Rethinking family (dis)engagement with augmentative & alternative communication

Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) is a core component of special education for many children with learning disabilities and/or autism who have minimal or no speech. Much literature focuses on implementation of AAC in the classroom or therapy setting, but less is known about how AAC is used in the family home. Few studies are authored by an AAC parent/researcher with reflection on positionality, power and the advantages conferred by ‘insider’ status. This paper addresses this gap by exploring the perspectives of five families of minimally verbal children on the place of AAC in their child’s home communication. Semi-structured family interviews were transcribed and subjected to Thematic Analysis. Formal AAC practices such as Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) and Makaton were found to play a limited role in the children’s home communication. Findings indicate three possible explanations: the emotional and relationship-building dimensions of family communication; the competing priorities of family life with a disabled child; and the child’s existing multimodal communication strategies including the use of household objects. These findings offer a preliminary starting point for understanding the emic perspectives of AAC families and reasons for their convergence/divergence with professional attitudes to AAC, and warrant further investigation in larger-scale studies.     

School psychology interns’ characterizations of family–school partnerships

School psychologists are encouraged to establish family–school partnerships with culturally and linguistically diverse families across the spectrum of child development. Partnerships and collaborations have been described in prior literature as bidirectional, nonhierarchical relationships between families and schools, expanding on the more traditional but limited concept of unidirectional parent involvement in school. This qualitative study describes five specialist‐level school psychology interns’ experiences facilitating family–school partnerships with culturally diverse families during their internship year. Findings focus on defining and identifying characteristics of family–school partnerships from interns’ recollections of their lived experiences. Five salient elements characterized the practical experience of a partnership: requisite situations for partnering, stakeholder involvement, intern's actions, intern's emotional responses, and the outcome or quality of the family–school partnership. These findings have implications for the training of school psychologists and the ways that family–school interactions are conceptualized both in training programs and in school settings.     

Behavioral objectives for psychological consultation in the school as evaluated by teachers and school psychologists

A set of behavioral objectives was developed for the consultant role of the school psychologist, based on Meyers' consultation model. A Likert-type questionnaire was developed to assess the degree to which teachers and school psychologists agreed upon the desirability and the actual accomplishment of these objectives. Based on a sample of 120 teachers and 83 school psychologists, it was found that both groups perceived a difference between the “desired” role and the role that school psychologists actually fulfill. However, there were also significant differences between teachers' and school psychologists' rating of the “actual” role, the school psychologists' rating agreeing more with the consultation model. Examination of individual items showed greater acceptance of objectives relating to Meyers' level of indirect service to the child, and less acceptance of Meyers' levels of direct service to the teacher and service to the school system.     

Expanding Notions of Digital Access: Parents' Negotiation of School-Based Technology Initiatives in New Immigrant Communities

Initiatives to integrate technology in schools are continuously increasing, with efforts to bridge the “homework gap” and provide technology access in low-income households. However, it is critical to include nondominant parents in technology adoption decisions in order to avoid mirroring past patterns of inequality in home-school relationships. This study examines the digital access, use, and beliefs of Spanish-dominant immigrant parents, whose children attended a school in early stages of 1:1 (one laptop, one child) and BYOD (bring-your-own-device) initiatives. Informed by critical and ecological approaches to family literacy and technology use, the analysis compares the cases of eight parents attending technology workshops facilitated by the researcher and looks at the factors and contexts shaping their digital access and use and their shifts in access over two years. The analysis then narrows down to their beliefs about the use of school-provided devices. Findings illustrate the diversity in device use and customization in families with similar immigration trajectories, showing how economic factors, education, and established livelihoods in the community shaped their decisions to obtain devices and Internet connectivity. Cases also show the crucial role of the school in providing computers and technology training; however, decisions about taking school devices home and supervising children's activity were shaped by parents' beliefs about their roles supporting their children's moral education, and their existing family practices. Implications for family literacy programs and outreach for digital equity in new migration settings are discussed.     

Speech and language therapy provision for children using augmentative and alternative communication systems

A proportion of children with physical impairments experience significant difficulties in communicating with others and may be recommended augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems such as speech synthesizers and symbol charts to support ‘natural’ communication skills. However, AAC systems are often under-utilized. Parents have identified barriers to AAC system use to include the organization of speech and language therapy. Speech and language therapists are developing services to school-aged children in response to changes in education, health reforms and models of speech and language development. However, there is little evidence for commissioners of children's services about what constitutes ‘enough’ or ‘good’ speech and language therapy. This paper examines speech and language therapy provision to 23 children using AAC systems in six London authorities. Research strategies include documenting the amount, type, organization and objectives of provision. Evidence for collaboration between school staff and therapists is explored, analysis is made of child characteristics associated with provision and criteria for decision-making documented through interviews with therapists. However, little conjunction exists between what therapists said guided their decision-making concerning provision and observed provision. For the children surveyed in this study it seems that that provision in amount of therapy is related to educational placement rather than individual needs.     

Gender variance and educational psychology: implications for practice

The area of gender variance appears to be more visible in both the media and everyday life. Within educational psychology literature gender variance remains underrepresented. The positioning of educational psychologists working across the three levels of child and family, school or establishment and education authority/council, means that they are well placed to support knowledge, understanding and practice in this area. The literature highlights the importance of the terminology around gender variance, the differing representations of gender variance and the potential impact upon young people. Three practice examples demonstrate potential roles for educational psychologists and together with the literature highlight possible implications for educational psychology practice.     

The TI-Nspire CAS: A happy-medium mobile device for grades 8–16 mathematics classrooms

This article justifies classifying the TI-Nspire CAS Touchpad as a mobile device for grades 8–16 mathematics classrooms equipped with a Navigator system. The 2010 Horizon Report: K-12 indicates virtually every secondary school aged child has some sort of mobile device. Yet, many school policies ban the use of mobile devices, preventing students from using these devices in an educational setting. Further, some teachers have been slow to adopt and use mobile devices to advance the educational setting of their classroom to a 21^st century classroom. A classroom equipped with wireless Navigator technology and students equipped with Nspire handhelds presents an engaging 21^st century mathematics classroom for all learners. These classrooms present a happy-medium wireless communication setup that prevents students from communicating with each other or browsing the web. Students can instantly communicate with the teacher and vice-verse. Students stay on task while using a mobile device.     

Transition to School: Developmental Trajectories and School Experiences

Because of the premium now placed on a formal education as well as the changing demographics of American society, school failure is now more costly than ever. Given that academic difficulties experienced by children are traceable to problems in underachievement that begin during the first years of early schooling, a thorough understanding of the transition-to-school process is needed. We suggest two principal assumptions in examining this transition-to-kindergarten period. First, multiple risk factors associated with certain child, family, and child care characteristics are expected to predict early school experience, both in and out of the classroom, and, thereby, social and academic success and failure in the early school years. Secondly, it is expected that day-to-day experiences in the classroom and on the playground will exacerbate or mitigate risk, resulting in some children performing better than would otherwise be expected and others functioning worse than anticipated. Thus, a critically important problem involves the identification of child, family, child care, and schooling factors and processes which account for risk being realized or not realized with regard to subsequent academic and school performance.     

Transition to School: Developmental Trajectories and School Experiences

Because of the premium now placed on a formal education as well as the changing demographics of American society, school failure is now more costly than ever. Given that academic difficulties experienced by children are traceable to problems in underachievement that begin during the first years of early schooling, a thorough understanding of the transition-to-school process is needed. We suggest two principal assumptions in examining this transition-to-kindergarten period. First, multiple risk factors associated with certain child, family, and child care characteristics are expected to predict early school experience, both in and out of the classroom, and, thereby, social and academic success and failure in the early school years. Secondly, it is expected that day-to-day experiences in the classroom and on the playground will exacerbate or mitigate risk, resulting in some children performing better than would otherwise be expected and others functioning worse than anticipated. Thus, a critically important problem involves the identification of child, family, child care, and schooling factors and processes which account for risk being realized or not realized with regard to subsequent academic and school performance.     

A survey of augmentative and alternative communication used in an inner city special school

This study surveyed staff use of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) within a large inner city special school for children with complex needs and learning disabilities. A questionnaire asked 72 staff members about the range of AAC strategies they typically used during the working day and how often they used it; training they had received about AAC; and which AAC approaches they found easy to use and those they found difficult. A range of AAC approaches were identified by staff. Participant confidence and understanding of the reasons for using identified AAC strategies was reported to be one of the key barriers to implementing AAC effectively. The implications in relation to how children with complex needs receive support for their receptive and expressive communication within an education environment are discussed.     

Visually impaired children: Development and implications for education

This paper examines some of the models used for conceptualizing the possible developmental implications of blindness and severe visual impairment. It takes up the question of the significance in infancy of certain skills and proficiencies, especially motor, that may be impeded by the lack of vision. The paper then addresses such issues for the school age child as access to literacy, with the emphasis being on ways of mitigating the potentially educationally handicapping consequences of visual disability. Educational technology is cited as one of the principal means available to teachers for meeting these challenges, and examples are given of procedures and devices that are being explored. A central argument is that for psychologists, teachers, and educational technologists the search must be to pinpoint the specific and changing needs of the individual learner.     

Measures of diagnostic data usage as discriminants among training and experincende levels in school psychology

A developing body of literature has directed attention toward the role of various types of diagnostic information in influencing the decision-making behaviors of clinicians. From such writings two potentially formative sets of diagnostic decision-making measures were drawn: (a) measures of time used to examine particular pieces of diagnostic data, and (b) measures of change in confidence expressed subsequent to such examination. Three groups of 24 successively trained and experienced school psychologists were defined and selected. Each of the 72 subjects participated in a single experimental session permitting the examination of 10 different types of diagnostic data regarding three child clients. It was hypothesized that such groups of variously sophisti- cated school psychologists could be differentiated on the bases of the simultane- ously varied measures of time used and confidence expressed as associated with the particular pieces of diagnostic data. Multiple discriminant analyses revealed significant group separation power for the time measures, but a lack of such potential for the confidence measures. Specific differences among the groups of school psychologists were discussed.     

Family systems theory and school psychology: Implications for training and practice

The purpose of this article is to: (a) present an overview of family systems perspectives as they relate to the functioning of the school psychologist, (b) review briefly current available levels of family intervention, and (c) present guidelines for training school psychologists in family dynamics and family therapy. The position is taken that a family systems approach is complex and necessitates extensive coursework in family theory and therapy approaches, practica, and field supervision. As a result, while a family systems perspective is essential, family therapy will not in all probability be standard in entry level training programs, but should be a specialty level or doctoral level option.     

Effective intervention for school refusal behaviour

Evaluation of successful professional intervention for two case studies of female adolescents’ school refusal behaviour is presented. Data gathered from the young person, professionals, and parents in each case are synthesised to propose a multi-level, ecologically situated model of intervention for school refusal behaviour. The proposed model indicates an interaction of child, psychological support, family support, professional, and systemic factors. The utility of explanatory case studies to a practice-based evidence base for practitioner educational psychologists is highlighted.     

Multiple Predictors of Asian American Children's School Achievement

Research Findings: A structural equation model (SEM) and multiple indicators and multiple causes (MIMIC) model were used to test family factors, parent psychological well-being, parent–child home activity, and parent school involvement in relation to children's school achievement. Data for this study were drawn from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten (ECLS-K), conducted by the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The sample for this study was 1,100 Asian American kindergartners and their parents. Practice or Policy: The results of this study are as follows: (a) Family factors, especially parental education levels and family income, were significantly associated with Asian American students' school achievement; (b) parent–child home activity was significantly related to students' school achievement but in a negative direction; (c) parental school involvement was not found to be significant in predicting students' school achievement; (d) parental psychological well-being was significantly associated with both parent–child home activity and students' school achievement; (e) family income was significantly associated with parental psychological well-being, parental school involvement, and children's school achievement; and (f) family structure was not significantly associated with school achievement.     

Perspectives on working with parents of handicapped children

Several different approaches to working with parents of handicapped children have developed over the years out of a broad range of perspectives. This review of literature examines perspectives from the early 1960s, from the stage theorists' point of view, and from current research in family/child/environment interactions. Implications for school psychologists to enhance relationships with parents through a broader understanding of this literature are discussed.     

Assessing severity in behavior disorders: Empirically based criteria

School psychologists are routinely required to make judgments about the severity of behavior disorders in children. While federal law demands that a child exhibit an emotional problem “to a marked degree,” school psychologists are given few clearcut guidelines for making judgments about the severity of students' adjustment problems. The purpose of this paper is to present a list of empirically based criteria for assessing the severity of behavior disorders in children. To this end, research on major behavior disorders in children of interest to school psychologists is reviewed.     

Adolescents' attachment and coping with stress

This study examined how high school students cope with stress as a function of their attachment style. Data were gathered from 75 adolescent–parent pairs in Texas and included measures of attachment, coping style, life stress, and whom the respondent would turn to in times of stress. Adolescents' attachment security was positively related to family communication and negatively related to negative avoidance behaviors such as drinking or using drugs. Attachment insecurity was positively related to negative avoidance. Parent and child attachment ratings were related for secure and preoccupied but not fearful or dismissing styles. Research limitations and implications for school psychologists are discussed. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 41: 391–402, 2004.     

Teacher Factors and Special Class Referral Decisions

Using questionnaire data an examination was made of the personal and professional characteristics of 127 regular class (Grade 2‐5) teachers, all of whom had a child in their class whom they believed to be mildly retarded and not coping academically as well as socially in school. Of this group, 53 had referred the child to school psychological services while the remainder had not done so at the time of the study. A set of 28 variables derived from the questionnaire data was subjected to multiple regression analysis in order to examine the predictability of teachers’ referral decisions. Nine significant predictors were identified which together accounted for 35 percent of the variation in referral decisions. Inter‐group contrasts on these measures revealed that referring teachers were more likely to have made previous referrals, had better access to psychologists, were more confident of their ability to identify children who would qualify for special class admission, believed their school policy to b e more encouraging of referrals, were more likely to have made use of special programs, and received more frequent visits from psychologists. Results are discussed in terms of identifying “unserved mildly retarded” children in regular classes.     

Child victims of sexual abuse: Teachers' evaluation of emotion regulation and social adaptation in school

This study assessed the social adaptation of sexually abused children and tested whether children's emotion regulation competencies mediated the association between child sexual abuse (CSA) and two outcomes of the social domain (i.e. withdrawal and social difficulties). A group of 283 child victims of sexual abuse and a comparison group composed of 60 nonabused children was recruited. Teachers completed questionnaires assessing the children's emotion regulation competencies, withdrawal, and social difficulties exhibited in the school context. Results showed that sexually abused children displayed poorer emotion regulation skills and higher levels of both withdrawal and social difficulties relative to nonabused children. CSA was associated with social difficulties and withdrawn behavior through the mediation of emotion regulation competencies. Teachers and school psychologists should be assisted in identifying children at risk of social difficulties and emotional dysregulation and schools be encouraged to adopt a trauma‐informed approach.