University-Community Engagement Projects: Design to Empower Community

This paper examines University-Community engagement projects from the perspective of an adult student. Explicating the difficulties of community engagement as it applies to team based experiential learning, community partnerships, and university instructors, this paper analyzes personal experience of designing and implementing a community engagement project. To aid in overcoming the obstacles universities face engaging community this paper provides program specific suggestions and visual models explaining the importance of a flexible project design to the mobility, needs, and limitations of the community partner

A inclusão de crianças com Transtornos do Espectro do Autismo nas escolas públicas dos Estados Unidos

Legislation in the United States mandates that all children with disabilities (including those with autism spectrum disorder) have access to the general education curriculum in the least restrictive environment. Although a number of benefits associated with including children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in settings with their typically developing peers have been documented in the literature, skepticism remains regarding the ability of general education teachers to fully address the myriad of challenges experienced by children with ASD in these settings. This paper examines the current state of inclusion in United States Public Schools, reviews the research documenting the outcomes of the inclusion for learners with ASD, and explores arguments both supporting and questioning the role of inclusion when educating children with ASD. This paper also reviews research findings from programs that emphasize inclusion, and the educational methods that support the successful inclusion of children with ASD in general education settings.http://dx.doi.org/10.5902/1984686X10070A legislação norteamericana determina que todas as crianças com deficiência, (incluindo aquelas com transtornos do espectro do autismo) tenham acesso ao currículo da escola comum em contextos menos restritivos possíveis. Embora a literatura documente os benefícios associados à inclusão de crianças com transtorno do espectro do autismo (TEA) em ambientes com os seus pares com desenvolvimento típico, persistem dúvidas sobre a capacidade dos professores da educação regular em atender os múltiplos desafios vivenciados por essas crianças nesses ambientes. Este artigo examina o estado atual da inclusão de educandos com autismo nas escolas públicas dos Estados Unidos, analisa os resultados de pesquisas que versam sobre essa temática e apresenta argumentos favoráveis e questionamentos sobre o papel da inclusão de crianças com TEA. Este trabalho também analisa os resultados de programas que enfatizam a educação inclusiva e os métodos de ensino empregados que favorecem a inclusão, com sucesso, de crianças com TEA na escola regular

Ethnic Differences in Analgesic Efficacy and Safety of Liposomal Bupivacaine Among Asian and Caucasian Surgical Patients: A Retrospective Matched-Cohort Analysis

BACKGROUND: Extended-release local anesthetics allow for prolonged analgesia after a single administration. Although Asians demonstrate different pain thresholds than Caucasians, whether they have different postoperative local anesthetic analgesic effects has not been elucidated. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to compare the postoperative analgesic efficacy of liposomal bupivacaine on Asian and Caucasian adults, and the incidence of local anesthetic systemic toxicity (LAST) syndrome. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective, assessor-blinded cohort study of adult patients who received liposomal bupivacaine for surgery between 2012 and 2018. Asians and Caucasians were matched in a 1:1 ratio by clinical characteristics and surgery type. The primary outcome was pain management, defined as average pain score and opioid consumption during the initial 72 postoperative hours. The secondary outcome was the incidence of LAST syndrome. Reviewers were blinded to the ethnicity of the patient. RESULTS: After 1:1 propensity score matching, 130 Asians and 129 Caucasians were analyzed. All confounding variables were balanced, except for higher body mass index in the Asian group. Pain scores were lower (adjusted mean difference of -0.50 [97.5% CI, -0.98, -0.01]; superiority p = 0.011) and opioid consumption was not greater (geometric means ratio, 0.61 [97.5% CI, 0.36, 1.04]; non-inferiority p ＜ 0.001) in Asian patients compared to Caucasian patients. Only one Caucasian patient was judged as having a potential case of LAST syndrome. The length of hospital stay and the incidence of additional complications were not different between the groups. CONCLUSION: Asian adults receiving liposomal bupivacaine as part of multimodal perioperative analgesia demonstrated lower pain scores compared to matching Caucasians, despite not having greater opioid consumption

Making reasonable adjustments for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities: pre-service teachers' perceptions of an online support research

The Equality Act called on British schools to ‘avoid as far as possible by reasonable means, the disadvantage which a disabled pupil experiences’. Teachers, therefore, must be creative and flexible in order to meet the needs and optimise the capabilities of all pupils. Using focus group interviews, this article explores the influence of an online resource on pre-service teachers’ perceptions of making reasonable adjustments for children with special educational needs and disabilities. Pre-service teachers appeared committed to making reasonable adjustments, with reports of the online resource being particularly influential on their planning and assessing progress. The influence of the resource was less significant on those pre-service teachers with previous experience of making reasonable adjustments

Test-retest Reliability of the Stability Evaluation Test (SET) of the VSR-Sport in a Pediatric Sample

Objective: To examine test-retest reliability of the Stability Evaluation Test (SET) protocol of the VSR™-Sport in a pediatric sample using clinically relevant timeframes and to investigate gender and age group differences on test-retest reliability in this sample.Design: Repeated Measures Design.Setting: Community youth center.Participants: Fifty–four healthy children, aged 4-15 years, completed all three testing sessions.Interventions: Participants completed the SET three times over the course of 35 days: day 1, day 30 and day 35.Main Outcome Measures: Sway velocity (deg/sec) for six conditions and a composite of the SET was measured on testing days. An interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was calculated using SPSS 20.0.Results: Each testing timeframe elicited clinically acceptable test-retest reliability for composite SET scores: timeframe 1ICC=.91(.84-.95, 95% CI), Timeframe 2ICC=.92(.86- .95, 95% CI) and Timeframe 3ICC=.86(.76-.92, 95% CI). Some variation existed in testretest reliability when comparing males to females and a younger cohort to an older cohort, all ICC’s demonstrated clinically acceptable findings.Conclusions: Strong test-retest reliability of SET is necessary to ensure that impairments defined post-concussion using this method are due to the condition, and not unreliable tests. Findings support strong test-retest reliability of the SET in a healthy pediatric sample when delivered over timeframes following current concussion management protocols, even with considerations for age and gender. The ability to measure sway velocity on the VSR-Sport rather than balance errors in the BESS allows for an objective measurement of balance over time

Preservice Teachers’ Perceptions of Field Experiences in Inclusive Preschool Settings: Implications for Personnel Preparation

The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify events in the field experiences of Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) preservice teachers that were perceived by the preservice teachers as influencing their thinking in relation to ECSE practices. The preservice teachers’ weekly reflective journals, university supervisor observation notes, and preservice teachers’ overall evaluations of the field experience were analyzed. Comments were coded into one of the five direct services strands or one of the indirect supports strands of the Division of Early Childhood (DEC) recommended practices in early intervention/ECSE: assessment, child-focused practices, family-based practices, interdisciplinary models, technology applications, personnel preparation, and policy, procedures, and systems change. The majority of data were coded into the strand of child-focused practices. The strand that received the second largest number of codings was assessment; family-based practices had the third highest number of codings. Findings are discussed in relation to structuring ECSE practicum experiences to result in the desired outcomes. </jats:p