Autistic young people’s experiences of transitioning to adulthood following the Children and Families Act 2014

Changes to special educational needs and disability (SEND) legislation in England were implemented in 2014. Here, we evaluate the impact of these changes from the perspective of 80 autistic young people aged 16–25 years. Using an online survey and/or interviews, we examined young people’s views on three key principles of the SEND reforms: the help and support provided to them; whether they were given a say in the choices and support that they were offered; and their satisfaction with their educational journeys and outcomes. The results paint a mixed picture. Our sample of young people reported varied experiences regarding the help and support they received, and how much of a say they had regarding the choices and support available to them. The types of schooling they accessed played a role here: young people in mainstream schools highlighted particular challenges in accessing appropriate support, while many young people in special schools said they felt well supported. Parental advocacy was crucial for all young people, as was having key ‘champions’ in the form of teachers who really knew them well. The need for the development of general life and self-advocacy skills was apparent, however, especially in preparing the young people for life after school. Encouragingly, most of our participants were generally happy with their current situation, despite identifying several areas for further improvement. Overall, the results highlight the importance of listening to—and learning from—autistic young people, throughout their educational journeys and especially as they transition to adulthood.     

Are the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test levels 1 and 2 both useful? Reliability,responsiveness and interchangeability in young soccer players

Abstract

The aim of this study was to compare the reliability, internal responsiveness and interchangeability of the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test level 1 (YY1), level 2 (YY2) and submaximal YY1 (YY1-sub). Twenty-four young soccer players (age 17 ± 1 years; height 177 ± 7 cm; body mass 68 ± 6 kg) completed each test five times within pre- and in-season; distances covered and heart rates (HRs) were measured. Reliability was expressed as typical error of measurement (TEM) and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Internal responsiveness was determined as effect size (ES) and signal-to-noise ratio (ES_TEM). Interchangeability was determined with correlation between training-induced changes. The TEM and ICC for distances in the YY1 and YY2 and for HR in YY1-sub were 7.3% and 0.78, 7.1% and 0.93 and 2.2% and 0.78, respectively. The ESs and ES_TEMs were 0.9 and 1.9 for YY1, 0.4 and 1.2 for YY2 and ?0.3 and ?0.3 for YY1-sub. Correlations between YY1 vs. YY2 and YY1-sub were 0.56 to 0.84 and ?0.36 to ?0.81, respectively. Correlations between change scores in YY1 vs. YY2 were 0.29 and ?0.21 vs. YY1-sub. Peak HR was higher in YY1 vs. YY2. The YY1 and YY2 showed similar reliability; however, they were not interchangeable. The YY1 was more responsive to training compared to YY2 and YY1-sub.     

Empowering Marginalized Youth: A Self‐Transformative Intervention for Promoting Positive Youth Development

This article reports the results of a positive youth development (PYD) intervention for adolescents in alternative high schools (209 African American and Hispanic American adolescents, aged 14–18; 118 females and 91 males). The intervention was guided by a self‐transformative model of PYD (Eichas, Meca, Montgomery, & Kurtines, 2014). This model proposes that the actions youth take to define themselves function as active ingredients in positive development over the life course. Consistent with the self‐transformative model, results provided support for direct or mediated intervention effects on the self‐transformative processes of self‐construction and self‐discovery, life goal development, identity synthesis, and internalizing problems. The findings illustrate the utility of using a self‐transformative approach to PYD in work with marginalized youth populations.     

Phonological working memory: A critical building block for reading development and vocabulary acquisition?

In this article we review findings from a recent longitudinal study of the contribution of phonological working memory to vocabulary acquisition and reading development. A total of 80 children were tested initially at school entry at the age of four years, and were tested in three further waves at ages 5, 6, and 8 years. The results indicate that phonological memory skills constrain vocabulary growth during the first year or so in school but that subsequently, vocabulary knowledge is a pacemaker in the development relationship with memory. Phonological memory skill in prereading children was found to be significantly linked with scores on a reading test at age 8 which encourages the use of a phonological recoding strategy. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings, and important areas for future research, are discussed.     

A call for international research on COVID-19-induced brain dysfunctions

The COVID-19 pandemic,still raging worldwide,imposes staggering human and economic costs.These will only increase as many convalescent patients suffer consequen...