Comparison of Cliinician-Directed and Student-Self-Directed Physical Therapy Interventions for Youth with Severe and Multiple Developmental Disabilities

I investigated two physical therapy intervention approaches, one clinician-directed (CD) and one participant self-directed (SD) for helping five young adults with severe and multiple developmental disabilities (SMDD) gain, maintain, and generalize mobility skills while using facets of the Self-determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI) in the process. The dependent variables in this small-n study included: (a) number of mobility steps accomplished, (b) frequency and type of supports required, (c) number of self-initiated supports requested by the participants, (d) percent self-evaluation match with therapist, (e) number of adjustment topics offered, and (f) number of mobility steps maintained in the familiar setting and generalized to a new applied setting.All participants gained mobility skills steps regardless of the interventions applied, but the SD intervention proved somewhat more effective than the CD intervention. Participants maintained their mobility skills in their familiar setting, and generalized them in a less familiar applied setting. Results showed that participants learned and applied facets of the SDLMI more during generalization and maintenance, but less during the SD and CD sessions. Participants preferred the SD sessions because they could choose activities and control the course of the session, and they learned to relate the interventions to their mobility goal. Relative costs of the SD and CD sessions were comparable suggesting that implementing the SDLMI into PT sessions is beneficial for promoting self-determination and motor skill development for youth with severe and multiple developmental disabilities

Communication Services and Supports for Individuals With Severe Disabilities: Guidance for Assessment and Intervention

The National Joint Committee for the Communication Needs of People with Severe Disabilities (NJC) reviewed literature regarding practices for people with severe disabilities in order to update guidance provided in documents originally published in 1992. Changes in laws, definitions, and policies that affect communication attainments by persons with severe disabilities are presented, along with guidance regarding assessment and intervention practices. A revised version of the Communication Bill of Rights, a powerful document that describes the communication rights of all individuals, including those with severe disabilities is included in this article. The information contained within this article is intended to be used by professionals, family members, and individuals with severe disabilities to inform and advocate for effective communication services and opportunities

Twenty Years of Communication Intervention Research With Individuals Who Have Severe Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

This literature review was conducted to evaluate the current state of evidence supporting communication interventions for individuals with severe disabilities. Authors reviewed 116 articles published between 1987 and 2007 in refereed journals meeting three criteria: (a) described a communication intervention, (b) involved one or more participants with severe disabilities, and (c) addressed one or more areas of communication performance. Many researchers failed to report treatment fidelity or to assess basic aspects of intervention effects including generalization, maintenance, and social validity. The evidence reviewed indicates that 96% of the studies reported positive changes in some aspects of communication. These findings support the provision of communication intervention to persons with severe disabilities. Gaps in the research were reported with recommendations for future research

Comparison of clinician-directed and student-self-directed physical therapy interventions for youth with severe and multiple developmental disabilities

I investigated two physical therapy intervention approaches, one cliniciandirected (CD) and one participant self-directed (SD) for helping five young adults with severe and multiple developmental disabilities (SMDD) gain, maintain, and generalize mobility skills while using facets of the Self-determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI) in the process. The dependent variables in this small-n study included: (a) number of mobility steps accomplished, (b) frequency and type of supports required, (c) number of self-initiated supports requested by the participants, (d) percent self-evaluation match with therapist, (e) number of adjustment topics offered, and (f) number of mobility steps maintained in the familiar setting and generalized to a new applied setting. All participants gained mobility skills steps regardless of the interventions applied, but the SD intervention proved somewhat more effective than the CD intervention. Participants maintained their mobility skills in their familiar setting, and generalized them in a less familiar applied setting. Results showed that participants learned and applied facets of the SDLMI more during generalization and maintenance, but less during the SD and CD sessions. Participants preferred the SD sessions because they could choose activities and control the course of the session, and they learned to relate the interventions to their mobility goal. Relative costs of the SD and CD sessions were comparable suggesting that implementing the SDLMI into PT sessions is beneficial for promoting self-determination and motor skill development for youth with severe and multiple developmental disabilities

Student-Directed Transition Planning: Increasing Student Knowledge and Self-Efficacy in the Transition Planning Process

This study examined the effectiveness of a new school to adult life transition planning lesson package titled Student-Directed Transition Planning. The Student-Directed Transition Planning lessons teach transition terms and concepts to provide a means to increase self-determination skills and student participation in transition IEP (Individualized Education Program) meeting discussions. An experimental pre—post design utilizing random assignment of secondary-aged students with IEPs determined differences between intervention and control groups in knowledge of transition terms and concepts, and self-efficacy perceptions of the transition planning process. Study results indicated that students receiving Student-Directed Transition Planning instruction experienced a statistically significant knowledge gain, and an increase in perceived self-efficacy in 7 out of 10 transition planning process indicators

Genepop_2016samples_allages

Genotypes at 95 selected loci for all samples collected in 2016 from southern Newfoundland (Yoy - Smolt)

FieldAges_1516

All individuals (age Yoy to 2+) sampled from southern Newfoundland, by age

Individual assignment of Atlantic bluefin tuna in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean using single nucleotide polymorphisms reveals an increasing proportion of migrants from the eastern Atlantic Ocean.

Identifying the origin of fish contained in a mixed fishery is critical for accurate stock assessments and the subsequent development of appropriate management strategies. Using a panel of 92 SNPs developed to differentiate Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) from the two main spawning areas (Gulf of Mexico and Mediterranean Sea), we used individual assignment to determine composition of feeding aggregations in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean (Gulf of Maine, Bay of Fundy, Scotian Shelf, Gulf of St. Lawrence, coastal Newfoundland). Among the 3,163 individuals collected between 2004 and 2018, we found that among lower age groups (The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author

Data from: Estimating the relative fitness of escaped farmed salmon offspring in the wild and modeling the consequences of invasion for wild populations

Throughout their native range, wild Atlantic salmon populations are threatened by hybridization and introgression with escapees from net-pen salmon aquaculture. Although domestic-wild hybrid offspring have shown reduced fitness in lab and field experiments, consequential impacts on population abundance and genetic integrity remain difficult to predict in the field, in part because the strength of selection against domestic offspring is often unknown and context-dependent. Here we follow a single large escape event of farmed Atlantic salmon in southern Newfoundland and monitor changes in the in-river proportions of hybrids and feral individuals over time using genetically-based hybrid identification. Over a three-year period following the escape, the overall proportion of wild parr increased consistently (total wild proportion of 71.6%, 75.1%, 87.5% each year, respectively), with subsequent declines in feral (genetically pure farmed individuals originating from escaped, farmed adults) and hybrid parr. We quantify the strength of selection against parr of aquaculture ancestry and explore the genetic and demographic consequences for populations in the region. Within-cohort changes in the relative proportions of feral and F1 parr suggest reduced relative survival compared to wild individuals over the first (0.15 and 0.81 for feral and F1, respectively), and second years of life (0.26, 0.83). These relative survivorship estimates were used to inform an individual-based salmon eco-genetic model to project changes in adult abundance and overall allele frequency across three invasion scenarios ranging from short-term to long-term invasion and three relative survival scenarios. Modeling results indicate that total population abundance and time to recovery were greatly affected by relative survivorship and predict significant declines in wild population abundance under continued large escape events and calculated survivorship. Overall this work demonstrates the importance of estimating the strength of selection against domestic offspring in the wild to predict the long-term impact of farmed salmon escape events on wild populations

MORPHOMETRIC DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SOUTH AMERICAN AFRICANIZED AND SOUTH AFRICAN (APIS MELLIFERA SCUTELLATA) HONEY BEES

International audienc