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This article presents interview information from parents to educators on the importance of teaching communication to students with autism spectrum disorder. The perspectives of three mothers of children with autism are presented to gain insight to strategies they felt helped their child to improve in the areas of interaction, communication, and behavior. A high school special education teacher/interviewer acted as a participant and includes many observations about these three students. Although this is a small representative sample, several similarities for special needs across parents emerged. In order to preserve the essence of the mothers' perspectives, direct quotes are used throughout this paper. (Contains 1 figure.)

This article evaluates Check and Connect (Hoppe & Bray, 2000), a computer-assisted learning program funded by a competitive subgrant under the "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Part B" (ages 3-21). The program targeted 20 students in high school with disabilities categorized as "learning disabilities," "other health impairment," "emotional disturbance" and "mental retardation." Moreover, these students exhibited many behaviors associated with risk for school failure, such as poor motivation, poor attendance, poor emotional control, poor self-esteem, impulsive behavior, non-compliant behavior to authority figures, poor self-management skills, low academic skills and poor pragmatic language skills. The major goal of the program was to create behavioral interventions that enabled students to acquire social and behavioral skills which generalized to the home, employment and community setting. Four constructs were explored to assess the efficacy of the Check and Connect personal development program: (1) work-related; (2) interpersonal; (3) social/community; and (4) overall rank. The indicators used to measure participation in school were based on the "Hawthorne Transition Behavior Scale." These indicators were used to measure an overall rank score in transition behavior. The rating scales were completed by the students' special education teacher and by a general education teacher. The four constructs were measured using a pre- and post-evaluation design. The data were analyzed and graphed to determine program effectiveness. The Check and Connect program appeared to be beneficial for the students targeted in the program. The students reported that the use of the computers and the pay incentive gave them reasons to stay in school. It was also observed by teacher and administrators that the students worked hard at achieving learning goals. The program enabled the school district to build on an existing work study program, build networks with community organizations and connections with individual professionals in the school district and the community at large. Check and Connect promoted a technological and vocational technique to address behavior, cognitive and affective domains of learning as well as promoted the development of positive behavioral interventions and support. (Contains 1 figure.)

Reviews the history, goals, achievements, and future of a graduate internship program sponsored by the Medical Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association. Students are placed in internships in a variety of clinical and research areas concerned with the development of health policy and careers in applied medical sociology. (NL)

The psychological consequences of job loss was studied using a sample of working-class men who had either been laid-off for economic reasons or been dismissed for shortcomings on the job. Taking the nature of causal attribution for the loss of a job as the reference point for comparison, the levels of self-blame and psychological distress among the men were examined. In general, the laid-off workers showed much less distress and were less prone to indulge in self-blame for the loss of their jobs. The dismissed men, on the other hand, experienced heightened feelings of distress and were more likely to blame themselves for the loss of their jobs. However, self-blame was not necessarily linked to psychological imbalance. As a rule, those who blamed themselves were coping with unemployement much better than those who believed others were to blame.

A study of patients from the Alcohol/Drug Rehabilitation unit at the San Antonio State Hospital reveals many ethnic and gender differences in their diagnostic profiles. In males, alcohol abuse is greater than drug abuse, whereas in females of all ethnic groups, drug-related disorders are common. The majority of the Mexican Americans patients have drug-related disorders and use depressants. African Americans have more drug related disorders and use stimulants such as hallucinogens.

Abstract. A mail survey was conducted in May 1983 of pediatricians and family and general practitioners in San Antonio, TX, to assess their influence on automobile safety of patients. Information on sociodemographic data and personal and professional behavior with respect to automobile safety for children was elicited. A 17-item knowledge index was significantly correlated with physician's own use of seat belts, number of children less than 5 years old, exposure to use of child restraints during residency, clinical behavior (asking about use of child restraints during the first and subsequent well-child visits, instructing parents about automobile safety for children, dispensing literature in the office), being a pediatrician, and being Board certified. Knowledge was inversely correlated with physician's age. Education of parents by physicians about automobile safety for children was infrequent. Only 29% of physicians always or usually ask at the first well-child visit if child restraints are being used. Only 8% of physicians received training during their residencies; this points to a need for educating physicians in automobile safety for children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data are presented on drinking patterns and alcohol-related problems among 164 Anglo and 149 Mexican American male regular drinkers. The paper examines the role of acculturation with regard to alcohol use by categorizing Mexican American respondents into three acculturation groups using a multi-item measure developed for this study. Data from a random sample of males drinking at least 2-3 times a month, aged 20-50, showed that, even after socio-demographic controls, Mexican Americans were less frequent, but higher quantity drinkers than were Anglos. No ethnic differences were found for alcohol-related problems. Quantity was significantly higher among less acculturated Mexican Americans than among the more highly acculturated. "Escape" drinking motives were most common among Mexican Americans, particularly among the least acculturated. Exploratory analyses among Mexican Americans using a combination of acculturation and generational status measures indicated the heaviest drinking patterns and the highest prevalence of both alcohol-related problems and escape drinking motives among the least acculturated second generation males. These suggestive data do not support either a "simple acculturation" or an "acculturation stress" model. Rather, the data suggest a cultural marginality/stress model wherein risk of heavy and problem drinking is greatest among younger Mexican Americans who have not become acculturated. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article compares the results of a 1985 survey of elderly seasonal migrants to the Rio Grande Valley of Texas with those of five earlier studies to provide a more comprehensive profile of such migrants than is currently available. Sociodemographic, life-style, and health characteristics are reviewed. Based on apparent similarities among elderly seasonal migrants in the six studies, suggestions are made for the direction of future research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, we examine ethnic differences in divorce likelihood for a sample of 900 divorce petitions filed in San Antonio, Texas, during 1985. The present study explores ethnic differences in the nature of the divorce process and examines the extent to which observed ethnic differences in divorce likelihood are accounted for by differences between groups in dimensions such as socioeconomic status, marital history, and nature of complaints. Divorce likelihood is viewed from the perspective of Levinger's (1965) exchange model of marital instability, as recently applied to the phenomenon of divorce petition withdrawal by Kitson et al. (1983). Observed differences between Spanish surname and non-Spanish surname petitions in divorce likelihood and divorce delay are largely explained by controls for background and exchange model variables. Significant interaction effects with ethnicity suggest the complexity of the divorce process. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Data from seven U. S. national surveys were used to estimate the effects of number of siblings on eight dimensions of psychological well-being among adult white males and white females. All of the statistically significant estimated effects of having siblings are negative, and most of these cannot be accounted for by the lower mean family incomes and amount of education of the persons with siblings. The evidence for negative effects is stronger for white males than for white females. The evidence from this and previous studies is generally inconsistent with the popular stereotype of the unhappy, maladjusted only child, but additional evidence is needed before the issue is considered closed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]