Book Review: Meaningful Exchanges for People with Autism: An Introduction to Augmentative and Alternative Communication

Author: Joanne Cafiero Reviewer: Patricia Wright Publisher: Woodbine House, 2005 Paper, ISBN: 978-1-890627-44-7, 174 pages Cost: $17.9

Maintaining places of social inclusion : Ebola and the emergency department

We introduce the concept of places of social inclusion—institutions endowed by a society or a community with material resources, meaning, and values at geographic sites where citizens can access services for specific needs—as taken-for-granted, essential, and inherently precarious. Based on our study of an emergency department that was disrupted by the threat of the Ebola virus in 2014, we develop a process model to explain how a place of social inclusion can be maintained by custodians. We show how these custodians—in our fieldsite, doctors and nurses—experience and engage in institutional work to manage different levels of tension between the value of inclusion and the reality of finite resources, as well as tension between inclusion and the desire for safety. We also demonstrate how the interplay of custodians’ emotions is integral to maintaining the place of social inclusion. The primary contribution of our study is to shine light on places of social inclusion as important institutions in democratic society. We also reveal the theoretical and practical importance of places as institutions, deepen understanding of custodians and custodianship as a form of institutional work, and offer new insight into the dynamic processes that connect emotions and institutional work

Development and Presentation of a New Graphic Identity System for the Seneca Zoological Society

None provided

Perceptions of leadership effectiveness in the management of intergenerational work-values conflict: An antecedent of organizational citizenship behavior of perioperative registered nurses

Studies reveal a progressive net decrease in the nursing profession across four generations, creating a shortage that poses a critical threat to the health care delivery system and to the health and safety of patients within that system. Research also suggests that generational cohorts reflect social change in attitudes toward work-life balance, organizational commitment, personal-professional relationships, autonomy, focus on career advancement, and actions that represent organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Previous research grounded in theoretical frameworks of organizational behavior, leadership, and social capital indicates that leadership support of workforce diversity and effectiveness in conflict management influence OCB. However, little research explores the links between intergenerational work-values conflict (IWVC), job satisfaction, and OCB. Accordingly, this exploratory correlational study investigated linkages connecting OCB, job satisfaction, and perceptions of leadership effectiveness in the management of IWVC among 89 perioperative registered nurses, who replied to an online adaptation of established survey instruments. Correlation and regression analyses indicated that higher levels of OCB reflected increased job satisfaction and were associated with perceptions of leadership effectiveness in management of IWVC. Findings support study hypotheses that leadership management of IWVC plays an influential role in OCB. This exploratory study extends existing research and presents a model for examining leadership, OCB, and social change in nursing. Increased knowledge and understanding of these relationships may serve as a catalyst for positive social change by improving intergenerational relationships, job satisfaction, nurse retention, and positive patient care outcomes

Perceived Impact of Quality in a 21st Century Community Learning Center Out-of-School Time Program: A Case Study

Concern for the safety, education and well-being of children during out-of-school time is helping to change the landscape and priorities of families, educators and policy-makers. Changes in family structure and society have presented the need for quality out-of-school time programs. The changing family structure caused by both parents working outside the home, the advent of the single-parent household, the necessity of federally mandated standardized testing for student achievement, certain criminal activities and the expanding population of children have contributed to the question of how to protect children and enrich their lives during out-of-school time hours. The purpose of this intrinsic case study is to describe the key elements of quality in out-of-school time programs for school age youth as perceived by the participants and to determine the impact of the quality standards in out-of-school time programs as perceived by administrators, teachers, and students. The program participants are middle school students based on academic performance enrolled in a 21st Century Community Learning Center out-of-school time program in Southeast Arkansas. Participants included a diverse population from various socioeconomic backgrounds that were enrolled in the program because of basic or below scores on the benchmark examination. The study is designed around the premise out-of-school time programs built around key elements of quality reinforce outcomes of student achievement, personal enrichment and out-of-school time programs matter. Interview content regarding student achievement was found to be the richest category with related themes of grades and homework. Interview data revealed shared themes regarding the program for the participants\u27 category. The study provides insight into quality elements of out-of-school time programs, specifically, student achievement through gains made in homework and grades. The case study identified elements of quality that support student achievement outcomes for school-based programs including positive program perceptions, sustainable funding, and building strong interpersonal relationships. The findings suggest key elements of quality were identified and may contribute to positive outcomes for students. Program sustainability was a major concern for staff and the future of the OST program. This study contributes to the data needed to identify out-of-school time quality elements across program types and geographical locations

South-North trade, intellectual property jurisdictions, and freedom to operate in agricultural research on staple crops:

A biotechnology revolution is proceeding in tandem with international proliferation of intellectual property regimes and rights. Does the intellectual property impede agricultural research conducted in, or of consequence for, developing countries? This question has important spatial dimensions that link the location of production, the pattern of international trade, and the jurisdiction of intellectual property. Our main conclusion is that the current concerns about the freedom to operate in agricultural research oriented towards food crops for the developing world are exaggerated. Rights to intellectual property are confined to the jurisdictions where they are granted, and, presently, many of the intellectual property (IP) rights for biotechnologies potentially useful to developing-country agricultural producers are valid only in developed countries. IP problems might arise in technologies destined for crops grown in developing countries unencumbered by IP restrictions, if those crops are subsequently exported to countries in which IP is likely to prevail. Thus freedom to trade is also part of the IP story. However, using international production and trade data in the 15 crops critical to food security throughout the developing world, we show that exports from developing to developed countries are generally dwarfed by production and consumption in the developing world, the value of these exports is concentrated in a few crops and a few exporting countries, and the bulk of these exports go to Western Europe. Thus for now, most LDC researchers can focus primarily on domestic IPR in determining their freedom to operate with respect to food staples.Intellectual property., Biotechnology., Agricultural research., Trade regulation.,

Cognitive support for older people from multimedia options

If older users of multimedia displays could select among presentation options, would they choose display combinations that supported their performance? After three short touch-screen tasks which measured the perceptual and cognitive abilities of 50 older adults, they answered questions about a route on an online map that could be accompanied by written and/or spoken text. Half the participants saw animated routes; and they were less accurate answering questions than those who saw static routes but this did not affect people’s multimedia choices which, although diverse, were systematic. Spoken text was more often selected by people who had lower scores on the spatial working memory task, than by the older adults with higher scores. This suggests that older people with cognitive limitations recognise ways in which multimedia information can be supportive

The "F" word: The challenge of feminism and the practice of counselling twenty years on

This article revisions feminist thinking from the point of view of seven practitioners/researchers currently working in New Zealand. It arises from embodied pain, passionate commitments, and a shared curiosity about purposeful feminism in our work. We explore the challenges for us as counsellors to express feminism in our practice in ways that will meet the needs of women and men. The article aims to challenge practice by performing a number of feminisms in response to particular contexts. It speaks our practices as women