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AbstractPurposeMethodsResultsConclusion\nIMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONResearch suggests that rates for autism may be higher in cerebral palsy than in the general population. For those with severe bilateral physical impairment (GMFCS level IV and V) and little or no speech, describing a profile of social communication skills has been difficult because there are currently no assessments for early social communication specifically tailored for these children. Our aim was to explore the assessment of aspects of joint attention and social reciprocity in this group of children with CP.We compared the performance of children with bilateral CP on carefully designed assessments of joint attention and social responsiveness with groups of children with Down syndrome and autism. All three groups were matched for chronological age and mental age.Approximately 30% of the children with bilateral CP had early social communication scores similar to the autistic children. The remaining 70% of children with CP had a range of early social communication scores similar to the children with Down syndrome.It is possible to assess key early social communication skills in non-speaking children with bilateral motor disability. This could provide insights to help clinicians and caregivers as they discuss abilities and explore potential areas for intervention.With carefully designed activities, which do not rely on motor skills or verbal exchanges, it was possible to assess joint attention and social responsiveness skills in a group of non-speaking children with bilateral motor disability.We were able to identify a subgroup of non-speaking children with severe motor disability (approximately 30% of our cohort) whose scores on our assessments were similar to a group of autistic children.The ability to describe key early social communication skills should provide insights to help clinicians and caregivers as they discuss abilities and explore potential areas for intervention.With carefully designed activities, which do not rely on motor skills or verbal exchanges, it was possible to assess joint attention and social responsiveness skills in a group of non-speaking children with bilateral motor disability.We were able to identify a subgroup of non-speaking children with severe motor disability (approximately 30% of our cohort) whose scores on our assessments were similar to a group of autistic children.The ability to describe key early social communication skills should provide insights to help clinicians and caregivers as they discuss abilities and explore potential areas for intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) are multimodal communicators. However, in classroom interactions involving children and staff, achieving mutual understanding and accomplishing task-oriented goals by attending to the child's unaided AAC can be challenging. This study draws on excerpts of video recordings of interactions in a classroom for 6–9-year-old children who used AAC to explore how three child participants used the range of multimodal resources available to them – vocal, movement-based, and gestural, technological, temporal – to shape (and to some degree, co-control) classroom interactions. Our research was concerned with examining achievements and problems in establishing a sense of common ground and the realization of child agency. Through detailed multimodal analysis, this paper renders visible different types of practices rejecting a request for clarification, drawing new parties into a conversation, disrupting whole-class teacher talk-through which the children in the study voiced themselves in persuasive ways. It concludes by suggesting that multimodal accounts paint a more nuanced picture of children's resourcefulness and conversational asymmetry that highlights children's agency amidst material, semiotic, and institutional constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThe relationships between the use of nouns and verbs, and other word classes have been well established in the typical language development literature. However, questions remain as to whether the same relationships are seen in the language use of individuals who use graphic symbol-based augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). The aim of the study was to examine relationships between the use of verbs and nouns, and the use of prepositions, adverbs, and adjectives through a secondary analysis of language transcripts taken from 12 children and adolescents who used aided AAC in conversation with an adult. A series of multiple linear mixed-effect regression analyses showed a positive predictive association between the use of verbs and the use of prepositions and adverbs, as well as a positive predictive relationship between the use of nouns and the use of adjectives. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores whether a structured history-taking tool yields useful descriptions of children's looking skills. Parents of 32 children referred to a specialist communication clinic reported their child's looking skills using the Functional Vision for Communication Questionnaire (FVC-Q), providing descriptions of single object fixation, fixation shifts between objects and fixation shifts from object to person. Descriptions were compared with clinical assessment. 24/32 children were reported to have some limitation in fixation. Limitation was subsequently seen in 30/32 children. Parental report and assessment agreed fully in 23/32 (72%). The largest area of discrepancy was object-person fixation shifts, with five children not observed to show this behavior despite its being reported. Findings indicate a structured questionnaire yields description of fixations, which correspond well with clinical assessment. Descriptions supported discussion between parents and clinicians. It is proposed that the FVC-Q is a valuable tool in supporting clinicians in eliciting information about fixation skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractPurposeResultsConclusions\nIMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONLittle is known about how children learn to control eye-gaze technology, and clinicians lack information to guide decision-making. This paper examines whether typically developing 2–3 year olds can infer for themselves the causal mechanisms by which eye-gaze technology is controlled, whether a teaching intervention based on causal language improves performance and how their performance compares to the same task accessed via a touchscreen.Methods and materials: Typically developing children’s (n = 9, Mean Age 28.7 months) performance on a cause and effect game presented on eye-gaze and touchscreen devices was compared. The game was presented first with no specific instruction on how to control the devices. This was followed by a subsequent presentation with explicit instruction about how the access methods worked, using a causal language approach. A final presentation examined whether children had retained any learning.Performance in the eye-gaze condition without instruction (42.5% successful trials) was significantly below performance in the corresponding touchscreen condition (75%). However, when causal language instruction was added, performance with both access methods rose to comparable levels (90.7% eye-gaze and 94.6% touchscreen success). Performance gains were not retained post-intervention.Although 2–3 years in the study could make use of eye-gaze technology with support, this study found no evidence that these children could infer the causal mechanisms of control independently or intuitively. The lack of spatial contiguity and the comparative lack of feedback from eye-gaze devices are discussed as possible contributory factors.There are challenges in young children inferring for themselves the causal link between eye movements and control of an eye-gaze device.Explicit instruction may improve children’s performance in a specific task, but it is debatable whether this translates to the establishment of causal mechanisms for control of the device.Clinicians should be cautious of making assumptions about what children are learning from activities claiming to teach cause and effect or other foundational eye-gaze control skills.There are challenges in young children inferring for themselves the causal link between eye movements and control of an eye-gaze device.Explicit instruction may improve children’s performance in a specific task, but it is debatable whether this translates to the establishment of causal mechanisms for control of the device.Clinicians should be cautious of making assumptions about what children are learning from activities claiming to teach cause and effect or other foundational eye-gaze control skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigated the relationship between lexicon and grammar in individuals who use graphic symbol-based aided augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). Data came from 60 transcripts of generalization sessions that were part of two previous intervention studies, aimed at improving the expressive vocabulary and grammar of 12 children and youth who used graphic symbol-based AAC. The specific aims of the current study were to (a) describe vocabulary composition across different levels of expressive vocabulary and (b) analyze the relationship between global measures of expressive vocabulary and the use of grammar in individuals who use aided AAC. A series of multiple linear mixed effect regression analyses showed a positive predictive association between overall vocabulary size and the use of closed-class words, and a positive relationship between the use of verbs and the use of closed-class words. Additionally, the use of verbs had a significant positive association with the use of inflectional morphology, while the use of nouns did not. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For many observers Australia's approach to the threat of nuclear proliferation under the government of Prime Minister John Howard (1996–2007) was simply the product of its steadfast alignment of Australian foreign policy with that of the United States in the post-9/11 context. The Howard government's enthusiastic support for the 2003 US-led 'coalition of the willing' invasion of Iraq on the basis of Baghdad's alleged possession of 'weapons of mass destruction' (WMD) is taken as the most egregious example of this tendency. Yet this assumption ignores that the potential threat of nuclear proliferation had been an abiding concern for the government since it had entered office. This paper argues that there was an enduring dynamic in Australian foreign and strategic policy of perceiving a direct link between the fate of the prevailing international system and that of Australia's own national security. To this end, the Howard government's perception of the threat of nuclear proliferation was sensitive to trends at the global level, most particularly the strategic posture and preferences of its alliance partner, the United States. The paper demonstrates, however, that this weakened the Howard government's ability to maintain fidelity with what had become Australia's traditional activist diplomacy within the non-proliferation regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Hydrogen Economy concept is being proposed as a means of reducing and eventually decarbonising the world's energy use. It looks to hydrogen as being a replacement for methane (natural gas) and generally as a way of removing all fossil fuels from the energy supply. The concept, however, has at least four flaws, as follows: (1) hydrogen has significantly different properties to methane; (2) hydrogen has properties that create significant hazards; (3) hydrogen has a very small initiation (activation) energy; and (4) liquid hydrogen cannot readily replace liquefied natural gas (LNG). Hydrogen's hazards will prevent it from being accepted in a societal sense. To the question 'Can the Hydrogen Economy concept be the solution to the future energy crisis?', the answer is 'no'. Hydrogen has and will have a role in world energy but that role will be limited to industry. For the future we need an advanced electric economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to develop and test a new classification scale to describe looking behaviours (gaze fixations and gaze shifts) in relation to eye-pointing. The Eye-pointing Classification Scale (EpCS) was developed and tested following established procedures for the construction and evaluation of equivalent scales, and involved 2 phases: Drawing on research literature, Phase 1 involved initial drafting of the scale through a series of multi-disciplinary group discussions; evaluation of the scale through a survey procedure, and subsequent expert group evaluation. Phase 2, was an examination of scale reliability and relationships between child characteristics and level of EpCS classification. In Phase 1, an initial draft of the scale was developed and then evaluated by 52 participants in 10 countries, leading to its refinement. Subsequent expert evaluation of content, style and structure indicated that no further refinement was required. In Phase 2, the scale achieved excellent levels of reliability in clinical testing. A significant relationship was identified between level of child motor ability and EpCS classification, and level of child language understanding and EpCS classification. Non-speaking children with severe bilateral cerebral palsy who have limited upper limb movement may communicate by using controlled looking behaviours to point to objects and people, referred to as eye-pointing. However, there is little consensus as to which looking behaviours represent eye-pointing and which do not. The Eye-pointing Classification Scale (EpCS) was developed to describe looking behaviours related to eye-pointing in this population of children The EpCS provides a new robust tool for clinical management and research with children with cerebral palsy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigating voice in research that involves children with disabilities is highly challenging. Very few studies have problematised voice for the purposes of designing new technologies for and with children who have disabilities. We embarked on qualitative fieldwork with children who have severe speech and physical impairments with the view to motivate designers to consider new child-centred perspectives for conceptualising new communication technologies. In this article, we use reflexivity as a tool to critically examine how empowering our methodological decisions were for children with disabilities, in advancing child-centred accounts of their communication experiences. We propose four considerations that can be useful for researchers and practitioners when undertaking participatory work involving children with disabilities. These are: 1.Theoretical lenses guiding data collection, analysis and interpretation; 2. Developing credible accounts through strong and prominent ideas; 3. Children's ways of participating evidencing their voices, and; 4. Methods hindering the promotion of child centred accounts. Children with severe speech and physical impairments are rarely involved in designing new technologies for supporting communication. It can be challenging to study what children with severe speech and physical impairments express as important about their communication. This article examines the ways in which researchers made decisions about how they worked with children. We studied communication by focusing on the child during their interactions. Our goal was to understand what children expressed as important for communication. We found that researcher beliefs, the use of different methods, and observing children's ways of participating all influenced the findings. The findings identify that it is important for researchers to be clear to others about the perspectives and different data sources that influence their decisions. Some data collection methods, such as taking photos, can be less empowering for children as they can focus on how the researcher sees the situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conversational repair has been found to play a fundamental role in the acquisition of language. This paper describes existing research on conversational repair and its relationship to language learning, whether a first language or a second language, as well as its relevance to augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). A case is made for incorporating prompts to repair in conversation-based language interventions with children learning to use AAC. We argue that interventions targeting linguistic complexity should encourage self-repair in conversation in order to develop linguistic and operational competency as well as increase automaticity when using AAC. Clinical implications and directions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]