A home-based intervention using augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) techniques in rural Kenya: what are the caregivers’ experiences?

Background Caring for a child with complex communication needs associated with a developmental condition frequently adds stress to the caregiver. Furthermore, professional assistance is scarce in low-income rural settings. For such children speech is frequently unachievable. Augmentative and alternative communication provides options for supplementing or replacing speech with other techniques. The current study aimed to examine the experiences of caregivers in Kenya before and after a home-based intervention using augmentative and alternative communication techniques with children with complex communication needs. Methods Caregivers were interviewed pre- and post-intervention. The interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed and translated into English. Content analysis was applied through the stages of text familiarization and topic organization. Emergent themes and their sub-themes were identified and labelled. Connections between themes were established and interpretations made. The procedure was completed by a second researcher independently. Conflicting ideas were jointly discussed until consensus was achieved. Results Four themes emerged from the data: communication process; struggle; normality; and supernatural power. Before intervention, the caregivers acknowledged their expertise in communications with the child, while also revealing their sense of isolation, burden and pain. Normality was present as a source of comparison and also an aspirational goal. Post-intervention more positive language was used to describe the child. There was an ‘opening up’ of communication that recognized the child’s strengths and some social support systems were re-established. The power of the supernatural was recognized before and after intervention. Conclusion Caring of a child with complex communication needs presents many challenges. A home-based intervention using augmentative and alternative communication techniques appears to have been a catalyst for some positive transformations in the caregivers’ experiences, although it is not possible to attribute this change to any one aspect. The potentials of the home-based intervention would benefit from further investigation on a larger scale

Investigating the Evidence of Behavioral, Cognitive, and Psychiatric Endophenotypes in Autism: A Systematic Review

Substantial evidence indicates that parents of autistic individuals often display milder forms of autistic traits referred to as the broader autism phenotype (BAP). To determine if discrete endophenotypes of autism can be identified, we reviewed the literature to assess the evidence of behavioral, cognitive, and psychiatric profiles of the BAP. A systematic review was conducted using EMBASE, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, PsycEXTRA, and Global Health. Sixty papers met our inclusion criteria and results are discussed according to the proportion of studies that yield significant deficits per domain. The behavioral, cognitive, and psychiatric endophenotypes in parents of autistic probands are still not clarified; however, evidence suggests mild social/communication deficits, rigid/aloof personality traits, and pragmatic language difficulties as the most useful sociobehavioral candidate endophenotype traits. The existence of deficits in the cognitive domain does suggest familial vulnerability for autism. Furthermore, increased depressed mood and anxiety can also be useful markers; however, findings should be interpreted with caution because of the small number of studies in such heterogeneously broad domains and several methodological limitations

Early production of the passive in two Eastern Bantu languages

The passive construction is acquired relatively late by children learning to speak many languages, with verbal passives not fully acquired till age 6 in English. In other languages it appears earlier, around age 3 or before. Use of passive construction in young children was examined in two Eastern Bantu languages spoken in Kenya (Kiswahili and Kigiriama), both with frequent use of passive. The passive was used productively very early (2;1) in these languages, regardless of the method used to measure productivity. In addition non-actional passives, particularly rare in English and some other European languages, were seen at these early ages. The proportion of verbs that were passive varied between individuals, both in children's speech and in the input to children. Pragmatic and grammatical features of the passive in some languages have previously been suggested to drive early passive acquisition, but these features are not found consistently in the two languages studied here. Findings suggest that the relatively high frequency of input found in these languages is the most plausible reason for early productive use of the passive

A study of the heat transfer characteristics in a fin type evaporator

M.S.R. S. King and A. D. Hollan

ISLA DE ELY (Reino Unido) (Inglaterra). Parcelación del suelo (1789)

Dedicatoria : "To the Honorable the Corporatión of Bedford Level This Reduced Map of that Level is Inscribed By Charles Nalson Cole Esqr. their Register, Executed by their Order under his Direrction & Inspectión"Título redactado a partir del contenido del documentoOrientado con lis en rosa de ocho vientosOrografía de perfilSeñala la división del terreno en parcelas, indicando su extensión probablemente en acresLos márgenes derecho e izquierdo aparecen divididas del 1 al 28 y el superior e inferior del 1 al 39, al parecer para la localización de puntos en el map

How Useful Is Electroencephalography in the Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders and the Delineation of Subtypes: A Systematic Review

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are thought to be associated with abnormal neural connectivity. Presently, neural connectivity is a theoretical construct that cannot be easily measured. Research in network science and time series analysis suggests that neural network structure, a marker of neural activity, can be measured with electroencephalography (EEG). EEG can be quantified by different methods of analysis to potentially detect brain abnormalities. The aim of this review is to examine evidence for the utility of three methods of EEG signal analysis in the ASD diagnosis and subtype delineation. We conducted a review of literature in which 40 studies were identified and classified according to the principal method of EEG analysis in three categories: functional connectivity analysis, spectral power analysis, and information dynamics. All studies identified significant differences between ASD patients and non-ASD subjects. However, due to high heterogeneity in the results, generalizations could not be inferred and none of the methods alone are currently useful as a new diagnostic tool. The lack of studies prevented the analysis of these methods as tools for ASD subtypes delineation. These results confirm EEG abnormalities in ASD, but as yet not sufficient to help in the diagnosis. Future research with larger samples and more robust study designs could allow for higher sensitivity and consistency in characterizing ASD, paving the way for developing new means of diagnosis

Interview with Charles Newton

An interview in two sessions, January 1983, with Charles Newton, lecturer in English, emeritus, in the Division of the Humanities and Social Sciences. Mr. Newton graduated from the University of Chicago (PhB 1933). During World War II, headed public relations at MIT Radiation Laboratory, under directorship of Lee A. Dubridge, who subsequently became Caltech’s president (1946-1969). In 1947, Mr. Newton came west to Caltech at Dubridge’s invitation, assuming the title of assistant to the president. Here he worked mainly in public relations, publications, and fund-raising for the institute, notably helping to run the 1958 development campaign, which raised $18 million and added eighteen new buildings to the campus. He resigned as assistant to the president in 1966 and became a full-time lecturer in English in the humanities division, becoming emeritus in 1975. In this wide-ranging interview, he discusses his college days at Chicago; his early career in advertising and writing for radio; his friendship with Chicago classmate Louis Ridenour, which led to the appointment at the Rad Lab. He recalls his Rad Lab days and the offer to come to Caltech as Dubridge’s assistant. Campus atmosphere in the postwar period. Relationships with the trustees. 1958 development campaign. Nature of the undergraduate student body. DuBridge as fund-raiser; contrast between the administrations of R. A. Millikan, Dubridge, and Harold Brown. Faculty opposition to nuclear test ban. Caltech’s attrition rate. Teaching humanities; evolution of the humanities division. The interview concludes with a number of amusing anecdotes