The Art of Managing Expectations: Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors as Mediators of Expectations between Clients who are Deaf and Potential Employers

Services for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) often include tailored strategies for successful employment placement. Using Oliver’s (1980) Expectation Confirmation Theory, this study utilized exploratory and confirmatory analyses of semi-structured interviews of 10 VR professionals to examine their view of the role expectations play in their assessment of important factors that lead to successful outcomes for DHH clients. Analysis revealed a complex, multilevel system in which VRCs operate as active mediators of the expectations of both clients who are DHH and their potential employers

Trauma and the use of formal and informal resources in the deaf population: perspectives from mental health service providers

Using grounded theory analysis, the current study identifies the perspectives of therapists and counselors regarding the nature of informal and formal resources supporting the treatment of deaf individuals with trauma. Nineteen counselors and therapists were interviewed, and accessibility, formal support, informal networks, and gaps in resources were identified as salient themes. Subsequent analysis identified concerns with confidentiality as a strong theme. This study emphasizes the need for counselors and therapists to become mindful of utilizing resources to support the treatment of trauma while being concerned with confidentiality

EDUCAÇÃO TEATRAL E O USO DA COMUNICAÇÃO ALTERNATIVA

A linguagem teatral constitui um campo artístico de diferentes códigos e técnicas. O ensino de teatro é um grande desafio e quando se fala de Teatro de Animação, e no contexto da inclusão, percebe-se que há uma lacuna no conhecimento. Este trabalho tem como objetivo compreender como o teatro e os jogos teatrais podem contribuir para o desenvolvimento da comunicação da pessoa com autismo. Metodologicamente, foi utilizada a pesquisa-ação no contexto da arte-educação.  Foi realizada de fevereiro de 2019 a outubro de 2020, semanalmente, integrando um total de 47 encontros, com dois meninos com autismo. Para a efetivação da pesquisa, os instrumentos foram a observação participante e a intervenção com jogos teatrais. Como resultados destacam-se: os bonecos, fantoches, dedoches, sombras e/ou objetos podem oportunizar a crianças com autismo novas formas de lidar com o mundo e a matéria concreta; é necessária a adaptação de abordagens, estratégias e métodos, para que o professor de teatro trabalhe com o aluno com deficiência; a Comunicação Alternativa Ampliada foi fundamental para o processo de interação e aprendizagem dos alunos com autismo; a construção de um protagonismo artístico das crianças com autismo; os corpos dessas crianças se revelaram como um dos veículos de comunicação e identidades. Conclui-se que é possível vincular o ensino de Teatro de Animação com a Comunicação Alternativa e Ampliada para o trabalho com crianças com autismo, promovendo a inclusão no universo da arte

Assessing teacher attitudes related to trauma-informed care in three urban high schools

Increased awareness of the impact and prevalence of trauma among youth has fueled interest in trauma-informed service delivery in diverse settings, especially among schools and school-based mental health centers. Given the substantial mental health risks facing youth populations with high incidences of complex stress and trauma (Perfect et al., 2016), it is imperative to identify interventions that promote resilience, improve access to trauma-sensitive mental health services, and bolster academic outcomes. School personnel, including administrators, teachers, and staff, have frequent and regular contact with youth throughout the school year. The consistent relationship between school personnel and students in the school context makes for an ideal environment to engage in trauma-informed teaching and mental-health care modalities. Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) describes an approach to mental health service that integrates an understanding of the pervasive effects of trauma on youth, with an approach to intervention that addresses associated biopsychosocial factors. TIC programming in schools is a method of intervening with traumatized youth, incorporating multiple systems that impact their lives. While the foundational research on the effectiveness of trauma-informed programs applied to other settings is promising, the evidence-base for trauma-informed programming in schools is in need of further development. More specifically, existing research has defined a direction for future inquiry: the exploration of both system- and individual-level variables as potential mediators of change throughout the TIC program implementation process. Because teachers play a key role in school-based TIC programming, their level of engagement and degree of buy-in are critical to the implementation, efficacy, and sustainability of these programs. In order to better understand the process of implementation of TIC programs in schools, research on teacher beliefs and attitudes toward TIC is needed to inform future TIC programming and evaluation efforts. The purpose of the current study was to examine the attitudes of teachers toward TIC across three urban high schools that participate in a multi-tiered, trauma-informed mental health care intervention. Given the nascent literature base related to correlates and outcomes associated with TIC interventions, this study also aimed to assess the predictive value of teacher characteristics, including perceived self-efficacy and several demographic features, on their attitudes toward TIC. The Attitudes Related to Trauma Informed Care (ARTIC) scale was used to determine whether there are meaningful differences in teacher attitudes within schools across different phases of implementation and tiers of intervention participation in a TIC model of school-based mental health care delivery. Qualitative methods were used to investigate specific contributors to observed differences in attitudes toward TIC among teachers with the relative highest and lowest composite scores on the ARTIC. Results from a series of hierarchical regression models evidenced a significant effect of tier of participation in the intervention in predicting teacher attitudes related to TIC. Findings from the qualitative phase of this study showed that teachers with relatively more favorable attitudes differed from teachers with less favorable attitudes along several important characteristics related to trauma-informed care, including their conceptualizations of factors that influence student success at school, behavior management strategies, and approaches to the teacher-student relationship. Teachers also discussed their involvement with and perceptions of the TIC programming at their respective campuses. The findings presented in this study support the development of an emerging body of evidence that sheds light on the design, implementation, and sustainability of trauma sensitive, school-based mental health care and programs for school-aged youth. The findings also propose important considerations for educators, administrators, and educational policy makers with regard to the practical application of trauma-informed systems of care in schools.Educational Psycholog

How is school-based mental health educationally relevant? Exploring the academic outcomes of a cognitive behavioral therapy intervention for trauma in schools

The authors assessed the quality of single-case design (SCD) studies that evaluate the impact of interventions on outcomes for individuals who are deaf or hard-of-hearing (DHH). More specifically, the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) standards for SCD research were used to assess design quality and strength of evidence of peer-reviewed studies available in the peer-reviewed, published literature. The analysis yielded four studies that met the WWC standards for design quality, of which two demonstrated moderate to strong evidence for efficacy of the studied intervention. Results of this review are discussed in light of the benefits and challenges to applying the WWC design standards to research with DHH individuals and other diverse, low incidence populations.Educational PsychologyEducational Psycholog

The Art of Managing Expectations: Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors as Mediators of Expectations between Clients who are Deaf and Potential Employers

Services for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) often include tailored strategies for successful employment placement. Using Oliver’s (1980) Expectation Confirmation Theory, this study utilized exploratory and confirmatory analyses of semi-structured interviews of 10 VR professionals to examine their view of the role expectations play in their assessment of important factors that lead to successful outcomes for DHH clients. Analysis revealed a complex, multilevel system in which VRCs operate as active mediators of the expectations of both clients who are DHH and their potential employers

Trauma and the use of formal and informal resources in the deaf population: perspectives from mental health service providers

Using grounded theory analysis, the current study identifies the perspectives of therapists and counselors regarding the nature of informal and formal resources supporting the treatment of deaf individuals with trauma. Nineteen counselors and therapists were interviewed, and accessibility, formal support, informal networks, and gaps in resources were identified as salient themes. Subsequent analysis identified concerns with confidentiality as a strong theme. This study emphasizes the need for counselors and therapists to become mindful of utilizing resources to support the treatment of trauma while being concerned with confidentiality

The “Minimum Information about an ENvironmental Sequence” (MIENS) specification

We present the Genomic Standards Consortium’s (GSC) “Minimum Information about an ENvironmental Sequence” (MIENS) standard for describing marker genes. Adoption of MIENS will enhance our ability to analyze natural genetic diversity across the Tree of Life as it is currently being documented by massive DNA sequencing efforts from myriad ecosystems in our ever-changing biospher