Exploring Participant Perceptions of a Community-Based Program for People With Brain Injury.

An acquired brain injury presents complex challenges to survivors returning to the community, and as more individuals survive, the need for programs that support optimal quality of life increases. To explore participant perceptions of a community-based program. To accomplish objectives, 10 individuals living with chronic brain injury who were attendees of the community program were interviewed.

An examination of occupation-based, client-centered, evidence-based occupational therapy practices in New Hampshire.

This study surveyed occupational therapy practitioners to gain a better understanding of the nature of occupational therapy practices in the State of New Hampshire. A questionnaire was developed and distributed to a sample of practitioners working in New Hampshire to gather information regarding the extent to which occupation-based, client-centered, evidence-based services were being provided. Results suggested that practitioners highly value these service delivery attributes.

Sensory and motor behaviors of infant siblings of children with and without autism.

We compared the sensory and motor behaviors of typically developing infants with those of infant siblings of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), who are considered high risk for the disorder, to explore potential sensory and motor markers for use in early diagnosis of ASD. We compared frequencies of sensory and motor behaviors during 10-min, videotaped, infant-mother play sessions and during 5 min of spoon-feeding between groups of 12-mo-old infants. Data from standardized measures of development, sensory processing, and behaviors commonly associated with ASD were also analyzed descriptively for the high-risk group.

An examination of the relationships between motor and process skills and scores on the sensory profile.

Objective: This quasi-experimental study sought to determine whether children with possible sensory processing deficits, as measured by the Sensory Profile, performed less well on an occupational performance measure compared to children with typical Sensory Profile scores.

Method: Sixty-eight children were administered both the Assessment of Motor Process Skills (AMPS) and the Sensory Profile. After the assessments were completed, children were divided into two groups based on their Sensory Profile scores.

Evaluation options for secondary transition planning.

This article presents a model evaluation plan conducted by occupational therapists that may be used to contribute information to the transition planning process in secondary school students with disabilities. Occupational therapists are not fully participating in transition services within secondary schools. One of the major obstacles to full participation identified in a previous research study by the authors of this article was that few occupational therapists were aware of appropriate evaluation options available for secondary transition planning.

Stimulant medication use, misuse, and abuse in an undergraduate and graduate student sample.

In this study, the authors investigated the characteristics of use, misuse, and abuse of stimulant medication (primarily methylphenidate and variants) among students at a northeastern US university. Researchers sent an invitation to take an Internet survey to student e-mail addresses and passed 150 paper surveys in undergraduate classes, analyzing 1,025 (975 electronically) returned surveys. Sixteen percent of respondents reported abusing or misusing stimulant medication.

Behavioral and physiologic response measures of occupational task performance: a preliminary comparison between typical children and children with attention disorder.

Objective: To compare performance on the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (AMPS), a measure of functional task performance and physiological responses (salivary cortisol levels) during AMPS administration, between typically developing children and children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Method: In this quasi-experimental study, independent t tests, and mixed, repeated measures analysis of variance were conducted to compare a group of typically developing children (n = 21) with a group of children with ADHD (n = 12) on two dependent measures: (a) the AMPS and (b) salivary cortisol. Salivary cortisol, a stress hormone, was taken at three time points, baseline, mid-way through AMPS administration, and 20 min following AMPS administration.

The role of the school-based occupational therapist in secondary education transition planning: a pilot survey study.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate school-based occupational therapists' knowledge of transition planning, their degree of participation in assessment and intervention of students requiring transition services, and to identify potential barriers limiting therapists' participation in transition services.

Method: Using survey methods, a questionnaire was mailed to a random sample of therapists listed as members of the School System Special Interest Section of the American Occupational Therapy Association. Eighty therapists from all geographical regions within the continental United States and who identified themselves as working with students 13-21 years of age in an educational setting, participated in the study.

Therapists' perceptions about making a difference in parent-child relationships in early intervention occupational therapy services.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to better understand occupational therapists' experiences of making a difference in parent-child relationships.

Method: In this qualitative, instrumental case study, occupational therapists working in early intervention were asked to reflect on and describe occasions in which they believed that they made a real difference in parent-child relationships. The primary investigator interviewed nine experienced pediatric occupational therapists.