Assessments Used by Indian Speech-Language Pathologists for Patients with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Based on Deshmukh and McCauley’s 2010 survey of Indian speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and their management of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), this study’s objective was to examine the assessment methods, training, characteristics, and client base of such SLPs. A 51-item online survey, created for another study re-examining Deshmukh and McCauley’s topic, was used; however, only 12 of the items were utilized for the purposes of this current study. Participants were invited through the Indian Speech and Hearing Association’s (ISHA) email list. Data from 26 respondents located in 4 different Indian states were used. The majority of the respondents were new SLPs, new to ASD, and had received a varied amount of academic training regarding ASD. About half of the SLPs were not permitted to diagnose ASD. Most of their assessment instruments were in English and had been developed in the West. Since the 2010 study, there has been a decrease in the number of academic courses about ASD and the number of SLPs diagnosing ASD. Previously, the SLP was the most frequent diagnostician, but now that role mostly belongs to clinical psychologists. The number of clients with confirmed ASD seems to have increased and it also seems that many of the assessments have not been adjusted linguistically for them. Future research might examine the existence of any cultural adjustments for the assessments that have been made to accommodate Indian clients with ASD.No embargoAcademic Major: Speech and Hearing Scienc

Embedding a civic engagement dimension within the higher education curriculum: a study of policy, process and practice in Ireland.

As the civic role of higher education attracts renewed critical attention, the idea of engagement has come to the fore. Civic engagement, as espoused in many institutional missions, encompasses a diversity of goals, strategies and activities. Latterly, these have included particular approaches to teaching and learning. This research examines the process of embedding a civic engagement dimension within the higher education curriculum in Ireland. I use the term ‘pedagogy for civic engagement’as a generic term for a range of academic practices –variously referred to as ‘service learning’or ‘community based learning’–which share an explicit civic focus. Academic practice serves as the central focus with attention to pertinent aspects of the prevailing context. Using a multi-site case study conducted in the spirit of naturalistic enquiry, I examine four cases of this curriculum innovation, drawn from the university and institute of technology sectors in Ireland, with unstructured interviews and documents as the main sources of data. I interrogate the underpinning rationale for ‘pedagogy for civic engagement’–as gleaned from the literature, the policy context and the case studies –exploring implicit conceptions in relation to knowledge, curriculum, civil society, community and the purpose of higher education. The study draws its empirical data from those responsible for implementing this pedagogy –the ‘embedders’–and a range of other actors. Interviews were carried out with academic staff, project directors, educational developers, academic managers and leaders. Key actors from the national policy context and from the international field of civic engagement also participated in the study. Four orientations to civic engagement are identified, revealing the multifaceted rationale. I explore the process of operationalising the pedagogy and the factors impacting on academics’capacity and willingness to embed it. While the study does not directly examine the experience of students and community partners their role within the process, as perceived by academic staff and others, is problematised. The implications of the putative unresolved epistemology of this pedagogy are explored in light of how participants conceive of and practice it. Academics’ambivalence about the place of values in higher education emerges as a theme and the issue of agency recurs. I explore how the pedagogy may be conceived of in terms of the teaching, research and service roles of academics and consider how it may be positioned within an institution. Opportunities for alignment are identified at a number of levels from constructive alignment within the curriculum to alignment with national strategic priorities. I explore the unrealised potential of the Irish National Framework of Qualifications –specifically the ‘insight’dimension –as a means of enabling and legitimising the pedagogy, in light of the prominence afforded to the principle of subsidiarity in Irish higher education policy. The localised way in which these practices have been adopted and adapted underlines the significance of context and culture. ‘Pedagogy for civic engagement’as a concept and as a practice challenges a range of assumptions and traditional practices, raising fundamental questions regarding the role and purpose of higher education –and not just in contemporary Ireland

Electrochemotherapy for the palliative management of cutaneous metastases: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Electrochemotherapy combines electroporation in conjunction with chemotherapeutic agents and is used to treat tumours in many localisations, including cutaneous metastases. The symptoms associated with cutaneous malignant wounds can be distressing for patients and their management is a challenge in healthcare. AIM: The purpose of this systematic review was to investigate the effectiveness of electrochemotherapy in the context of palliative care. DESIGN: All aspects of the systematic review were followed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement. DATA SOURCES: The following databases were searched for English-language reviews; Medline, Embase, CINAHL, British Nursing Index and the Cochrane Library. The search was conducted between the publication of Standard Operating Procedures in 2006 and the third week of October 2017. Studies involving oral cancers and studies with fewer than 10 patients were excluded. The selected studies were assessed for risk of bias and sub-group data were synthesised in a random-effects meta-analysis. RESULTS: From 425 studies, 29 studies were included involving 1503 patients, the pooled results were 46.6% for complete response and 82.2% for objective response according to the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumours. The meta-analysis indicated that small tumours were over twice as likely (2.25) to have a complete response than large. CONCLUSIONS: Electrochemotherapy is an effective, repeatable and minimally invasive intervention within the palliative population that can reduce symptom burden. This review is an update of previous systematic reviews by Mali et al. [1,2] and highlights the need for tailored treatment depending on each individual case

Supramolecular approach to new inkjet printing inks

Electronically complementary, low molecular weight polymers that self-assemble through tunable π−π stacking interactions to form extended supramolecular polymer networks have been developed for inkjet printing applications and successfully deposited using three different printing techniques. Sequential overprinting of the complementary components results in supramolecular network formation through complexation of π-electron rich pyrenyl or perylenyl chain-ends in one component with π-electron deficient naphthalene diimide residues in a chain-folding polyimide. The complementary π−π stacked polymer blends generate strongly colored materials as a result of charge-transfer absorption bands in the visible spectrum, potentially negating the need for pigments or dyes in the ink formulation. Indeed, the final color of the deposited material can be tailored by varying the end-groups of the π-electron rich polymer component. Piezoelectric printing techniques were employed in a proof of concept study to allow characterization of the materials deposited, and a thermal inkjet printer adapted with imaging software enabled in situ analysis of the ink drops as they formed and of their physical properties. Finally, continuous inkjet printing allowed greater volumes of material to be deposited, on a variety of different substrate surfaces, and demonstrated the utility and versatility of this novel type of ink for industrial applications

Analysis of shared heritability in common disorders of the brain

ience, this issue p. eaap8757 Structured Abstract INTRODUCTION Brain disorders may exhibit shared symptoms and substantial epidemiological comorbidity, inciting debate about their etiologic overlap. However, detailed study of phenotypes with different ages of onset, severity, and presentation poses a considerable challenge. Recently developed heritability methods allow us to accurately measure correlation of genome-wide common variant risk between two phenotypes from pools of different individuals and assess how connected they, or at least their genetic risks, are on the genomic level. We used genome-wide association data for 265,218 patients and 784,643 control participants, as well as 17 phenotypes from a total of 1,191,588 individuals, to quantify the degree of overlap for genetic risk factors of 25 common brain disorders. RATIONALE Over the past century, the classification of brain disorders has evolved to reflect the medical and scientific communities' assessments of the presumed root causes of clinical phenomena such as behavioral change, loss of motor function, or alterations of consciousness. Directly observable phenomena (such as the presence of emboli, protein tangles, or unusual electrical activity patterns) generally define and separate neurological disorders from psychiatric disorders. Understanding the genetic underpinnings and categorical distinctions for brain disorders and related phenotypes may inform the search for their biological mechanisms. RESULTS Common variant risk for psychiatric disorders was shown to correlate significantly, especially among attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder (MDD), and schizophrenia. By contrast, neurological disorders appear more distinct from one another and from the psychiatric disorders, except for migraine, which was significantly correlated to ADHD, MDD, and Tourette syndrome. We demonstrate that, in the general population, the personality trait neuroticism is significantly correlated with almost every psychiatric disorder and migraine. We also identify significant genetic sharing between disorders and early life cognitive measures (e.g., years of education and college attainment) in the general population, demonstrating positive correlation with several psychiatric disorders (e.g., anorexia nervosa and bipolar disorder) and negative correlation with several neurological phenotypes (e.g., Alzheimer's disease and ischemic stroke), even though the latter are considered to result from specific processes that occur later in life. Extensive simulations were also performed to inform how statistical power, diagnostic misclassification, and phenotypic heterogeneity influence genetic correlations. CONCLUSION The high degree of genetic correlation among many of the psychiatric disorders adds further evidence that their current clinical boundaries do not reflect distinct underlying pathogenic processes, at least on the genetic level. This suggests a deeply interconnected nature for psychiatric disorders, in contrast to neurological disorders, and underscores the need to refine psychiatric diagnostics. Genetically informed analyses may provide important "scaffolding" to support such restructuring of psychiatric nosology, which likely requires incorporating many levels of information. By contrast, we find limited evidence for widespread common genetic risk sharing among neurological disorders or across neurological and psychiatric disorders. We show that both psychiatric and neurological disorders have robust correlations with cognitive and personality measures. Further study is needed to evaluate whether overlapping genetic contributions to psychiatric pathology may influence treatment choices. Ultimately, such developments may pave the way toward reduced heterogeneity and improved diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders

Teaching and learning through civic engagement: prospects for sustainability in teacher education

This paper considers the prospects for sustainable service/community based learning as an element of a civic engagement strategy within the context of teacher education. It draws on findings of a study of the policy, process and practice of embedding civic engagement in the higher education curriculum in Ireland and the author's experience implementing service learning in initial teacher education. The significance of underpinning rationale, as exemplified in academics' orientation to civic engagement, is explored. The benefits to be gained from strategic alignment with institutional and national policy developments are highlighted. A typology of organisational arrangements for service/community based learning is offered to help explore the relationship between complexity, sustainability and potential for reciprocity. Certain features of the context of teacher education the focus on development of values and dispositions, the centrality of civic values to the profession and teacher educators' familiarity with the practice of reflection bode well for the prospect of a sustainable pedagogy which reflects the values associated with reciprocity, diversity and social justice. The inherent challenges associated with developing and maintaining collaborative partnerships, however, may limit the potential for mainstreaming service/community based learning within the curriculum for all student teachers.peer-reviewe

Curriculum development for sustainable civic engagement

Capacity building both for students and for community partners is an explicit goal for one particular teaching and learning innovation in Irish higher education. In addition to offering the opportunity to apply discipline-specific knowledge and skills, community-engaged learning (or service learning) aims to develop students capacity for autonomy, insight and active citizenship while meeting community needs and building community capacity. A central role of the academic is to plan a curriculum for civic engagement a process which includes attending to values, outcomes, pedagogy, assessment and evaluation which captures the diverse goals of the pedagogy, while meeting the requirements of a credit-based framework and related quality assurance systems. Academics have demonstrated considerable ingenuity in their ability to do this, often with the aid of educational developers who have supported these developments.   The chapter focuses on the process by which academics design/redesign curricula to embed a civic dimension with the potential for capacity building for all partners in the process and the inherent tensions in that endeavour. A range of strategies which have been deployed in practice will be outlined as will a typology of approaches to curriculum design for the pedagogy. The implications of different curriculum design for the sustainability of the pedagogy are also examined, especially within the challenging and demanding milieu of contemporary higher education.Not peer reviewe

Teaching and learning through civic engagement: prospects for sustainability in teacher education

This paper considers the prospects for sustainable service/community based learning as an element of a civic engagement strategy within the context of teacher education. It draws on findings of a study of the policy, process and practice of embedding civic engagement in the higher education curriculum in Ireland and the author's experience implementing service learning in initial teacher education. The significance of underpinning rationale, as exemplified in academics' orientation to civic engagement, is explored. The benefits to be gained from strategic alignment with institutional and national policy developments are highlighted. A typology of organisational arrangements for service/community based learning is offered to help explore the relationship between complexity, sustainability and potential for reciprocity. Certain features of the context of teacher education the focus on development of values and dispositions, the centrality of civic values to the profession and teacher educators' familiarity with the practice of reflection bode well for the prospect of a sustainable pedagogy which reflects the values associated with reciprocity, diversity and social justice. The inherent challenges associated with developing and maintaining collaborative partnerships, however, may limit the potential for mainstreaming service/community based learning within the curriculum for all student teachers.peer-reviewe