Are Shy Adults Really Bolder Online? It Depends on the Context

We examined whether individual differences in shyness and context influenced the amount of computer-mediated self-disclosure and use of affective language during an unfamiliar dyadic social interaction. Unfamiliar young adults were selected for high and low self-reported shyness and paired in mixed dyads (one shy and one nonshy). Each dyad was randomly assigned to either a live webcam or no webcam condition. Participants then engaged in a 20-minute online free chat over the Internet in the laboratory. Free chat conversations were archived, and the transcripts were objectively coded for traditional communication variables, conversational style, and the use of affective language. As predicted, shy adults engaged in significantly fewer spontaneous self-disclosures than did their nonshy counterparts only in the webcam condition. Shy versus nonshy adults did not differ on spontaneous self-disclosures in the no webcam condition. However, context did not influence the use of computer-mediated affective language. Although shy adults used significantly less active and pleasant words than their nonshy counterparts, these differences were not related to webcam condition. The present findings replicate and extend earlier work on shyness, context, and computer-mediated communication to a selected sample of shy adults. Findings suggest that context may influence some, but not all, aspects of social communication in shy adults.

Brief Report: Faces cause less distraction in Autism

Individuals with autism have difficulties interpreting face cues that contribute to deficits of social communication.When faces need to be processed for meaning they fail to capture and hold the attention of individuals with autism. In the current study we illustrate that faces fail to capture attention in a typical manner even when they are non-functional to task completion. In a visual search task with a present butterfly target an irrelevant face distractersignificantly slows performance of typical individuals.However, participants with autism (n = 28; mean 10 years 4 months) of comparable non-verbal ability are not distracted by the faces. Interestingly, there is a significant relationship between level of functioning on the autism spectrum and degree of face capture or distraction.

Evidence-based management and intervention for autism spectrum disorders

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is diagnosed along a continuum of behavioural variants in social communication and repetitive behaviours [96]. Most individuals on the autism spectrum also experience differences in sensory perception. Some individuals on the spectrum are ‘high-functioning’ and able to cope in every day environments, while others are severely affected, non-verbal, and may have co-occurring diagnoses, such as intellectual disability, epilepsy, and/or obsessional, conduct, or mental health disorders. These individuals require substantial support, caring and careful management, and evidence-based, effective interventions.

Autism and ABA: Best Practice in America and the Way Forward for Europe.

According to recent estimates, 1 in each 68 new-borns will be diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the USA (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014), while 1 in every 29 children will be diagnosed with ASD in the UK (Dillenburger, Jordan, McKerr, & Keenan, 2015). Individuals diagnosed with ASD share a set of characteristics at varying levels of severity: impairments in social communication skills and presence of restricted interests and repetitive behaviours (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).Notwithstanding these figures, little effort has been placed in European countries’ policies for reaching an early diagnosis. This has a detrimental effect on future prognosis for children with ASD, since research has clearly shown that when evidence-based interventions are accessed early in life, they can lead to great improvements on the overall functioning of children with ASD, including significant gains in social communication and reduction of inappropriate behaviours (Dawson, Rogers, Munson, Smith, Winter, Greenson, Donaldson, & Varley, 2009).Additionally, when looking at the services available for children with ASD and their families in Europe, it seems that not much improvement has been made in the last decades. Traditional eclectic approaches and a wealth of non-scientific methods seem to be available and often recommended by public bodies, while state-funded evidence-based interventions are not offered as part of the education or health system. Given that there is a wealth of evidence on the effectiveness of interventions based on the science of ABA, it seems that specific action is required to correct the situation, respecting children’s right to effective treatment and inclusion.In the present paper, these issues are fully discussed and recommendations for best practice are offered.

Motor deficits in children with autism spectrum disorder: A cross-syndrome study

Recent research suggests that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience some level of motor difficulty, and that this may be associated with social communication skills. However, other studies show that children with language impairments, but without the social communication problems, are at risk of motor difficulties as well. The aim of the present study was to determine if children with ASD have syndrome specific motor deficits in comparison to children with specific language impairment (SLI). We used an independent groups design with three groups of children (8-10 years old) matched on age and nonverbal IQ; an ASD group, an SLI group, and a typically developing (TD) group. All of the children completed an individually administered, standardized motor assessment battery. We found that the TD group demonstrated significantly better motor skills than either the ASD or SLI groups. Detailed analyses of the motor subtests revealed that the ASD and SLI groups had very similar motor profiles across a range of fine and gross motor skills, with one exception. We conclude that children with ASD, and SLI, are at risk of clinically significant motor deficits. However, future behavioural and neurological studies of motor skills in children with ASD should include an SLI comparison group in order to identify possible autism specific deficits.

Systematic review of tools to measure outcomes for young children with autism spectrum disorder

BACKGROUND: The needs of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are complex and this is reflected in the number and diversity of outcomes assessed and measurement tools used to collect evidence about children's progress. Relevant outcomes include improvement in core ASD impairments, such as communication, social awareness, sensory sensitivities and repetitiveness; skills such as social functioning and play; participation outcomes such as social inclusion; and parent and family impact.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the measurement properties of tools used to measure progress and outcomes in children with ASD up to the age of 6 years. To identify outcome areas regarded as important by people with ASD and parents.

METHODS: The MeASURe (Measurement in Autism Spectrum disorder Under Review) research collaboration included ASD experts and review methodologists. We undertook systematic review of tools used in ASD early intervention and observational studies from 1992 to 2013; systematic review, using the COSMIN checklist (Consensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement Instruments) of papers addressing the measurement properties of identified tools in children with ASD; and synthesis of evidence and gaps. The review design and process was informed throughout by consultation with stakeholders including parents, young people with ASD, clinicians and researchers.

RESULTS: The conceptual framework developed for the review was drawn from the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, including the domains 'Impairments', 'Activity Level Indicators', 'Participation', and 'Family Measures'. In review 1, 10,154 papers were sifted - 3091 by full text - and data extracted from 184; in total, 131 tools were identified, excluding observational coding, study-specific measures and those not in English. In review 2, 2665 papers were sifted and data concerning measurement properties of 57 (43%) tools were extracted from 128 papers. Evidence for the measurement properties of the reviewed tools was combined with information about their accessibility and presentation. Twelve tools were identified as having the strongest supporting evidence, the majority measuring autism characteristics and problem behaviour. The patchy evidence and limited scope of outcomes measured mean these tools do not constitute a 'recommended battery' for use. In particular, there is little evidence that the identified tools would be good at detecting change in intervention studies. The obvious gaps in available outcome measurement include well-being and participation outcomes for children, and family quality-of-life outcomes, domains particularly valued by our informants (young people with ASD and parents).

CONCLUSIONS: This is the first systematic review of the quality and appropriateness of tools designed to monitor progress and outcomes of young children with ASD. Although it was not possible to recommend fully robust tools at this stage, the review consolidates what is known about the field and will act as a benchmark for future developments. With input from parents and other stakeholders, recommendations are made about priority targets for research.

FUTURE WORK: Priorities include development of a tool to measure child quality of life in ASD, and validation of a potential primary outcome tool for trials of early social communication intervention.

STUDY REGISTRATION: This study is registered as PROSPERO CRD42012002223.

FUNDING: The National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment programme.

Communication, recognition and social work: Aligning the ethical theories of Habermas and Honneth

The modern world is replete with ethical challenges of Orwellian proportions. The violation of human rights and misrecognition of identities are two of the most pressing examples. In this paper, the ethical theories of Habermas and Honneth are aligned as a way of addressing these specific challenges within social work. It is suggested that these theories are complementary, mutually rectifying and concordant at the meta-ethical level of analysis. The alignment is also justified, pargmatically, through the construction of three hypothetical vignettes demonstrating different kinds of practice dilemmas. The need for egalitarian communication and the imperative to recognise human identity in all its dimensions subsequently emerge as the two foundation stones for ethical deliberation in social work.

Exploring communication between social workers, children and young people

A key issue for the social work profession concerns the nature, quality and content of communicative encounters with children and families. This article introduces some findings from a project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) that took place across the United Kingdom between 2013 and 2015, which explored how social workers communicate with children in their everyday practice. The Talking and Listening to Children (TLC) project had three phases: the first was ethnographic, involving observations of social workers in their workplace and during visits; the second used video-stimulated recall with a small number of children and their social workers; and the third developed online materials to support social workers. This paper discusses findings from the first phase. It highlights a diverse picture regarding the context and content of communicative processes; it is argued that attention to contextual issues is as important as focusing on individual practitioners’ behaviours and outlines a model for so doing.

Increasing Staff and Student Capacity to Use the Communication Facility in Queen's Online in Order to Support Learning and Teaching on a BSW Programme

In this article the authors explore and evaluate developments in the use of information and communications technologies (ICT) within social work education at Queen's University Belfast since the inception of the new degree in social work. They look at the staff development strategy utilised to increase teacher confidence and competence in use of the Queen's Online virtual learning environment tools as well as the student experience of participation in modules involving online discussions. The authors conclude that the project provided further opportunity to reflect on how ICT can be used as a platform to support a whole course in a systematic and coordinated way and to ensure all staff remained abreast of ongoing developments in the use of ICT to support learning which is a normative expectation of students entering universities. A very satisfying outcome for the leaders is our observation of the emergence of other 'experts' in different aspects of use of ICT amongst the staff team. This project also shows that taking a team as opposed to an individual approach can be particularly beneficial

Network formation under mutual consent and costly communication

We consider two different approaches to describe the formation of social networks under mutual consent and costly communication. First, we consider a network-based approach; in particular Jackson–Wolinsky’s concept of pairwise stability. Next, we discuss a non-cooperative game-theoretic approach, through a refinement of the Nash equilibria of Myerson’s consent game. This refinement, denoted as monadic stability, describes myopically forward looking behavior of the players. We show through an equivalence that the class of monadically stable networks is a strict subset of the class of pairwise stable networks that can be characterized fully by modifications of the properties defining pairwise stability.

User perspective on palliative care services: experiences of middle-aged partners bereaved through cancer known to social work services in Northern Ireland

This qualitative research study explores experiences of partners bereaved through cancer, who were resident in an urban area of Northern Ireland and who had been service users of the social work services. Data were collected in 2004 from 10 individuals who participated in semi-structured interviews. Emergent themes were identified using thematic content analysis and findings analysed under four categories: cancer journey; impact of bereavement; process of adjustment and change; and experience of support services. Opportunities to facilitate communication were not always maximised, often resulting in poor bereavement outcomes. Although hospices undertook bereavement risk assessment, participants were unaware of its use and queried its accuracy without service user involvement. The most cited informal support was family and friends, although such help was time-limited. Service user feedback regarding social workers was generally positive; however, there was a lack of knowledge about their role in palliative care. Post-bereavement adjustment was influenced by the quality of social networks, the responsibilities of lone parenthood, and challenges to life values and core beliefs. A framework for palliative care social work has been recommended based on research findings.