Focus group discussions of literacy assessment and world wide web-based reading intervention

Focus groups provide a means for participants in research to take on a greater role in the evaluation of the research and planning of its various stages. The role and outcomes of focus groups conducted with participants in a World Wide Web Project in literacy assessment and intervention are reported. Thirteen individuals with severe communication impairments participated in one of three focus groups. The groups were held after an assesment of reading skills and a trial period of intervention as part of the Web Project. The aim of the focus groups was to obtain feedback from participants about their involvement in the project and to discuss strategies for the next stage of the intervention. The focus groups offered a forum for participants to talk about what they did and did not like about the assessment and trial intervention. The discussions provided information about issues of both a practical and emotional nature that might have otherwise been unavailable to the researchers. Brainstorming of strategies provided valuable input for the next stage of the project and involved both the researchers and participants in a form of participatory action research.

Open House : Improvisation evening. Improvised reading

Within the Improvisation practices Symposium over ten day from Nov 27 - Dec 7 , Critical Path and director Margie merlin held a series of workshops and performance. Within this program I was invited to perform on the last evening of the symposium within a 1 hours program of improvised performances

Simulated hyperopic anisometropia and reading, visual information processing, and reading-related eye movement performance in children.

Purpose: This study investigated the impact of simulated hyperopic anisometropia and sustained near work on performance of academic-related measures in children.
Methods: Participants included 16 children (mean age: 11.1 ± 0.8 years) with minimal refractive error. Academic-related outcome measures included a reading test (Neale Analysis of Reading Ability), visual information–processing tests (Coding and Symbol Search subtests from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children), and a reading-related eye movement test (Developmental Eye Movement test). Performance was assessed with and without 0.75 diopters of simulated monocular hyperopic defocus (administered in a randomized order), before and after 20 minutes of sustained near work. Unilateral hyperopic defocus was systematically assigned to either the dominant or nondominant sighting eye to evaluate the impact of ocular dominance on any performance decrements.
Results: Simulated hyperopic anisometropia and sustained near work both independently reduced performance on all of the outcome measures (P < 0.001). A significant interaction was also observed between simulated anisometropia and near work (P < 0.05), with the greatest decrement in performance observed during simulated anisometropia in combination with sustained near work. Laterality of the refractive error simulation (ocular dominance) did not significantly influence the outcome measures (P > 0.05). A reduction of up to 12% in performance was observed across the range of academic-related measures following sustained near work undertaken during the anisometropic simulation.
Conclusions: Simulated hyperopic anisometropia significantly impaired academic-related performance, particularly in combination with sustained near work. The impact of uncorrected habitual anisometropia on academic-related performance in children requires further investigation. © 2014 The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Inc.

re.reading: Pound at the Lenton Parr Library

Catalogue and essays to accompany re.reading - Pound at the Lenton Parr Music, Visual and Performing Arts Library, an exhibition run in conjunction with Melbourne Rare Book Week 2014. Essay. Project Manager Georgina Binns. Essay entitled The Call of Patrick Pound written by Chris Bond.