Let's Get It On: Dressing Skill Development in Children With Vision Impairment and Children With Down Syndrome

Dressing is a fundamental independent living skill often haphazardly acquired via visual observation. For children with vision impairment and children with Down Syndrome (where vision impairment is a component), dressing skill acquisition can be delayed due to a reduced/absent visual modality. Independent living skills is an aspect of habilitation practice and training, designed to maximise independence in children and young people with vision impairment and prepare them for adulthood. This paper, presented in two parts, first details a systematic (UK based) survey exploring fastening use across a clothing sample of birth-adult clothing (N = 12,967). Study 1 presents a frequency distribution exploring types of fastenings used on clothing items from birth-adulthood. The data are fundamental in exploring the likelihood of fastening exposure across developmental phases. Further, Study 1 details the process behind developing a novel dressing skill intervention. Informed by Study 1, Study 2 qualitatively explored the effectiveness of an original resource/group-based intervention over a 10-week period. Eighteen children were recruited for the study, namely children with vision impairment (n = 9) and children with Down Syndrome (n = 9) aged 5–11 years. Collective and illustrative case studies are presented based on emergent themes from intervention observations. The findings reveal areas for consideration by Habilitation Specialists and the multidisciplinary team surrounding children with vision impairment and/or Down Syndrome as this may inform Habilitation Plans, and Educational Health Care Plan reports. The implications of this study extend beyond dressing skill development in children with vision impairment and/or Down Syndrome and inform resource development and subsequent practice when working with children with special educational needs and disabilities

Can children with autism read emotions from the eyes? The eyes test revisited

This study aimed to test two new, simplified tasks related to the eye-test, targeting children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and typically developing controls (TD). Test-1 assessed the recognition of emotion/mental states with displays using one word and two eye-pictures, whereas Test-2 presented displays using two words and one eye-picture. Black and white photographs of children were used as materials. A cross-cultural study (Caucasian/East-Asian) with adults was initially carried out to verify generalizability across different ethnic groups. Cross-sectional trajectory analyses were used to compare emotion recognition from the eyes in the two tests. Trajectories were constructed linking performance on both tests either to chronological age or to different measures of mental age (receptive vocabulary based on the BPVS, CARS or ASQ for the ASD group). Performance improved with chronological age in both the ASD and TD groups of children. However, performance in Test-1 was significantly superior in children with ASD, who showed delayed onset and slower rate of improvement than TD children in Test-2. In both the ASD and TD groups the lowest error rate was recorded for the item ‘anger’, suggesting that threat-detection cue mechanisms may be intact in Autism. In general, all children showed good performance on our novel tests, thus making them good candidates for assessing younger children and those with lower general abilities

Understanding generation Z’s travel social decision-making

Purpose – To propose a new decision-making process that Generation Zers adopt when they shop for travel and tourism services through social and mobile applications (i.e., hotels, airlines, attractions, and restaurants). Design – A qualitative research was used to explore the changes and unique characteristics of the Generation Z’s different stages of social travel decision-making. Methodology – A conceptual approach that relies on an extensive literature review of classical decision-making models reflecting the changes and differences in each stage in the process. Approach – The authors rely on Engel-Kollat-Blackwell’s (EKB) consumer decision-making model as a base to understand and propose a modified model. Findings – The authors propose a new social decision-making process model for Generation Z. The proposed model consists of five stages and each step is deeper and more complex than ever before. These stages are as follows: 1) Inspiration, 2) Need for Social Recognition, 3) Planning, Search and Evaluation, 4) Booking, and 5) Post-Booking Evaluation. Originality of the research – The paper is the first study to propose a unique decision-making process for Generation Z travellers in the realm of social and mobile business

Sleep disturbances and patterns in children with neurodevelopmental conditions

Background: Children with neurodevelopmental conditions (NDC) often experience sleep problems which are long-lasting and more complex than typically developing children. These sleep problems impact their families and there is little guidance for management specifically for sleep for families of children with neurodevelopmental conditions. The present study aims to use parental report to evaluate sleep disturbances and sleep patterns in a large sample of children with NDC. We aim to identify associations with age, diagnosis, and medication groups. Methods: Data on 601 children aged between 2 and 17 years was analyzed from a UK non-profit service for sleep for families of children with NDC. Parents/carers completed the children's sleep habit questionnaire, a 7 day sleep diary, and information on child age, diagnosis, and medication. Parents also reported previous sleep management techniques they had tried. Results: Overall, we found differences between age, diagnosis, and medication use groups for sleep disturbances and sleep diary parameters in these populations. Sensory conditions were associated with high night time waking duration. Parents reported their child's short sleep duration was the most common problem for them. Conclusions: Key areas for further research are outlined including the long term considerations for parental presence at bedtime for sleep anxiety, melatonin use and efficacy, and consideration for interventions to reduce daytime fatigue in children aged 7–11 years old

The effect of carbohydrate dose and timing on timed effort and time to exhaustion within a simulated cycle race in male professional cyclists

A key performance limitation affecting professional endurance cycling is carbohydrate storage and utilisation (Pöchmüller, Schwingshack, Colombani & Hoffmann, 2016, Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 13). Muscle glycogen stores alone are inefficient at maintaining optimal blood glucose levels beyond two hours of exercise; consequently, exogenous CHO is commonly used to counteract this (Jeukendrup, 2011, Journal of Sports Sciences, 21, 91-99). High concentrations of CHO can cause drops in blood glucose, excessive glycogen utilisation and gastrointestinal discomfort (GID) (Jeukendrup, 2011). Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine if frequent, smaller CHO feedings would be preferable to large, bolus CHO feedings on time trial cycling performance. With institutional ethics approval, 5 professional cyclists completed a 4h simulated cycle ride with 3 timed efforts in a randomised, cross-over, double blind design study. Each timed effort occurred in the last 10 min of each hour (TE1, TE2, TE3); participants were asked to cycle with maximum effort for this time. There was also a final effort at the end of the 4th hour to replicate a sprint finish. This was measured as time to exhaustion (TTE). Two interventions were used; a frequent feed (F) where participants drank 20g maltodextrin in 300ml flavoured water solution 3 times per hour and a bolus feed (B) where participants drank 60g maltodextrin solution once per hour. Heart rate, power output, GID, perceived exertion (RPE), blood lactate and blood glucose were recorded before and after TE1, TE2, TE3 and TTE. Wilcoxen signed rank test and Cohen’s D was performed to study differences between interventions and effect sizes.In the F intervention, average watts were significantly higher at TE2 (P<0.05 d=0.75) and TE3 (P<0.05 d=1.21) and the RPE was lower TE1 (P≥0.05 d=1.12), TE2 (P<0.05, d=1.12) and TTE (P≥0.05 d=1.12) compared to B. There was no significant difference between any other variables. The results suggest that despite power output being higher, RPE was lower in the F intervention. Gut absorption of CHO is limited to 1g/h (Jeukendrup, 2011), which may help explain these findings. This is one of the first studies to look at concentration and timing of CHO consumption in endurance cycling. Regular feeds of 20g CHO may be more beneficial on power output and RPE in endurance cycling compared to hourly 60g feeds

Recovery following a marathon: a comparison of cold water immersion, whole body cryotherapy and a placebo control

Purpose: Cryotherapy is an increasingly popular recovery strategy used in an attempt to attenuate the negative impact of strenuous physical activity on subsequent exercise. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the effects of whole body cryotherapy (WBC) and cold water immersion (CWI) on markers of recovery following a marathon. Methods: Thirty-one endurance trained males completed a marathon. Participants were randomly assigned to a CWI, WBC or placebo group. Perceptions of muscle soreness, training stress and markers of muscle function were recorded before the marathon and at 24 and 48 h post exercise. Blood samples were taken at baseline, post intervention and 24 and 48 h post intervention to assess inflammation and muscle damage. Results: WBC had a harmful effect on muscle function compared to CWI post marathon. WBC positively influenced perceptions of training stress compared to CWI. With the exception of C-reactive protein (CRP) at 24 and 48 h, neither cryotherapy intervention positively influenced blood borne markers of inflammation or structural damage compared to placebo. Conclusion: The findings show WBC has a negative impact on muscle function, perceptions of soreness and a number of blood parameters compared to CWI, contradicting the suggestion that WBC may be a superior recovery strategy. Further, cryotherapy is no more effective than a placebo intervention at improving functional recovery or perceptions of training stress following a marathon. These findings lend further evidence to suggest that treatment belief and the placebo effect may be largely responsible for the beneficial effects of cryotherapy on recovery following a marathon

Dietary Level of the Omega-3 Fatty Acids EPA and DHA Influence the Flesh Pigmentation in Atlantic Salmon

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