Coordinating preservice and in-service training of early interventionists to serve preschoolers who engage in challenging behavior

Journal ArticleThis chapter focuses on the need to coordinate and improve preservice and in-service training (including technical assistance) for professionals who serve individuals and family members who live or work with young children who engage in challenging behavior. Positive behavioral support: including people with difficult behavior in the community, Eds. Lynn Kern Koegel, Robert L. Koegel, & Glen Dunlap (c) 1996, Paul H Brooks Publishing Co., Inc. Baltimore, Chapter 10, p. 227-264 by Joe Reichle, Mary McEvoy, Carol Davis, Elisabeth Rogers, Kathleen Feeley, Susan Johnston & Kathleen Wolff. Posted by permission

Beginning augmentative communication systems

Journal ArticleTo be unable to produce communicative behavior that can be understood by others represents one of the most frustrating experiences imaginable. Communicating through a communication board or with gestures lessens this frustration but does not eliminate it. Since 1975, remarkable advances have been made in our ability to provide augmentative and alternative communication services to persons for whom speech is not a viable alternative. This chapter highlights that progress and identifies issues that require further empirical scrutiny. Causes and effects in communication and lanugage intervention, Eds. Steven F. Warren and Joe Reichle (c) 1992, Paul H Brooks Publishing Co., Inc. Baltimore, Chapter 6, p. 131-156 by Joe Reichle, Pat Mirenda, Peggy Locke, Laura Piche, & Susan Johnston. Posted by permission

Developing an initial communicative repertoire: applications and issues for persons with severe disabilities

Journal ArticleResearchers and practitioners are increasingly aware of the extent of communicative relationships very early in development. Advances in understanding how communication develops and how it can be taught have made earlier communication intervention a viable undertaking for infants and toddlers who experience developmental disabilities. Advances in our ability to establish functional communication skills in the absence of verbal communicative behavior have created new options for intervention for children who have insufficient structure or function of their speech mechanisms to permit spoken communication. Enhancing children's communication: research foundations for intervention. Eds. Ann P. Kaiser & David B. Gray (c) 1993, Paul H. Brooks Publishing Co., Inc. Baltimore, Chapter 6, p.105-136 by Joe Reichle, James Halle, and Susan Johnston. Posted by permission

Establishing Early Communicative Skills: Augmentative Communication Practices with Learners Experiencing ASD Presentation

This presentation was delivered as part of the Research to Practice series that focused on bringing research to practice in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This archival publication may not reflect current scientific knowledge or recommendations. Current information available from the University of Minnesota Extension: https://www.extension.umn.edu.This presentation was delivered at the joint University of Minnesota Extension Children, Youth & Family Consortium (CYFC) and Minnesota Association for Children's Mental Health (MACMH) Research to Practice series. The series was focused on bridging research to practice in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): diagnosis and assessment, interventions, and levels of evidence. It was delivered May 3, 2011

Replacing challenging behavior: the role of communication intervention

Journal ArticleIT IS WIDELY accepted that all individuals communicate (National Joint Committee, 1992). Along with this acceptance, however, comes the acknowledgment that specific communication strategies emitted by learners may vary extensively. Although conventional forms of communication, including spoken language, sign language, and graphic mode representations, are the most common strategies of communicating, there are also instances in which less conventional communication strategies are used

Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) Mission Level 4 Carbon (L4_C) Product Specification Document

This is the Product Specification Document (PSD) for Level 4 Surface and Root Zone Soil Moisture (L4_SM) data for the Science Data System (SDS) of the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) project. The L4_SM data product provides estimates of land surface conditions based on the assimilation of SMAP observations into a customized version of the NASA Goddard Earth Observing System, Version 5 (GEOS-5) land data assimilation system (LDAS). This document applies to any standard L4_SM data product generated by the SMAP Project

Methodology: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of the AAC Literature for People with Autism Spectrum Disorder or Intellectual Disabilities who have Complex Communication Needs through 2020

A comprehensive meta-analysis examining the impacts of augmentative and alternative communication for individuals with complex communication needs was conducted, examining the relationship between social-communicative and educational outcomes and use of augmentative and alternative communication devices and across potential moderating variables. This document reports the methodology of the project as a whole, describing overarching procedures. Given the comprehensiveness of the review and meta-analysis, results of this review are reported in digestible groupings of types of research designs, types of research questions, and moderator groupings. Each of the resulting papers cite this primary document, as do additional reviews derived from the assembled data set. The documents herewith report the overarching methodology of the project, including the following. The document searches occurred in 2018 and 2020, resulting in 7,327 documents reviewed for title/abstract indication of meeting inclusion criteria. Full text document review was conducted for 1,758 documents for the next inclusion/exclusion gate. Documents were divided into group design (n = 132) and single-case experimental design (SCED) documents (n = 547) and reviewed for basic design criteria, resulting in 59 group design documents and 257 SCED documents. Lead project authors conducted screening remaining documents for false positives, resulting in 20 group and 176 SCED documents remaining for further analysis. Data extraction and potential moderator variable coding procedures are described in detail, with relevant coding manuals and other materials attached. Effect size metrics used for meta-analytic procedures are detailed.The research described here is supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R324A180110 to Texas A&M University. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Educatio

Global Assessment of the SMAP Level-4 Soil Moisture Product Using Assimilation Diagnostics

The Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission Level-4 Soil Moisture (L4_SM) product provides 3-hourly, 9-km resolution, global estimates of surface (0-5 cm) and root-zone (0-100 cm) soil moisture and related land surface variables from 31 March 2015 to present with approx. 2.5-day latency. The ensemble-based L4_SM algorithm assimilates SMAP brightness temperature (Tb) observations into the Catchment land surface model. This study describes the spatially distributed L4_SM analysis and assesses the observation-minus-forecast (O-F) Tb residuals and the soil moisture and temperature analysis increments. Owing to the climatological rescaling of the Tb observations prior to assimilation, the analysis is essentially unbiased, with global mean values of approx. 0.37 K for the O-F Tb residuals and practically zero for the soil moisture and temperature increments. There are, however, modest regional (absolute) biases in the O-F residuals (under approx. 3 K), the soil moisture increments (under approx. 0.01 cu m/cu m), and the surface soil temperature increments (under approx. 1 K). Typical instantaneous values are approx. 6 K for O-F residuals, approx. 0.01 (approx. 0.003) cu m/cu m for surface (root-zone) soil moisture increments, and approx. 0.6 K for surface soil temperature increments. The O-F diagnostics indicate that the actual errors in the system are overestimated in deserts and densely vegetated regions and underestimated in agricultural regions and transition zones between dry and wet climates. The O-F auto-correlations suggest that the SMAP observations are used efficiently in western North America, the Sahel, and Australia, but not in many forested regions and the high northern latitudes. A case study in Australia demonstrates that assimilating SMAP observations successfully corrects short-term errors in the L4_SM rainfall forcing

Using Data Assimilation Diagnostics to Assess the SMAP Level-4 Soil Moisture Product

The Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission Level-4 Soil Moisture (L4_SM) product provides 3-hourly, 9-km resolution, global estimates of surface (0-5 cm) and root-zone (0-100 cm) soil moisture and related land surface variables from 31 March 2015 to present with approx.2.5-day latency. The ensemble-based L4_SM algorithm assimilates SMAP brightness temperature (Tb) observations into the Catchment land surface model. This study describes the spatially distributed L4_SM analysis and assesses the observation-minus-forecast (O-F) Tb residuals and the soil moisture and temperature analysis increments. Owing to the climatological rescaling of the Tb observations prior to assimilation, the analysis is essentially unbiased, with global mean values of approx. 0.37 K for the O-F Tb residuals and practically zero for the soil moisture and temperature increments. There are, however, modest regional (absolute) biases in the O-F residuals (under approx. 3 K), the soil moisture increments (under approx. 0.01 cu m/cu m), and the surface soil temperature increments (under approx. 1 K). Typical instantaneous values are approx. 6 K for O-F residuals, approx. 0.01 (approx. 0.003) cu m/cu m for surface (root-zone) soil moisture increments, and approx. 0.6 K for surface soil temperature increments. The O-F diagnostics indicate that the actual errors in the system are overestimated in deserts and densely vegetated regions and underestimated in agricultural regions and transition zones between dry and wet climates. The O-F auto-correlations suggest that the SMAP observations are used efficiently in western North America, the Sahel, and Australia, but not in many forested regions and the high northern latitudes. A case study in Australia demonstrates that assimilating SMAP observations successfully corrects short-term errors in the L4_SM rainfall forcing