3 research outputs found
Expectations and Assumptions: Examining the Influence of Staff Culture on a Novel School-Based Intervention to Enable Risky Play for Children with Disabilities
Risky play is challenging, exciting play with the possibility of physical, social, or emotional harm. Through risky play, children learn, develop, and experience wellbeing. Children with disabilities have fewer opportunities than their typically developing peers to engage in this beneficial type of play. Our team designed a novel, school-based intervention to address this disparity; however, our intervention yielded unexpected quantitative results. In the present study, we qualitatively examined divergent results at two of the five schools that participated in the intervention. Specifically, we aimed to explore how staff culture (i.e., shared beliefs, values, and practices) influenced the intervention. To explore this relationship, we employed a retrospective, qualitative, multiple case study. We used thematic analysis of evaluative interviews with staff members to elucidate the cultures at each school. Then, we used cross-case analysis to understand the relationships between aspects of staff culture and the interventionâs implementation and results. We found that staff cultures around play, risk, disability influenced the way, and the extent to which, staff were willing to let go and allowed children to engage in risky play. Adultsâ beliefs about the purpose of play and recess, as well as their expectations for children with disabilities, particularly influenced the intervention. Furthermore, when the assumptions of the intervention and the staff culture did not align, the intervention could not succeed. The results of this study highlight the importance of (1) evaluating each schoolsâ unique staff culture before implementing play-focused interventions and (2) tailoring interventions to meet the needs of individual schools
An observation-based instrument to measure what children with disabilities do on the playground: A Rasch analysis
The school playground provides a natural context for play observation for children of all abilities. However, play promoters interested in designing and assessing playground interventions are limited by a lack of quantitative observation tools to measure playground play sophistication for groups of children. We used Rasch analysis to evaluate the psychometric properties of a novel iPad application designed to capture observational data on the playground for children with autism spectrum disorder and/or intellectual disability. This initial investigation provides strong evidence for construct validity and moderate evidence for reliability. We suggest directions for further measure development and calibration. In conclusion, this observation tool has potential to contribute to a more nuanced understanding of playground play for children of all abilities
Minimal information for studies of extracellular vesicles 2018 (MISEV2018): a position statement of the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles and update of the MISEV2014 guidelines
The last decade has seen a sharp increase in the number
of scientific publications describing physiological and
pathological functions of extracellular vesicles (EVs), a
collective term covering various subtypes of cell-released,
membranous structures, called exosomes, microvesicles,
microparticles, ectosomes, oncosomes, apoptotic bodies, and many
other names. However, specific issues arise when working with
these entities, whose size and amount often make them difficult
to obtain as relatively pure preparations, and to characterize
properly. The International Society for Extracellular Vesicles
(ISEV) proposed Minimal Information for Studies of Extracellular
Vesicles ("MISEV") guidelines for the field in 2014. We now
update these "MISEV2014" guidelines based on evolution of the
collective knowledge in the last four years. An important point
to consider is that ascribing a specific function to EVs in
general, or to subtypes of EVs, requires reporting of specific
information beyond mere description of function in a crude,
potentially contaminated, and heterogeneous preparation. For
example, claims that exosomes are endowed with exquisite and
specific activities remain difficult to support experimentally,
given our still limited knowledge of their specific molecular
machineries of biogenesis and release, as compared with other
biophysically similar EVs. The MISEV2018 guidelines include
tables and outlines of suggested protocols and steps to follow
to document specific EV-associated functional activities.
Finally, a checklist is provided with summaries of key points