Down Syndrome Caregivers’ Support Needs: A Caregiver Perspective

The purpose of the study was to gain an understanding of the support needs caregivers of children with Down syndrome (DS) experience and to provide recommendations to services and advocacy agencies in the community. Caregiver perspectives were gained from individual interviews addressing the research question “Are parents of individuals with DS supported, why or why not?” Caregivers were involved in the analysis of the data through Concept Mapping procedures. Participants generated eight thematic clusters representing the support needs of caregivers of children with DS. The themes included online social support, community support gaps, areas where support is lacking, Down Syndrome community support, financial support, advocacy needs, educational support and concerns for community programming. The study highlights the need for more local organizations to offer support that is affordable and accessible for families. Results will support future program planning for services for individuals caring for those with DS

Down Syndrome Caregivers’ Support Needs: A Mixed-Method Participatory Approach

Background The purpose of the study was to explore the support needs of caregivers of children with Down syndrome from their perspective using a mixed‐method participatory research approach. Methods Concept mapping methodology was used to obtain caregiver perspectives. Twenty‐one caregivers answered the question ‘Are parents of individuals with Down syndrome supported, why or why not?’ Caregivers were involved in the analysis of the data through concept mapping procedures. Results Sorted data were analysed with multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis. Participants generated eight thematic clusters representing the support needs of caregivers of children with Down syndrome. The themes included online and social support, support system gaps, areas where support is lacking, Down syndrome community support, financial support, advocacy needs, educational support and concerns for community programming. Conclusions Themes align with previous research on support needs of parents of children with developmental disabilities. The study highlights the need for more local organisations to offer support that is affordable and accessible for families. Results will support future programme planning for services for individuals caring for those with Down syndrome

Re-imagining Scotland: Scottish women’s cultural leadership in the theatre sector 2011-2021

This thesis investigates women’s cultural leadership in the Scottish theatre sector in the period of 2011-2021. Focusing especially on the 2014 Scottish independence referendum and the 2016 ‘Brexit’ referendum, this work argues that women used theatre as a space to re-imagine Scotland, and that looking at the work they produced in this time can provide fresh insight into both gender and national identity in contemporary Scotland. Taking Benedict Anderson’s theory of the imagined community as a theoretical starting point, this research argues that cultural activity provides women with space to insert themselves into Scotland’s cultural narrative, and in turn shape the imagining of Scotland as a nation. This thesis places existing research into gender and national identity in conversation with thirteen original interviews with female leaders from the Scottish cultural sector. In doing so, it advocates for an intersectional approach to the study of women’s contributions to the Scottish cultural sector which allow for nuance that previous studies have not provided. I begin with an introduction and literature review, before focusing on the issue of gender inequality within the Scottish cultural sector. In this discussion, I focus on key issues identified by women I interviewed, highlighting how women’s experiences are shaped by their race, class, and age as well as their gender, and that often these different inequalities are interacting and intersecting. This chapter argues that understanding the diversity of experiences amongst different women is crucial to fully comprehending gender inequality. It also problematises the idea that the success of a small group of women who progress to leadership can be seen as evidence of wider progress in terms of gender inequality within the sector. Building on this, the next chapter looks at power dynamics within the networks and communities that comprise the Scottish cultural sector – in particular focusing on how women leaders navigate a theatre industry in which they are simultaneously disadvantaged and in a position of power. The final chapter turns its attention to how women’s creative work can be understood as a form of cultural leadership, and how analysis of that creative work can produce new knowledge of how women are imagining Scotland as a nation. This chapter takes Rona Munro’s The James Plays (2014), Annie George’s The Bridge/Home is Not the Place/Fragments of Home (2014-2017) and Frances Poet’s Adam (2017) as case studies and argues that women used their creative work during the period of 2011-2021 to imagine Scotland as a nation that could be egalitarian and open, whilst also highlighting the ways in which the realities of life in Scotland at that time often did not live up to this imagined potential. Ultimately, this thesis demonstrates the key role that women are playing in the cultural sector in Scotland, and specifically in the theatre industry. It shows that in a decade of political and cultural upheaval, women used their cultural activity to both critique and celebrate Scotland, to understand Scotland’s past and present, and to imagine potential futures

Benefits of Time Spent Outdoors in Early Childhood Education: A Systematic Review

Several studies have provided evidence that time spent in nature (i.e., in natural environments or the outdoors) plays a beneficial role in child development by positively influencing children’s cognitive processes and states (Bowler et al., 2010; Bratman et al., 2012; 2014; Cameron-Faulkner et al., 2018; Kaplan, 1995; Mitchell et al.). However, to date, no study has looked systematically at the overall literature addressing the benefits nature plays in early childhood education, primarily through outdoor learning or time spent outside in natural environments. The purpose of the current study is to provide a systematic review of the empirical literature evaluating outcomes linked to children spending time outdoors through outdoor play, forests, gardens, or school playgrounds. A systematic search of PsycINFO was conducted to identify critical studies linking the outdoors with outcomes during early childhood. Inclusion criteria were as follows: research studies conducted with children enrolled in early childhood education programs (age 2-5-year-olds) related to nature base experiences in the United States and peer-reviewed articles written in English. This search yielded 12 empirical studies. Codes were developed to examine a) what outcomes have been measured for children spending time outdoors in their early childhood education settings and b) what approaches were used to measure these outcomes. The two most measured outcomes included in studies were children’s behavior (N = 3; 25%) and educational or learning outcomes (N = 3; 25%). Most activities were child-led (N= 6, 50%) while children engaged in free-play (N = 5, 29%) and physical activities (N= 5, 29%). The most common method utilized was a quasi-experimental design (N=5, 29%), followed by secondary research designs (N=2, 16%). A few studies used rigorous methods to examine the links between children spending time outdoors and their specific beneficial outcomes. Implications for future research in this area are discussed

CICE Magazine, No. 3

Reports on the cherry tree dedication, pet prison partnership, lavender graduate celebration, ethical engagement & volunteer tourism, and a recipe.https://soundideas.pugetsound.edu/cicemagazine/1002/thumbnail.jp

Modeling of Fragmentation of Asteroids

The objective of this study is to understand fragmentation and fracture of a given asteroid and mechanisms of break-up. The focus of the present work is to develop modeling techniques for stony asteroids in 10m-100m range to answer two questions: 1) What is the role of material makeup of an asteroid in the stress distribution? 2)How is stress distribution altered in the presence of pre-existing defects

The Grizzly, February 17, 2011

Over 45 Businesses Visit Career Fair • Alcohol Incidents on Campus Raise Concern for Administration • Dance Organizations Promise Exciting Spring Performances • UITA to Bring W. J. T. Mitchell to Campus Today • Urbano Cheers and Sings Her Way Through Senior Year • Valentine\u27s Day: Memories of Puppies and Passing Out • To Write Love on Her Arms Comes to Ursinus • Internship Profile: Jordan Oliver • Opinions: Like-a-Little Provides a Fun, Flirtatious Environment; Like-a-Little Could be Detrimental to Ursinus; Snow and Ice Cause Problems in Ursinus Parking Lots • UC Baseball Looks to Bounce Back in Season • Men\u27s Lacrosse is Young, Deep, and Hungryhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1830/thumbnail.jp

Mastery-Based Testing in Undergraduate Mathematics

Mastery-based testing is an assessment scheme that challenges students to provide complete solutions to problems derived from clear course concepts. Students are allowed multiple attempts to demonstrate mastery, which helps create a classroom environment where students value persistence toward thorough understanding. In this paper, we describe in detail the benefits and implementation of mastery-based testing in college mathematics courses. We also summarize student response data that show positive reactions to this testing method