Navigating Educational and Behavioral Services: What Parents of Children With ASD Need to Know

Navigating service systems can be difficult. Parents are often unaware of where educational services end and where behavioral health services begin. This interactive panel will aid in navigating the complex matrix of school, BHRS, STS, outpatient, and psychiatric services for school-aged children with an ASD. It will teach parents how to create a collaborative team which aids in providing consistency in all environments. Additionally, parents will gain information about effective advocacy for services in the school, home, and community. The discussion will provide an overview of considerations family need in order to identify supports and advocate for their children

Chicken or egg: links between approaches to gathering data through authentic assessment activity and ways of supporting sustainable assessment of creative performance

This paper draws on research conducted to explore issues of creativity and sustainable assessment in the context of primary/secondary transition. The research project (Capability and Progression in Transition through Assessment for Learning in Design and Technology: CAPITTAL-DT; McLaren et al. 2006) was undertaken in associate primary and secondary school settings in 2 local authorities in Scotland and was funded by the Determined to Succeed division within Scottish Executive Education Department (SEED). The research undertaken had two drivers. The first was evidence from within Scotland that both teaching and learning of Design and Technology was identified as weak (e.g. HMIE 2002, Dakers 2005), that of particular concern was the tendency for teachers to focus on making products rather than on thinking skills and creative processes and that assessment as part of learning and teaching was “good or better in only 24% of schools” (HMIE 2004). The second driver was research that had just been completed for the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) that explored approaches to assessing creativity within Design & Technology (the Assessing Design Innovation project, Kimbell et al. 2004). This research utilised an approach to authentic summative assessment that indicated additional potential to contribute to assessment for learning. These two drivers combined to provide both a research need and a research opportunity. The study involved learners from 7 schools. The participants (n=225) were in Primary 6 (10-11years old), Primary7 (11-12years old) and Secondary 1 (12-13 years old). Intervention and control research cohorts were created to take a quasi-experimental approach. The research gathered baseline and follow-up data before and after transition (either from Primary 6 to Primary 7, or from Primary 7 to Secondary 1) and, for intervention cohorts, tracked curricula experiences in the intervening 9-month period. The baseline and follow-up data was gathered through authentic assessment activities adapted and developed from the Assessing Design Innovation project. The dataset was created from: - a ‘Learner Attitudes Towards Creativity’ questionnaire; - an authentic assessment activity structure (Stables & Kimbell, 2000; Kimbell et al., 2004); - a ‘learner evaluation’ questionnaire. A range of data was created by the study: - quantitative performance data derived from a creativity assessment rubric (Kimbell et al, 2004); - quantitative attitudinal and evaluative data; - qualitative guided and free response data that was analysed using derived content analysis; - qualitative data derived from semi-structured interviews with teachers to provide illustrative accounts of the related learning and teaching that had been undertaken between baseline and follow-up data collection. This paper explores the relationship between the approaches used for data gathering, the findings from the data and the insights offered for further approaches to sustainable assessment. Analysis of the data showed links between the creative performance of learners, their attitudes to creativity, the level of sophistication they demonstrated in self and peer reflection and, most importantly, how these changed over the transition period. The ability to gather and relate these data was created by the use of the authentic assessment activity as the core stimulus for the data. This paper will provide an insight into how this was undertaken and explore the potential the approach offers other curriculum areas

2002 Convocation

Prelude: Minji Ro, 2002 IMSA Graduate Pledge of Allegiance: Urvi Purohit, Student Council President Welcome: Urvi Purohit, Student Council President; Dr. Stephanie Pace Marshall, President; Eric McLaren, Principal Musical Selection: Minji Ro, 2002 IMSA Graduate Keynote Speaker: Jennifer Nesbitt Styrsky, Charter Class Graduat

Should Burden of Disease Estimates Include Cannabis Use as a Risk Factor for Psychosis?

Louise Degenhardt and colleagues discuss the evidence and the debate about whether Global Burden of Disease estimates should include cannabis use as a risk factor for psychosis

A comprehensive categorical and bibliometric analysis of published research articles on pediatric pain from 1975 to 2010

The field of pediatric pain research began in the mid-1970s and has undergone significant growth and development in recent years as evidenced by the variety of books, conferences, and journals on the topic and also the number of disciplines engaged in work in this area. Using categorical and bibliometric meta-trend analysis, this study offers a synthesis of research on pediatric pain published between 1975 and 2010 in peer-reviewed journals. Abstracts from 4256 articles, retrieved from Web of Science, were coded across 4 categories: article type, article topic, type and age of participants, and pain stimulus. The affiliation of the first author and number of citations were also gathered. The results suggest a significant increase in the number of publications over the time period investigated, with 96% of the included articles published since 1990 and most research being multiauthored publications in pain-focused journals. First authors were most often from the United States and affiliated with a medical department. Most studies were original research articles; the most frequent topics were pain characterization (39.86%), pain intervention (37.49%), and pain assessment (25.00%). Clinical samples were most frequent, with participants most often characterized as children (6-12 years) or adolescents (13-18 years) experiencing chronic or acute pain. The findings provide a comprehensive overview of contributions in the field of pediatric pain research over 35 years and offers recommendations for future research in the area. © 2015 International Association for the Study of Pain

Project ATTAIN: Advancing Trauma-Informed Care for Youth with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and/or Gender Diverse Youth

Children with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) and/or gender diversity are at higher risk of experiencing trauma. Provider knowledge is lacking; trauma, disability, and LGBTQ+ resources are often siloed; and few providers screen for trauma in this population. This paper describes the design, delivery, and initial evaluation of Project ATTAIN (Access to Trauma-informed Treatment and Assessment for Neurodivergent and/or Gender-expansive Youth). ATTAIN is an ongoing 5-year state-wide initiative aiming to assess readiness to engage in new roles and practices over time; provide state-wide training and consultation in trauma, disability, and LGBTQ+-informed practices; install screening and assessment of trauma exposure and PTSD and quality of life into IDD and gender service settings; and include people with lived experience. A readiness assessment identified pre-training gaps between role responsibilities and practice engagement across five professional sectors serving our target population (n=39) in LGBTQ+-, disability-, and trauma-informed practices. We learned that specific sectors would benefit from introductory training to increase buy-in and promote role expansion; others would benefit from advanced instruction and implementation support. So far, we have trained 966 unique providers in trauma-informed care and have seen changes in the attitudes or perspectives of participants. Participants were highly satisfied with our provided training and saw increased knowledge across training. We screened 49 people in an IDD service setting for PTSD and quality of life. Two people with lived experience are active members of our research team, participating in project planning, training delivery, and manuscript authorship. Individuals who work with IDD and/or gender-diverse youth would benefit from increased training to expand their knowledge on LGBTQ+-, disability-, and trauma-informed practices. In year three, we intend to continue outreach and evidence-informed training focused on the intersection of trauma, IDD, and gender diversity. Ongoing evaluation of our outreach, training, and screening efforts will continue to inform program activities

Driving with retinitis pigmentosa

Background: To establish the proportion of patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) meeting the Australian fitness to drive (FTD) visual standards. Methodology: A prospective consecutive case series of patients with a clinical or genetic diagnosis of RP. Data on age at symptom onset, current driving status, inheritance pattern, better eye visual acuity (BEVA), binocular Esterman visual field (BEVF) parameters, genotype and ability to meet the driving standards based on BEVA and BEVF were collected. Outcome measures included the proportion of RP patients overall meeting the standards and clinical predictors for passing. A sub-analysis was performed on those RP patients who reported to drive. Change in BEVA and BEVF parameters across age in specific genotype groups was assessed. Results: Overall, 228 patients with RP had a BEVF assessment. Only 39% (89/228) met the driving standards. Younger age at the time of testing was the only significant predictor (p \u3c 0.01) for passing. Of the 55% of RP patients who reported to drive, 52% (65/125) met the standards, decreasing to 14% in the 56- to 65-year-old age group. RP patients harbouring mutations in HK1 or RHO genes may have slower rates of decline in their VF parameters. Conclusion: Nearly 40% of RP patients met the driving standards. However, almost 50% of RP drivers were unaware of their failure to meet the current standards. BEVF testing is essential in the assessment of RP patients who are still driving. Phenotype and genotype predictors for passing the standards warrant further investigation. Abbreviation: FTD, fitness to drive; IRD, inherited retinal disease; RP, retinitis pigmentosa; RHO, rhodopsin; HK1, hexokinase 1; PRPF31 pre-mRNA processing factor 31; RPGR, retinitis pigmentosa GTPase regulator; VF, visual field; BEVA, better eye visual acuity; BEVF, binocular Esterman visual field

Dynamic instability of the major urinary protein gene family revealed by genomic and phenotypic comparisons between C57 and 129 strain mice

Targeted sequencing, manual genome annotation, phylogenetic analysis and mass spectrometry were used to characterise major urinary proteins (MUPs) and the Mup clusters of two strains of inbred mice

Genotype-specific lesion growth rates in stargardt disease

Reported growth rates (GR) of atrophic lesions in Stargardt disease (STGD1) vary widely. In the present study, we report the longitudinal natural history of patients with confirmed bial-lelic ABCA4 mutations from five genotype groups: c.6079C \u3e T, c.[2588G \u3e C;5603A \u3e T], c.3113C \u3e T, c.5882G \u3e A and c.5603A \u3e T. Fundus autofluorescence (AF) 30◦ × 30◦ images were manually seg-mented for boundaries of definitely decreased autofluorescence (DDAF). The primary outcome was the effective radius GR across five genotype groups. The age of DDAF formation in each eye was calculated using the x-intercept of the DDAF effective radius against age. Discordance between age at DDAF formation and symptom onset was compared. A total of 75 eyes from 39 STGD1 patients (17 male [44%]; mean ± SD age 45 ± 19 years; range 21–86) were recruited. Patients with c.3113C \u3e T or c.6079C \u3e T had a significantly faster effective radius GR at 0.17 mm/year (95% CI 0.12 to 0.22; p \u3c 0.001 and 0.14 to 0.21; p \u3c 0.001) respectively, as compared to those patients harbouring c.5882G \u3e A at 0.06 mm/year (95% CI 0.03–0.09), respectively. Future clinical trial design should consider the effect of genotype on the effective radius GR and the timing of DDAF formation relative to symptom onset