This study was designed to explore the elements that influence the identification of young children that might be considered at-risk for early school failure. To this end, guided by complexity theory, the study sought to examine (a) system requirements and expectations at the provincial and school board levels, (b) current practice in schools and classrooms, and (c) the beliefs and knowledge of individuals surrounding the assessment and identification of at-risk students in Kindergarten. Using a qualitative, case-study approach 23 individuals from two different school boards in Ontario were interviewed to explore both practice and beliefs. Review of relevant provincial and school board documents as well as artifacts that were gathered during school visits provided further information. While there were some differences in details, the findings were similar in the two boards. In describing which characteristics were of concern when considering an at-risk designation, most participants cited social, emotional, and behavioural difficulties. While both school boards required tracking and assessment of literacy skills, teachers and ECEs concentrated more on ongoing observations and anecdotal notes to determine student progress. Interventions for students at-risk were more often provided for students with academic difficulties. However, there was also some support for behaviour difficulties in terms of consultation from special education personnel in one board and an early intervention team in the other. It was clear from the findings that many elements influence the identification of a student as at-risk including the characteristics of the student, the student’s family, and the particular classroom, school, and board the student attends. The study findings contribute to our understanding of practice and beliefs around young student at-risk and how the interactions of the various elements involved impact the identification of individual students.

Infants with older siblings on the autism spectrum (ASD-sibs) are at risk for socio-emotional difficulties. ASD-sibs were compared to children of typically developing siblings (TD-sibs) in the Face-to-Face/Still-Face (FFSF) at 6 months and the Early Social Communication Scales (ESCS) at 8, 10, 12, 15, and 18 months. ASD-sibs exhibited non-significant trends to smile less and display more neutral affect than TD-sibs during the FFSF. There was a significant status by gender interaction such that male ASD-sibs showed less smiling and lower affective valence compared to male TD-sibs. Additionally, ASD-sibs showed a lack of emotional continuity in the FFSF. ASD-sibs displayed less initiating joint attention, initiating behavioral requesting, and responding to joint attention over time than TD-sibs. Results are discussed with respect to the social orienting model of autism.

Within the last few decades there has been a push in the field of learning disabilities to identify students who have or who are at risk for learning disabilities as early as possible. Little to no research has been conducted on the long-term effects of age of first service provision for students with learning disabilities, however. Using multiple regression, this study will analyze data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS-2) to investigate the potential effects of age of first service provision on high school educational achievement and educational attainment in order to better understand the longer-term effects of the age of identification and age of intervention for students with learning disabilities. / text

It is becoming more apparent in recent years that many females with autism spectrum disorder (autism) have not been identified, sometimes until adulthood. Most of what is known about early signs of autism is based on predominantly male symptomatic presentations or data gathered from females with autism who are severely affected by autism and co-morbid conditions such as intellectual developmental disorder. One of the issues contributing to the under diagnosis of females is that the presentation of symptoms or traits and developmental histories of females with autism may not be the same as those of males. There is a gap in the research literature regarding the early presentations of autism in females, particularly for females with age-appropriate language and cognitive abilities. We interviewed parents of adolescent and adult females with significant autism symptoms or traits (but without intellectual developmental disorder). Interviews asked about developmental histories and parent recollections of differences they may have noticed in their daughters' early years. We also interviewed a group of parents whose daughters were not showing significant signs of autism but had similar social isolation and anxiety. Interpretative phenomenological analysis methods were used to analyze conversations with parents as a way to determine what seemed most salient to them about their daughters' early years without being influenced by symptom checklists. We found communication differences, restricted or repetitive interest and social communication differences to be recurring themes in the reports from parents interviewed. Learning about what early development in females with autism might look like can help us to reformulate our identification and assessment procedures for young children, particularly females who show developmental differences that have not previously been associated with autism.

This study investigated the efficacy of a parent questionnaire as a component for screening early language development of children 16 to 30 months of age with cleft lip and palate. Thirty nonsyndromic children with cleft lip and palate and 30 children without clefts received the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory: Toddler (CDI:Toddler), administered by a pediatrician. In addition, a speech-language screening was performed by a speech-language pathologist. Results of the two assessments indicated that the CDI:Toddler was a valid screener of language development when compared with a comprehensive speech-language screening. Language and speech characteristics of the subject populations are discussed. In particular, differences between the cleft and noncleft groups demonstrated evidence of delays in expressive language development in the children with cleft lip and palate.

The Double Deficit Hypothesis of dyslexia posits that students can be grouped into four distinct groups: (a) average readers, (b) students with phonological deficits, (c) students with naming speed deficits, and (d) students with double deficits: those having both (b) and (c). The present study examines the stability of the Double Deficit groups from Kindergarten to Grade 2. 214 children were assessed in Kindergarten and subsequently tested in early Grade 1, late Grade 1, and Grade 2. Tests administered at each time included measures of naming speed, phonological awareness, and a variety of reading measures. Discriminant analyses indicated that approximately 70% of Grade 2 children were successfully classified by Kindergarten measures. Contingency analyses indicated moderate stability from Kindergarten to Grade 2 and more movement between groups between Kindergarten and Grade 1. The Double Deficit groups differed in reading achievement at each testing time, with the Double Deficit group obtaining the lowest scores. Implications for early assessment and intervention are discussed. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2010-01-06 12:54:02.063

Bakgrund: Sepsis är vanligt förekommande och ett av de allvarligaste sjukdomstillstånden med hög mortalitet. Tillståndet medför stort lidande för den drabbade patienten. Tidig identifiering och snabb behandling är avgörande för patientens överlevnad och fortsatta hälsa. Sjuksköterskan ansvarar för omvårdnaden av patienter med sepsis och har därmed en viktig roll vid identifiering och behandling av sjukdomstillståndet. Syfte: Syftet var att beskriva faktorer som kan påverka sjuksköterskans identifiering av sepsis.   Metod: En litteraturöversikt valdes som metod till denna uppsats. Datainsamling skedde via databaserna Cinahl Complete och PubMed och resulterade i tio kvantitativa och en kvalitativ artikel som svarade på syftet. Utvalda artiklarhar kvalitetsgranskats och sedan analyserats utifrån de fyra analysstegen som finns beskrivna i Friberg. Resultat: Fyra kategorier framkom: sjuksköterskans kunskap, bedömningsinstrument, implementering av protokoll och riktlinjer samt arbetsmiljö.   Sammanfattning: Som ett resultat av analysen framkom flera faktorer som kan påverka sjuksköterskans identifiering av sepsis. Bristande kunskap och avsaknad av utbildning, hög arbetsbelastning, vårdprotokoll, riktlinjer och screeningverktyg var faktorer som kan påverka sjuksköterskornas identifiering av sepsis. Det behövs mer utbildning för att kliniskt verksamma sjuksköterskors kunskap om sepsis ska öka. / Background: Sepsis is common and one of the most serious diseases with a high mortality. The condition causes great suffering to the affected patient. Early identification and treatment are crucial for the patient's survival and continued health. The nurse is responsible for the care of patients with sepsis and play an important role in identifying and treating the condition.  Aim: The aim was to describe factors that may affect the nurse's identification ofsepsis. Method: A literature review was chosen as the method of this essay. Data collection wasperformed using the databases Cinahl Complete and PubMed and resulted in ten quantitative and one qualitative article that answered the purpose. Selectedarticles have been quality reviewed and then analyzed using the four analysing steps described in Friberg.  Results: Four categories emerged: the nurse's knowledge, assessment instruments, implementation of protocols and guidelines and work environment. Summary: As a result of the analysis, several factors emerged that may affect the nurse´s identification of sepsis. Lack of knowledge and lack of education, highworkload, care protocols, guidelines and screening tools were some of the factors that emerged in the results of the literature review. More education is needed to increase clinically active nurses' knowledge of sepsis.

The Ages and Stages Questionnaires (ASQ) (Squires & Bricker, 2009) is used by pediatricians, educators, and parents to screen for developmental delays and identify children at risk for delay. The purpose of the ASQ: Social Emotional- Second Edition (ASQ:SE-2) is to screen for a child’s self-regulation, compliance, communication, adaptive behaviors, autonomy, affect, and interaction with people. A recent revision of the ASQ:SE-2 included items that were intended to identify children at risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The present study provides an examination of the validity of the ASQ:SE-2 in identifying children at risk for ASD. In the present study, total scores on a subset of items from the ASQ:SE-2 that specifically addressed ASD were compared with results from a team clinical diagnosis of ASD for 60 children, between 18-48 months of age. When the ASD-related items were considered alone, the scores of children with ASD and those without ASD were significantly different, and there were no differences in ASQ:SE-2 total scores for children with and without ASD. These findings indicate that parents of children with ASD reported significantly more concerns on ASD-related items on the ASQ:SE-2 than parents of children without ASD. Moreover, the results suggest that an increasing ASD total item score on the broadband instrument resulted in an increased likelihood of a child receiving an ASD diagnosis.

[pt] Na literatura sobre identificação dos transtornos do espectro autista (TEA) não existe consenso acerca das categorias que indicam risco de TEA aos 12 meses. A metodologia utilizada nos estudos de vídeos familiares retrospectivos favorece a análise de categorias comportamentais discretas em detrimento de uma análise da interação social. O objetivo deste estudo é testar uma metodologia que permita analisar qualitativamente as interações sociais bebê-adulto em um grupo de bebês com TEA e um grupo de bebês com desenvolvimento típico (DT) registradas em vídeo aos 12 meses. Os resultados demonstraram que no grupo TEA os padrões de interação foram distintos dos padrões exibidos no grupo DT. A metodologia testada viabilizou a análise qualitativa das interações bebê-adulto dos dois grupos de bebês e possibilitou que fosse realizada uma análise quantitativa dos dados, cujo resultado foi comparado com os de outros estudos de vídeos familiares. As implicações sobre o uso da interação bebê-adulto como medida de identificação de TEA aos 12 meses são discutidas. / [en] Retrospective family videos of have been the main source for studies in early identification of ASD at 12 month. Despite its results there still is no consensus about which behavioral categories are reliable in identifying ASD at that age. Since retrospective family videos study methodology leads to evaluation of discrete behavioral categories, analysis of social interaction in early month has been defeated. The purpose of this study is to test a methodology to investigate early infant-adult interactions qualitatively. It was tested on family videos of two groups of infants: one with ASD diagnosis and other with infants that developed typically (DT). Findings indicate differences in social interaction between groups. Methodology was efficient in its purpose and also allowed quantitative analysis of behavioral categories that were compared to findings of others retrospective family videos studies. Implications about the use of social interactions as a measure for ASD identification at 12 month are discussed.

Data derived from universal screening procedures are increasingly utilized by schools to identify and provide additional supports to students at-risk of behavioral and emotional concerns. As screening has the potential to be resource intensive, effort has been placed on the development of efficient screening procedures, namely brief behavior rating scales. This study utilized classical test theory and generalizability theory to examine the extent to which differences among students, raters, occasions, and screening measures affect the meaningfulness of data derived from universal screening procedures. Teacher pairs from three middle school classrooms completed two brief behavior rating scales during fall and spring screening administrations for all students in their respective classrooms. Correlation coefficients examining interrater reliability, test-retest reliability, and concurrent validity were generally strong. Generalizability analyses indicated that the majority of variance in teacher ratings were attributable to student differences across all score comparisons, but differences between teacher ratings for particular students accounted for relatively large percentages of error variance among student behavior ratings. Although decision studies showed that increasing the number of screening occasions resulted in more generalizable data, the impact of increasing the number of raters resulted in more efficient screening procedures.