What children on the autism spectrum have to ‘say’ about using high-tech voice output communication aids (VOCAs) in an educational setting

This paper focuses on accessing the experiences of three boys who are on the autism spectrum to identify what using a voice output communication aid (VOCA), within a classroom setting, means to them. The methods used to identify the boys' perspectives are described and evaluated. Establishing these through direct methods of engagement proved problematic but working with parents and school staff as ‘expert guides’ provided a rich insight into what using a VOCA appeared to mean to the boys. The findings suggest that using a computer-based VOCA can be viewed by children with autism as a pleasurable and motivating activity. This technology also seems to offer the potential for a much broader developmental impact for these children than that currently recognised within the research literature

A probabilistic framework for the cover effect in bedrock erosion

The cover effect in fluvial bedrock erosion is a major control on bedrock channel morphology and long-term channel dynamics. Here, we suggest a probabilistic framework for the description of the cover effect that can be applied to field, laboratory, and modelling data and thus allows the comparison of results from different sources. The framework describes the formation of sediment cover as a function of the probability of sediment being deposited on already alluviated areas of the bed. We define benchmark cases and suggest physical interpretations of deviations from these benchmarks. Furthermore, we develop a reach-scale model for sediment transfer in a bedrock channel and use it to clarify the relations between the sediment mass residing on the bed, the exposed bedrock fraction, and the transport stage. We derive system timescales and investigate cover response to cyclic perturbations. The model predicts that bedrock channels can achieve grade in steady state by adjusting bed cover. Thus, bedrock channels have at least two characteristic timescales of response. Over short timescales, the degree of bed cover is adjusted such that the supplied sediment load can just be transported, while over long timescales, channel morphology evolves such that the bedrock incision rate matches the tectonic uplift or base-level lowering rate

Factors Influencing Impulse Buying During an Online Purchase Transaction

An important element in retailing is the use of impulse purchases; generally small items that are bought by consumers on the spur of the moment. By some estimates, impulse purchases make up approximately 50 percent of all spending by consumers. While impulse purchases have been studied in the brick-and-mortar retail environment, they have not been researched in the online retail environment. With e-commerce growing rapidly and approaching $20 billion per year in the Canadian and US markets, this is an important unexplored area. Using real purchasing behaviour from visitors to the Reunion website of Huntsville High School in Ontario Canada, I explored factors that influence the likelihood of an impulse purchase in an online retail environment. Consistent with diminishing sensitivity (mental accounting and the psychophysics of pricing), the results indicate that the likelihood of a consumer purchasing the impulse item increases with the total amount spent on other items. The results also show that presenting the offer in a popup is a more effective location and presentation mode than embedding the offer into the checkout page and increases the likelihood of the consumer making an impulse purchase. In addition, the results confirm that providing a reason to purchase by linking a$1 donation for a charity to the impulse item increases the frequency of the impulse purchase

Bedrock rivers are steep but not narrow: hydrological and lithological controls on river geometry across the USA

Bedrock rivers are commonly expected to have steeper and narrower channels than alluvial rivers. However, understanding of bedrock river characteristics has largely been based on small samples of sites in specific climates and upland locations. We provide the first systematic assessment of bedrock and alluvial river channel characteristics for 1274 sites across a broad climatic gradient. We assess whether the width, width-to-depth ratio, and slope of bedrock channels differ from those of alluvial channels and the extent to which these differences are correlated with drainage area, mean annual flow (QMAF), grain size, and lithology. We find that bedrock channels occur at all drainage areas. For the same drainage area, bedrock channels are wider and steeper than alluvial channels. They also have a higher mean annual precipitation and hence QMAF, which likely causes the increased width. After accounting for differences in QMAF, both bedrock and alluvial channels have similar hydraulic scaling. Lithology affects both types of channels in a similar way, with channels on sedimentary lithologies being wider and less steep compared to those on igneous-metamorphic lithologies. Overall, our findings raise new questions about the evolution of bedrock river channels and pave the way for more accurate landscape evolution modeling

Mobile technologies in schools: The student voice

Intermediate and high school students spend a large amount of time using mobile devices (Lauricella, Cingel, Blackwell, Wartella, & Conway, 2014), and such devices are increasingly being integrated into our school system. We conducted a series of student-led focus groups, with this early adolescent cohort, in order to better understand their experiences of the recent technological shift. Four main ideas emerged from a thematic analysis of three focus group discussions: restrictions, student-led technology use, bypassing the restrictions, and connectivity as a need. Direct quotes from students and our analysis of these themes suggest that young people should be included, to a much greater extent, in discussions about the evolution of teaching practices in today’s digital age. Clear benefits and risks linked to greater use of mobile technologies were evident in our discussions, the implications of which are discussed along with limitations of the current study and proposed future research

Bedrock rivers are steep but not narrow: Hydrological and lithological controls on river geometry across the USA

Bedrock rivers are commonly expected to have steeper and narrower channels than alluvial rivers. However, understanding of bedrock river characteristics has largely been based on small samples of sites in specific climates and upland locations. We provide the first systematic assessment of bedrock and alluvial river channel characteristics for 1274 sites across a broad climatic gradient. We assess whether the width, width-to-depth ratio, and slope of bedrock channels differ from those of alluvial channels and the extent to which these differences are correlated with drainage area, mean annual flow (QMAF), grain size, and lithology. We find that bedrock channels occur at all drainage areas. For the same drainage area, bedrock channels are wider and steeper than alluvial channels. They also have a higher mean annual precipitation and hence QMAF, which likely causes the increased width. After accounting for differences in QMAF, both bedrock and alluvial channels have similar hydraulic scaling. Lithology affects both types of channels in a similar way, with channels on sedimentary lithologies being wider and less steep compared to those on igneous-metamorphic lithologies. Overall, our findings raise new questions about the evolution of bedrock river channels and pave the way for more accurate landscape evolution modeling

Gaining a “Foothold” on the Diagnosis of Leishmaniasis

Pediatric refugees and immigrants may present with unusual diagnoses due to their extensive migration and potential harsh conditions in travel. Trauma and family separation add to the difficulty of obtaining a history of exposures. We report a case of one of the more commonly neglected tropical diseases, Leishmaniasis. A 15-year-old male refugee patient presented to the hospital with ulcerative lesions to his legs. His migration history was extensive, starting in Central Africa with travel to South America, followed by migration through Central America to Texas. The patient developed ulcerative lesions on his legs, and he was brought to the children’s hospital by his refugee organization, where the diagnosis was ultimately confirmed as Leishmaniasis. Providers should become familiar with tropical diseases that refugees, as well as local populations, may acquire from travel. Specifically, pediatricians should become familiar with the more prevalent “neglected” tropical diseases as recommended by the World Health Organization

“Black white zebra orange orange”: How children with autism make use of computer-based voice output communication aids in their language and communication at school.

Purpose - This naturalistic study adapted exploratory school practice in order to support empirically-informed decision making in the provision of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) technologies for children with autism. Design - Research was conducted with three boys with autism and little speech, as part of a curricular literacy lesson. A mixed method approach, involving observational coding and staff diaries, identified how the boys used computer-based voice output communication aids (VOCAs), also called speech generating devices (SGDs) and how the technology impacted on their communication and language. The boys were observed in initial lessons (‘baseline’ sessions), without the VOCA present and in sessions in which the VOCA was available (‘intervention’ sessions). Findings - VOCAs were used for two main communicative purposes; naming and giving information; with aids being used primarily to support curricular, task-related communication. Existing modes of communication continued to be used when access to the VOCA was available. In addition, all three boys showed an increase in Mean Length of Utterance (MLU) after the VOCA was introduced. The findings suggest that computer-based VOCA technology can augment children’s communicative participation in lesson activities. Specific patterns of change were also recorded in the boys’ communication, suggesting individualised responses to this technology. Originality - This paper extends the empirical base for clinical decision making by reporting the use of high tech VOCAs by school age children with autism for additional forms of communication, beyond those described elsewhere. It adds to the evidence that interventions which include access to a computer VOCA can have a positive impact on the language complexity of children with autism. It describes the potential of VOCAs to provide an enabling and inclusive technology in a classroom setting. </p