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Purpose:The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of eight Latina mothers on early augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) services for their young children, including their decision-making process, and knowledge of AAC. The ultimate goal is to help professionals develop culturally responsive and family-centered education and training programs to facilitate AAC intervention for Latinx parents with young children who benefit from AAC.Method:The method involved in-person semistructured interviews conducted in Spanish at the mothers' homes or preferred locations, which were then video-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and translated to English. Transcripts were analyzed through a process consisting of coding, identifying themes, constructing thematic networks, summarizing thematic networks, and interpreting patterns.Results:Mothers' perceptions of early intervention services revealed a lack of knowledge about AAC, unquestioned acceptance of early intervention services, and gratitude for receiving these services. They also reported having received minimal training in AAC and expressed a desire to receive additional training. The decision-making process was matriarchal with professionals serving as the primary informants of services to be received.Discussion:This investigation adds to the existing literature by providing insight into Latinx parental perceptions of AAC, their decision-making process, and the types of training they prefer. The study highlights the importance of providing Latina mothers with meaningful opportunities to participate in the early intervention process related to the communication and language needs of their children. To establish trust, professionals should communicate clearly, accurately, and straightforwardly. Additionally, a family-centered approach rooted in the language and culture is crucial. Professionals can achieve this by providing culturally and linguistically accessible training, learning about the family's specific values and beliefs regarding AAC, and facilitating their learning so that AAC is achievable and practical.Supplemental Material:https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.24059043

Purpose--This paper aims to carry out a comprehensive analysis of the influence of interest rate risk on Spanish firms at the industry level. Design/methodology/approach--The methodology employed has its origin in the two-index linear regression model proposed by Stone. This traditional interest rate exposure model has been extended in this paper to allow for a nonlinear exposure component as well as the presence of asymmetric behaviour in the exposure pattern. Findings--Interest rate exposure is not homogeneous for all the Spanish industries. In line with other markets, highly leveraged industries (construction and real estate), regulated industries (electrical and utilities), and banking industry are the most interest rate sensitive. Nevertheless, the interest rate exposure of Spanish firms also shows some distinctive features due to the peculiar structure of the Spanish market. It is also documented that the classical linear exposure profile prevails over the nonlinear and asymmetric exposure patterns, and that the introduction of the euro seems to have weakened the degree of interest rate risk. Practical implications--The evidence presented in this paper can be used as input in decision making by corporate managers, investors, and regulators interested in assessing the impact of interest rate risk at the sector level for hedging, portfolio management, or risk assessment purposes. Originality/value--This is the first paper which tackles the analysis of the impact of interest rate risk on Spanish firms, taking into account not only the standard linear interest rate exposure profile but also the nonlinear one. The results found in the Spanish case reveal the existence of particularities which might also be present in countries immersed in a process of dramatic economic transformations similar to that experienced by Spain over the past two decades. This is the case of the Central and Eastern European countries which recently joined the European Union. Keywords Financial risk, Stock returns, Spain, Risk management, Interest rates Paper type Research paper DOI 10.1108/03074351011039445

Duration models deal with a wide variety of different approaches for measuring and managing interest rate risks in fixed income portfolios. It is ascertained in an empirical manner, whether there are significant differences between the models that are usually employed by risk managers to control interest rate risk (IRR).

Purpose:The purpose of this tutorial is to describe a tool and a procedure to support the collection and qualitative manual analysis of aided language samples in Spanish.Method:The Protocol for the Analysis of Aided Language Samples in Spanish (PAALSS) was developed from the present knowledge of Spanish language acquisition, and established procedures for the analysis of aided language samples. A draft version of PAALSS was distributed among 476 augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) service providers in Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico, and the United States, who provided feedback on their usability and applicability. The clinical application of PAALSS is illustrated through the analysis of three different language samples of an 8-year-old child who uses aided AAC.Results:The use of PAALSS allowed the child’s educational team to document the child’s strengths and to set therapy goals to address her needs, such as increasing the length of her utterances and other structures essential for grammaticalization including articles, adjectives, adverbs, diminutives, morphemes for gender and number, prepositions, and personal pronouns.Conclusions:PAALSS can be used to describe the expressive language use of children who use aided AAC in Spanish and are in the early stages of language development. PAALSS can also be used as a guide to set goals for and measure outcomes of language therapy along four domains of expressive language including vocabulary, morphology, grammatical complexity, and syntax.Supplemental Material:https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.19233237

The credit market in Spain is discussed in reference to the polynomial duration vector and immunization.

PurposeProject Building Bridges is a federally sponsored program that prepares speech-language pathology graduate students to provide culturally and linguistically responsive services to school-age children with complex communication needs from diverse backgrounds. Project scholars receive evidence-based training in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) assessment, AAC intervention, collaborative teaming, AAC applications supporting the language and literacy skills of culturally and linguistically diverse children, and professional development in collaborative AAC settings. Project content and needed competencies for practicing professionals who are interested in expanding their knowledge of culturally responsive services for children who benefit from AAC are described. Precompetency training and postcompetency training data from the perspectives of the scholars' self-assessment and the clinical educators' assessment supporting the growth and development of these competencies are presented. Direction for implementing culturally and linguistically responsive AAC services in educational settings is provided.ConclusionProject Building Bridges responds to the need to train future licensed and certified speech-language pathologists to work effectively with culturally and linguistically diverse children between the ages of birth to 22 years who have significant disabilities and augmentative communication needs. Data collected indicate that knowledge and skills improved from both the perspective of the graduate student and the perspectives of the AAC speech-language pathology clinical educator in school settings as a result of the training.

Children with complex communication needs often rely on augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) to communicate. Use of AAC can result in messages with limited syntax and morphology that are difficult for communication partners to understand. This case study examines the linguistic productions of a child who uses high-tech AAC, with emerging literacy skills, under two pragmatic presupposition conditions. In Condition 1, the child believes the communication partner has a larger amount of background information about the topic being discussed. In Condition 2, the child presupposes the communication partner has less background information about the topic being discussed. Condition 2 resulted in the child's production of more complex morphology and syntax in comparison to Condition 1. The results suggest pragmatic presupposition might have impacted the level of morphologic and syntactic complexity produced. Possible clinical implications and suggestions for facilitating production of linguistically complex sentences are discussed.

This paper exemplifies the process we used to customize the Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts (SALT) software to monitor a wide range of language measures for children who use high-tech speech-generating devices (SGDs) when taking into consideration two main characteristics of aided communication: multimodality and co-constructed interaction structure. General considerations relevant to Language Sampling and Analysis (LSA) and examples of their applications are described in conversations between young aided speakers (child) and natural speakers (adult) and include the following stages: (a) eliciting and videotaping a representative sample of the child's language; (b) transcribing verbatim the language sample according to SALT conventions and modifications; and (c) analyzing the language sample with the common SALT commands and new variables (codes) measures. Our findings suggest that SALT software can be easily adapted and used as a tool for augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) evidence-based practice.

ABSTRACT: This article focuses on culturally responsive AAC practice. Including parents in the process is essential to ensure that children with significant communication impairments receive the most appropriate communication tool and the most effective intervention strategies. Often, the roles expected or demanded from parents may conflict with the values, expectations, and abilities of many families, particularly those from culturally diverse backgrounds, which may contribute to low levels of participation. If clinicians are to work effectively with families from a range of different backgrounds, they need not only a greater understanding of culture and cultural values as they relate to AAC, but an increased awareness of the cultural influences affecting their own practices and recommendations. In this article, I describe the process of culturally responsive assessment and intervention and discuss the need for professionals to build opportunities for a truly reciprocal collaborative relationship with families.

ABSTRACT: Federal legislation has increasingly mandated that students with disabilities have access to the general education curriculum. The general education curriculum should be the primary content and context of the education and therapeutic intervention for students who use AAC. Special educators, including speech and language pathologists, need to encapsulate the essence of Common Core Content Standards and the general education curriculum to address the content and language needs of AAC users. The interconnection of curriculum content and language demands for the AAC user can be accomplished using readily available research based tools and strategies. We created a five-step process to help SLPs incorporate the general education curriculum into intervention to address language goals of AAC users: 1) assessment; 2) identifying grade level content standards from Common Core or state standards; 3) identifying the “essence” of the standard as it relates to language; 4) generating IEP goals; and 5) teaching language skills across curricular activities. We will provide examples of this process to address a general education standard and the language and curricular content goals for beginning communicators, context-dependent communicators and for students communicating independently. Collaboration between the SLP and educators by means of these steps supports student success across all curricular areas.

ABSTRACT: This article highlights evidence supporting the efficacy of adult language modeling and child imitation, including use of aided AAC modeling, during language intervention with young children demonstrating complex communication needs. First, four evidence-based language intervention approaches that incorporate adult language modeling and child imitation with young children demonstrating language delays are described. Second, two additional evidence-based language intervention approaches that incorporate aided AAC modeling during communication partner training, and direct clinical intervention with young children using aided AAC are further discussed. The article concludes with suggestions for strategies to use during language intervention with young children who use aided AAC.

Abstract: In an effort to define the varied expression of three vasoactive markers in the clinical models of normal placenta/normal invasion (n=11), preeclampsia/restricted trophoblast invasion (n=15), and placenta accreta/exaggerated invasion (n=6), we performed semiquantitative immunohistochemistry for kallikrein, bradykinin B2 receptor, and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS). In the floating villi, the syncytiotrophoblast expressed more kallikrein in placenta accreta (p<0.05), than in normal and preeclamptic placentas, while the bradykinin B2 receptor and eNOS were similarly expressed in all groups; in the fetal endothelium, the bradykinin B2 receptor was enhanced in placenta accreta (p<0.005), but kallikrein and eNOS were similarly expressed in the other two groups. In the extravillous trophoblast, both kallikrein and eNOS expression were higher in placenta accreta (p<0.001), while the bradykinin B2 receptor signal was only enhanced in preeclampsia (p<0.05). The presence and localization of kallikrein, the bradykinin B2 receptor, and eNOS in the fetomaternal interface in the three study conditions supports a local role for interrelated vasodilatory/antiaggregating systems. This first report of the variations observed in kallikrein and eNOS in a condition of exaggerated trophoblast invasion supports the participation of vasodilatation in trophoblast migration.

This study investigated the effectiveness of a general education/special education collaborative teaming process on the academic and social participation of six students in general education classrooms. Three of the students experienced severe disabilities. The other three were considered academically at risk. Each student was supported by an educational team that included general and special education personnel and the students' parents. Each team developed and collaboratively implemented individualized Unified Plans of Support for one student at risk and a classmate with disabilities, consisting of academic adaptations and communication and social supports. The effectiveness of the support plans was evaluated through behavioral observations and team interviews. Intervention outcomes suggested that for each of the six students consistent implementation of the plans of support by team members was associated with increases in academic skills, engagement in classroom activities, interactions with peers, and student-initiated interactions.

This preliminary study was designed to investigate the attitudes of special education teachers in a midwestern state toward the use of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems by students with severe communication impairments. A focus group of professionals working with AAC users was used to develop a survey instrument that was sent to 317 special education teachers. Results indicate that teachers' perceptions of their students' abilities to learn to communicate more effectively was the strongest positive influence on their intentions to use AAC systems in the classroom. However, teachers' perceptions of students' abilities appeared to be strongly affected by perceptions of their own skills and responsibilities to provide communication training in the classroom. Implications of the results with regards to AAC service delivery and teacher preparation programs are discussed.

This paper explores the application of ordered probit modeling, an econometric technique commonly used for the analysis of rating data in situations when respondents are asked to rate items (e.g., an object, service, or product), one at a time. To demonstrate the application of this methodology, an existing data set, originally collected to measure the perceived complexities for an array of Blissymbols, was used. Findings from the use of the ordered probit model are compared with those resulting from the earlier research that used regression procedures. Results from the use of ordered probit modeling indicate that variables that in the original study had been found nonsignificant were indeed accounting for differences in the perceived complexity of Blissymbols. Physical length of the symbol, number of semantic units, and number of strokes were found to be positively correlated with perceived Blissymbol complexity. The number of physical units, single configuration, and the word class "verb" were found to be negatively correlated with Blissymbol complexity.

The purpose of this article is to examine the contributions made by the teacher efficacy literature to the study of teaching students with severe disabilities. The description and measurement of the self-efficacy construct are first explained, followed by a brief overview of problems in self-efficacy research. Findings on the relationship between perceived self-efficacy of teachers and variables including perceptions of student abilities, classroom practices, adoption of innovations, and collaboration with others are then summarized. Implications of this literature for practice, staff development, and personnel training programs are then discussed. Finally, strategies to guide future research are offered.

This paper presents an overview of the changes occurring in special education in Spain by highlighting the historical, social, and legal aspects of the transition that has lead to the current integration process. The paper also includes a brief description of the mainstreaming efforts in the USA, and their social and legal foundations. Although there is substantial overlap in the practical issues confronting both countries, significant differences exist in the areas of constitutional and legislative foundations as well as in practical mainstreaming efforts and professional roles. As a result, policies have evolved along separate paths within each national context. Yet the Spanish integration at its initial stage is at risk of uncritically adopting decisions that have been taken in the USA. The paper attempts to alert administrators and other professionals in special education against direct replication of other mainstreaming models. Concerns and recommendations are further discussed.

This paper introduces semiotics to the field of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). Semiotics includes the study of all types of communicative acts (signs) from language and other complex forms of human communication to animal communication and natural events in our environment. Its object of study overlaps that of AAC: communication. This paper presents semiotics as a methodological and/or theoretical framework that can be useful for AAC researchers and/or professionals to validate AAC terminology, identify sign characteristics, operationalize sign variables, expand sign taxonomies, and understand sign transmission processes (e.g., production and interpretation).

This paper presents the findings of a study that analyzed the morphosyntactic complexity of the language output of three congenitally physically disabled Spanish individuals who use Blissymbolics as their primary means of expression. Three methods were used to collect Blissymbol output by each individual over a 1-week period. All Blissymbol output collected for each subject was analyzed in terms of its morphosyntactic complexity. Results indicate that these individuals were able to convey a wide variety of messages using different morphosyntactic structures. Implications of the findings with respect to language issues in AAC are discussed.

The ingestion or accidental insertion of foreign bodies is extremely rare before 6 months of age. We report the case of a 3-month-old infant with a sewing needle into the right hepatic lobe, without symptoms. The extraction was performed through laparotomy. The issue is revisited, and the decision making tree is discussed.