Successful nurturing in residential treatment for abused children

Both parents and children need a high potency nurturing program to develop trust. They must experience a dependent, close relationship to form basic trust. There is no other way to heal the scars of past abuse and insure healthy relationships with others. With proper nurturing, self-esteem is raised and feelings of power, self-control and long-needed security follow. Nurturing can be done successfully in residential treatment for children and out-patient treatment of parents. Selection of academically qualified, emotionally mature and caring staff members is the major factor affecting success. Myriad therapies fail for abused children and families when the vital basic need for nurturance is not filled. Without forming basic trust, the completion of this early developmental task, behavior gains will be short-lived and subsequent emotional problems result. Emotional involvement and commitment from therapists is necessary for the kind of nurturing process that promotes growth and healing. This involvement brings rich rewards to both client and therapist. The younger the children and parents are at the time of treatment, the greater is the potential for success. The program described in this paper illustrates how children can be reunited successfully with their families after a period of residential treatment for the children if the families are similiariy treated.     

Matters of HEARTS: health,experience of abuse,resilience, technology use,and safety of older adults

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to assess the HEARTS (Health, Experience of Abuse, Resilience, Technology use, and Safety) of older adults (OAs). More particularly, we aimed to assess three components of the HEARTS (health, experience of abuse, and resilience) of OAs and explore the relationships among health, resilience, the experience of abuse, and other demographic variables. Forty-two male and female OAs in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA participated in the study. A correlational design was used in this study. The variables correlated were health, the experience of abuse, and the resilience of OAs. We used a community-engaged research approach in that participants were more than research volunteers but stakeholders in the research project. Findings showed that the means for more positive health features (physical function, and social roles) increased with increases in education, while more negative health features (anxiety, depression, fatigue, sleep disturbance, pain interference, and pain intensity) decreased with higher levels of education. Regression models indicated that above and beyond demographic features, resilience had a significant prediction of anxiety and depression. None of the other health outcomes were significantly predicted by either resilience or older adults’ abuse suspicion.

Adding health to years in older adults is a collaborative effort with healthcare providers, healthcare systems, families, and communities. This study has identified three components of HEARTS (Health, Experience of Abuse, and Resilience) that blend with successful aging and provide data and possible prevention and intervention strategies, and family and community education programs that could add health to years in older adults.     

Cognitive-behavioural Approaches for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Teacher Survey

This study provided an investigation of the knowledge, implementation and perspectives of Australian teachers of students with autism spectrum disorder regarding cognitive-behavioural approaches, using an anonymous survey. The sample of 270 New South Wales teachers reported a reasonable level of knowledge and implementation of strategies commonly employed in interventions using cognitive behavioural approaches. A modest difference was found in the knowledge and implementation of surveyed strategies between teachers with and without formal qualifications in special education. Incongruent with research evidence, the respondents perceived that cognitive-behavioural approaches were suitable for students from a very young age and with cognitive levels from typical intellectual ability to moderate intellectual disability. The respondents also used the surveyed strategies for various purposes over and beyond those reported typically in the research literature. Directions for future research are suggested.     

Two scenarios for productive learning environments in the workplace

Productive learning is defined as learning that can be reused, in application to new problem situations in an organisation or for assimilation and reflection in structured learning situations such as courses. An important but underexploited form of productive learning relates to the capture and reuse of the tacit knowledge of members of an organisation. Two approaches for this reuse of tacit knowledge are discussed, along with instructional strategies and technologies to support the knowledge capture and reuse process within each of the approaches. In one of the illustrated approaches the emphasis is on how those in mentor or supervisor positions can more systematically support the diffusion of their own tacit knowledge to those of their mentees and in the process create new knowledge for reuse in other situations. In the second illustration, a change in orientation from knowledge transfer to knowledge creation and sharing in the formal training programmes of the organisation is the focus. An underlying database as well as easy-to-use tools for resource entry and indexing are key elements in facilitating the reuse of experience-based resources within and across both informal and formal learning.     

Fluency Transfer: Differential Gains in Reading Speed and Accuracy Following Isolated Word and Context Training

While fluent reading is recognized as a primary goal of educational instruction, the methods that best promote the development of fluency remain unclear. Two experiments are reported that examined increases in reading fluency of a novel passage following two types of training. In the context training condition, children learned to read a set of target words in a story context, while in the isolated word training condition, fluency with a target word set was gained from a computerized word naming game. Transfer of fluency to reading these words in a new context was then measured by gains in reading speed, accuracy, and comprehension of a novel story. Results indicated that young readers showed speed benefits on transfer stories following both context and isolated word training, but the increases were larger following context training.     

Word processing as an assistive technology tool for enhancing academic outcomes of students with writing disabilities in the general classroom

This study investigated the use of a word processor for enhancing the academic outcomes of three students with writing disabilities in a junior high school. A single-subject ABAB design was used to compare academic output produced during class time with and without a computer equipped with a word processor. The number of spelling errors, the number of reading errors, and the number of words used per text were counted, and the overall structure and organization of text were examined across all in-class materials. The data demonstrated a clear difference between handwritten and computer phases. In traditional paper-and-pencil phases, students produced outcomes that had more spelling mistakes, more reading errors, and lower overall quality of organization and structure in comparison with the phases in which a computer equipped with a word processor was used. The results did not indicate any noticeable difference in the number of words per text. Implications and future research directions are discussed.     

Where special education goes to die

We suggest that special education could die among common myths about it. That is, special education could cease to exist, at least as we know it, because its true nature and requirements for its functioning are misunderstood. We discuss only 12 common myths about special education, recognizing that there are many more myths and that the ones we write about could be stated differently. We conclude with comments about how the long roots of the idea that special education could become unnecessary might be traced to a publication by Evelyn Deno in 1970 and express our hope that special education will continue as a separate entity.     

Flexibility as a Key Construct in European Training: Experiences from the TeleScopia Project

Increasing the options available to the learner as to when, how, where, with what materials, and what he or she learns is becoming increasingly important, not only for personal and educational reasons but also for economic motivations. Increasing the flexibility of training for persons already in the work force is seen as particularly appropriate, and telematics applications are expected to have particular value in facilitating more-flexible course delivery in training and workplace contexts. In this analysis we consider the concept "flexibility of training" in more detail, decomposing it into a series of, sometimes incompatible, dimensions and presenting some propositions as to likelihood of the different flexibility dimensions becoming implemented in practice. The study of flexibility relative to trans-national tele-learning is illustrated through its central role in the research component of the TeleScopia Project, sponsored by the Commission of the European Community.