Loneliness,friendship quality and the social networks of adolescents with high‐functioning autism in an inclusive school setting

By definition, children with autism have poor peer relationships despite age and ability. When children enter adolescence, social problems typically worsen and feelings of loneliness and isolation may emerge. Thus, the overarching goal of the current study is to examine the social–emotional relationships of adolescents with autism and their typically developing (TD) classmates. Participants included 20 adolescents, 7 adolescents with autism and 13 TD classmates. All participants were enrolled in a drama class at a regular education high school in the Los Angeles area. Results indicate that adolescents with autism experienced significantly more loneliness than their TD classmates, had significantly poorer friendship quality in companionship and helpfulness, and had significantly lower social network status than their TD classmates. In addition, 92.4% of TD adolescents had secondary or nuclear social network centrality, which means that those adolescents were significantly connected and recognised in their classroom social structure although 71.4% of the adolescents with autism were either isolated or peripheral in their classroom. These findings imply that although inclusion in regular classrooms may allow adolescents with autism to be involved in the social structure of their classroom, they experienced more loneliness, poorer friendship quality and social network status as compared with their classmates. These results suggest that, perhaps, more intensive social skills' interventions that focus on friendship development are needed in adolescents with autism.     

Improving K-12 pedagogy via a Cloud designed for education

Cloud computing offers an opportunity to improve K-12 pedagogy with services tailored to teachers’ needs in individual classrooms. The Cloud can deliver services such as remote access to learning tools in a cost effective manner to school systems struggling with reductions in local and state funding. This article explores the distinct ways that a Cloud designed specifically for education can be applied to K-12 education's academic mission. It uses observations from a case study in North Carolina rural high schools using an educational Cloud called the Virtual Computing Lab to access dynamic geometry and algebra software.     

Supervisor Cultural Humility Predicts Intentional Nondisclosure by Post-Master's Counselors

The authors examined supervisor cultural humility as a predictor of supervisee intentional nondisclosure. Using multiple regression in a sample of 101 post-master's counselors, the authors found that 20% of supervisees' intentional nondisclosure was explained by their perceptions of their supervisors' level of cultural humility.     

Training in phonological strategies improves Chinese dyslexic children’s character reading skills

This study investigated Chinese dyslexic children’s efficiency in employing phonological strategies (i.e. the use of orthography-phonology correspondence rules) in reading and the effectiveness of training phonological strategies in improving Chinese dyslexic children’s reading performance. An Experimental Group of 15 Chinese dyslexic children received a five-day intensive training in phonological strategies while a comparable Control Group did not. The results showed that Chinese dyslexic children did not use the phonological strategies as efficiently as Chinese average readers, and the training programme was effective in significantly improving the Experimental Group’s reading performance. This suggests that Chinese dyslexic children can benefit from training in phonological strategies.     

A Model for Supervising School Counseling Students Without Teaching Experience

Changed demographics of those now entering the field of school counseling argue for changes in preparatory curriculum, including the curriculum for supervision. The authors present a 5‐component model for supervising graduate students without previous school experience that is based on 2 pertinent studies. This model focuses on information for administrators and site supervisors about research related to nonteachers; immersion in the school context and in other youth‐oriented venues; observation of school culture; structure for site supervision; and awareness regarding development, classroom skills, and lesson planning. Included are sample strategies for addressing the needs of nonteachers through program structure, curriculum, and site supervision.     

Nursing and Allied Health Resources–Patron Driven Acquisition,a Pilot at The University of Alabama Libraries

This article is a report of a session presented by Mangala Krishnamurthy and Connie Stovall (a contributor to the presentation) of the University of Alabama Libraries at the 2015 North American Serials Interest Group conference. A patron-driven acquisition (PDA) pilot project was initiated in fall 2013 at the University of Alabama (UA) Libraries mainly serving the Nursing and Allied Health subject areas. Since the Capstone College of Nursing at UA offers an online Doctor of Nursing Practice program and partners with two other schools in the UA system, UA Libraries collaborated with the other libraries in the University System. The project uses Rittenhouse’s R2 Digital Libraries’ PDA module as the basic platform. The Capstone College of Nursing liaison discussed in detail the selection, management, assessment, promotion, and communication part of the project in addition to second year plans for the project.     

Some Attitudes Associated with Sport Participation among Junior High School Females

This paper focuses on young female participants and their self-perceptions. The findings indicate that self-perceived characteristics of ambition, competition, strength, and speed were more evident for participants than nonparticipants. However, there was no significant difference between participants and nonparticipants concerning characteristics of happiness, affection, femininity, sensitivity, gentleness, and attractiveness. The data also indicated that the young female participants have not developed a highly professionalized orientation toward competition, yet they are more likely to be concerned about playing well than are nonparticipants. The findings suggest that even by early adolescence either selectivity and/or socialization differences are emerging between female participants and nonparticipants.