Publications by authors named "Christine Spence"

Purpose: School-based teams are called to be collaborative in order to appropriately and effectively serve students. Speech-language pathologists play crucial roles on school-based teams. This systematic review sought to synthesize existing empirical evidence on collaborative perceptions and experiences in research that included school-based speech-language pathologists (SLPs).

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Purpose: This study investigated the psychometric properties of a 4-second interval scoring modification of the Assessment of Problem-Solving in Play (ie, Assessment of Problem-Solving in Play 4-second interval scoring [APSP-4]).

Methods: A total of 95 children (3-48 months) with or at high risk for neuromotor delay were assessed with the APSP-4 and Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development-III (Bayley). APSP-4 and Bayley cognitive raw scores were compared by age (construct validity) and over time (responsiveness).

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Understanding the type and frequency of current neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) therapy services and predictors of referral for therapy services is a crucial first step to supporting positive long-term outcomes in very preterm infants. This study enrolled 83 very preterm infants (<32 weeks, gestational age mean 26.5 ± 2.

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Families ( = 12) with infants born at <29 weeks gestation shared their experiences while in the NICU and transitioning home. Parents were interviewed 6-8 weeks after NICU discharge, including some during the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings regarding the parent experience in the NICU were focused around challenges navigating parent-infant separation, social isolation, communication difficulties, limited knowledge of preterm infants, mental health challenges.

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This study was conducted to gather information to inform key stakeholders in Virginia's Early Childhood Mental Health workforce who are involved in the Infant Mental Health Endorsement . An "Endorsement indicates an individual's efforts to specialize in the promotion and practice of infant or early childhood mental health within his/her own chosen discipline" (Virginia Association for Infant Mental Health, 2021). The following research questions guided this study: (1) who is part of the infant mental health endorsed workforce in Virginia; (2) what are the benefits and barriers to the Endorsement process.

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Background: Children born of low birth weight (LBW) and/or premature may have developmental delays and difficulties. The vulnerability, without early intervention, would have detrimental lifelong effects.

Objectives: This study examined 1) the relationship between LBW and prematurity and the occurrence and timing of children's receipt of developmental and special education services; and 2) whether poverty intersects with LBW and prematurity affecting service receipt.

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Implicitly-held unconscious associations and attitudes may not align with the beliefs we hold outwardly or explicitly but can affect our professional perceptions, decisions, and actions. In a phenomenological study identifying strategies used to support families in vulnerable circumstances, we conducted nine focus groups to examine how early interventionists (EIs) described families and children, the language they used, and how they used it. Thematic qualitative analysis revealed three themes about families: perceptions of parenting, perceptions of capability, and perceptions of priorities.

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Early interventionists (EIs) support families of infants and toddlers with delays and disabilities. Children with disabilities are a high risk for abuse and neglect. To understand how or whether trauma-informed practices are utilized in early intervention, 28 EIs participated in focus groups to share their experiences, challenges, and strategies when supporting children with disabilities who have also been abused.

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The role of environmental and occupational toxin exposure as a cause of or contributing factor for cancer development and progression is incompletely understood. A unique signature of specific mutational change to discriminate toxin-exposed from sporadic cancer is generally sought but not often encountered. We report an approach to better understand cancer causality based on the measurement of the cumulative DNA damage (via loss of heterozygosity) over a defined genomic region (chromosome 3) that is applicable to archival, fixative-treated tissue and cytology specimens of cancer.

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This article is based mainly on a digital transcript of burials for 126 Bedfordshire parishes 1538-1851, and a county index of wills for the same period. The comparison of probate with burial register data indicated that there was little long-term change over time in burial under-registration, with between 21 and 27 per cent of will entries missing in the registers. There was also little variation between parishes of different population sizes, suggesting that burial under-registration was predominantly a random process linked to clerical negligence.

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Objective: To investigate the association between poverty, birthweight, and infant weight gain in Hertfordshire, 1923-1939.

Design: Cohort study based on the Hertfordshire Health Visitors' Register (HHVR).

Setting: The population of Hertfordshire, and a sub-sample of five Hertfordshire towns-Hoddesdon, Berkhampstead, Hertford, Hitchin, and Bishops Stortford-extracted from the HHVR.

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