidence, validation, and visions for growth as outcomes of the research experience. Additionally, this research offers insight into the development of occupational therapy leaders. Reflection on strengths, weakness, and leadership journeys was identified as a positive experience by the participants

P6_11 Shields Up! The Physics of Star Wars

This paper seeks to establish the feasibility of creating a plasma-based shield to deflect laser-based weapons as seen in the Star Wars universe. We find that a field strength o

Literature review on appropriate health-based standards for direct and indirect potable reuse as well as various non-potable reuse scenarios

Project Summary Objectives: Water reuse is an increasingly important response to water stress; however, major advancements in water reuse have neglected small, rural communities that comprise most public water systems. The objective of this project is to accelerate water reuse adoption in rural communities by increasing technical and community readiness. The general hypothesis is that community readiness for water reuse in small systems can be accelerated by a convergence of technical, informational, social, and institutional innovation. Also, we hypothesize that severe water scarcity need not be a prerequisite for water reuse implementation, given careful attention to windows of opportunity that integrate multiple community concerns. Approach: Barriers to water reuse adoption are intertwined and complex. Therefore, our proposed work will be an integrated research and engagement program in which we: (1) address knowledge gaps and generate frameworks for overcoming these barriers, and (2) use research outputs to evaluate and accelerate community readiness for reuse in five case studies. Both general activities will be executed in parallel such that knowledge can be co-produced with decision-makers. Specific methods to address knowledge gaps include community surveys, the use of a prototype calculation engine, and desktop, bench-scale and pilot-scale evaluations of treatment technologies. Specific methods to accelerate community readiness include legal and policy analyses and case-study evaluations of five small water systems. Expected Results: This project is expected to produce outputs and outcomes that lead to acceleration of community readiness for reuse in small systems. Specifically, key results include modular, decision support tools such as water inventories, technology databases, and cost and demand curves for reuse. These outputs will be integrated into institutional and regulatory decision-making processes in small, rural, underserved communities with results made available to communities through workshops, outreach events, and publications. We will go through many iterative processes throughout the project in which feedback from small community members and stakeholders will inform the modifications of tools and outputs so that they are indeed meaningful and useful to small communities facing unique challenges