Augmentative and alternative communication for children with autism spectrum disorder: an evidence-based evaluation of the Language Acquisition through Motor Planning (LAMP) programme

Children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder often have restricted verbal communication. For children who do not use functional speech, augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices can be an important support. We evaluated the effectiveness of one AAC programme, the Language Acquisition through Motor Planning (LAMP) using a Vantage Lite™ device as the speech output in the home and school environments. Eight children with limited communication were assessed by a speech pathologist prior to the introduction of the programme, after five weeks of training and again after a further two weeks of use of the programme, but without the supported training. The pre-/post-assessment measures revealed that all eight children made gains in the development of spontaneous communication using the device during the implementation period. Parents and teachers also reported that the gains achieved during the five-week trial were greater than those achieved in previous interventions. Two years after the completion of the study, a follow-up phone interview was completed which identified that children who received ongoing support from a LAMP-trained speech pathologist continued using the LAMP programme. As a result of this study, a specialised LAMP specific classroom was established in one of the participating schools

Simple yet effective methods to probe hydrogel stiffness for mechanobiology

In spite of tremendous advances made in the comprehension of mechanotransduction, implementation of mechanobiology assays remains challenging for the broad community of cell biologists. Hydrogel substrates with tunable stiffness are essential tool in mechanobiology, allowing to investigate the effects of mechanical signals on cell behavior. A bottleneck that slows down the popularization of hydrogel formulations for mechanobiology is the assessment of their stiffness, typically requiring expensive and sophisticated methodologies in the domain of material science. Here we overcome such barriers offering the reader protocols to set-up and interpret two straightforward, low cost and high-throughput tools to measure hydrogel stiffness: static macroindentation and micropipette aspiration. We advanced on how to build up these tools and on the underlying theoretical modeling. Specifically, we validated our tools by comparing them with leading techniques used for measuring hydrogel stiffness (atomic force microscopy, uniaxial compression and rheometric analysis) with consistent results on PAA hydrogels or their modification. In so doing, we also took advantage of YAP/TAZ nuclear localization as biologically validated and sensitive readers of mechanosensing, all in all presenting a suite of biologically and theoretically proven protocols to be implemented in most biological laboratories to approach mechanobiology

Investigating adult language input and young children's responses in naturalistic environments: An Observational Framework

This paper reports the design and trial of an original Observational Framework for quantitative investigation of young children's responses to adult language in their typical language learning environments. The Framework permits recording of both the response expectation of the adult utterances, and the degree of compliance in the child's responses. The former are evaluated under the categories of Response Required (RR), Response Not Required (RNR), and Other Directed (OD) spoken to a child other than the one who responds); the latter, based on both verbal and non-verbal behaviours, as Compliance (correct in the context), Valid (correct in another context), Ambiguous (unable to be classified), Acknowledgement, Inappropriate and No Response. Details are given for the initial application of the Observational Framework with 10 children in two- or three-year-old childcare centre classrooms. The findings that RR utterances in the adult input were more frequently addressed to younger children, while RNR utterances were more prevalent in the older classroom are discussed in terms of both adult and child communicative behaviours and the practicality of using the Observational Framework in naturalistic conditions

YAP/TAZ activity in stromal cells prevents ageing by controlling cGAS–STING

Ageing is intimately connected to the induction of cell senescence1,2, but why this is so remains poorly understood. A key challenge is the identification of pathways that normally suppress senescence, are lost during ageing and are functionally relevant to oppose ageing3. Here we connected the structural and functional decline of ageing tissues to attenuated function of the master effectors of cellular mechanosignalling YAP and TAZ. YAP/TAZ activity declines during physiological ageing in stromal cells, and mimicking such decline through genetic inactivation of YAP/TAZ in these cells leads to accelerated ageing. Conversely, sustaining YAP function rejuvenates old cells and opposes the emergence of ageing-related traits associated with either physiological ageing or accelerated ageing triggered by a mechano-defective extracellular matrix. Ageing traits induced by inactivation of YAP/TAZ are preceded by induction of tissue senescence. This occurs because YAP/TAZ mechanotransduction suppresses cGAS–STING signalling, to the extent that inhibition of STING prevents tissue senescence and premature ageing-related tissue degeneration after YAP/TAZ inactivation. Mechanistically, YAP/TAZ-mediated control of cGAS–STING signalling relies on the unexpected role of YAP/TAZ in preserving nuclear envelope integrity, at least in part through direct transcriptional regulation of lamin B1 and ACTR2, the latter of which is involved in building the peri-nuclear actin cap. The findings demonstrate that declining YAP/TAZ mechanotransduction drives ageing by unleashing cGAS–STING signalling, a pillar of innate immunity. Thus, sustaining YAP/TAZ mechanosignalling or inhibiting STING may represent promising approaches for limiting senescence-associated inflammation and improving healthy ageing

The Speech-Associated Attitude of Children Who Do and Do Not Stutter and the Differential Effect of Age

Fifty-five Flemish children, ages 6 to 13, who stuttered and 55 who did not were the subjects of a two (group) by eight (age) factorial investigation of their response to a Dutch translation of the Communication Attitude Test (C.A.T.). The main effect results confirmed previous C.A.T. findings that, as early as age 6, children who stutter exhibit significantly more in the way of a negative speech-associated attitude than their peers do. In addition, the between-group difference in attitude diverged with age. The C.A.T. scores increased for those who stuttered and decreased for the normally fluent children. These data suggest that the attitude of the two groups of children was differentially affected by their speech-related experience history. It follows from this, and the other findings of the study, that the attitude toward speech of children who stutter warrants early clinical consideration and attention