Research gaps in the neurodevelopmental assessment of children with complex congenital heart defects: a scoping review.

Background: Children with congenital heart defects (CHD) are at risk for a range of developmental disabilities that challenge cognition, executive functioning, self-regulation, communication, social-emotional functioning, and motor skills. Ongoing developmental surveillance is therefore key to maximizing neurodevelopmental outcome opportunities. It is crucial that the measures used cover the spectrum of neurodevelopmental domains relevant to capturing possible predictors and malleable factors of child development.

Pop-up Langmuir probe diagnostic in the water cooled divertor of Wendelstein 7-X.

The design, development, and successful implementation of pop-up Langmuir probes installed in the water-cooled divertor of W7-X are described. The probes are controlled by drive coils (actuators) installed behind the divertor plates. These drive coils make use of the magnetic field in W7-X to move the probe tips into and out of the plasma.

Ophthalmic surgeries on porcine eyes with picosecond ultrashort laser pulses.

Purpose: This work demonstrates significant advantages in ophthalmic surgeries through the use of picosecond ultrashort laser pulses instead of state-of-the-art nanosecond laser pulses. These ultrashort lasers shall serve as universal tools more effectively combining advantages of high precision, low impact and economic advantages compared to existing instruments.

Methods: As samples, we used post-mortem porcine eyes on which we performed the experiments with both picosecond and nanosecond lasers.

Preschool Children with Hearing Loss: Social Communication and Parenting Stress.

Studies on parenting stress (PS) in parents of children with hearing loss (HL) have found relationships between child behavior, language skills and parenting stress. The role of early social communication skills has not been researched before. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the relationship between child behavior, social communication and PS.

Exploring spirituality and quality of life in individuals who are deaf and have intellectual disabilities.

Purpose: While positive contributions of religion and spirituality (R/S) to quality of life (QOL) are confirmed by a growing body of evidence, only limited research has involved people with intellectual disabilities and so far, no studies included prelingually deaf individuals with intellectual disabilities. This study explores the role of R/S in people with intellectual disabilities and deafness living in three therapeutic living communities specifically adapted to their needs.

Methods: Forty-one individuals (mean age: 46.

The link between social communication and mental health from childhood to young adulthood: A systematic review.

Unlabelled: This systematic review investigates the current state of the literature on the association between social communication (SC) skills and mental health outcomes in children and young adults. We ran searches using terms describing SC and mental health in the following databases: PubMed, the Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, APA PsychInfo, the Education Resource Information Center (ERIC) and the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL). We included studies that both measured SC before age 21 years and assessed a mental health component, such as behavior/conduct problems, anxiety, depression, or emotional problems, before age 30.

Validity and feasibility of a predictive language screening tool in 2-year-old children in primary pediatric care.

Objective: To assess the predictive validity and feasibility of the newly developed language screening tool, SPES-2 (Sprachentwicklungsscreening), for 2-year-old children in pediatric primary care.

Methods: A prospective cohort study recruited 2,044 non-selected German-speaking children undergoing a regular well-baby check-up at the age of 2 years. Thirty primary care pediatricians spread over urban and rural areas screened the children using a short parent-reported questionnaire and direct assessment of word comprehension.

Communicative deficits associated with maladaptive behavior in individuals with deafness and special needs.

Background: At least one in three individuals who are prelingually deaf has special needs, most commonly due to intellectual disabilities. The scant literature on challenging behavior in this population, however, suggests high rates of prevalence and an important need to better understand the contributing factors.

Aim: We sought to analyze the prevalence of maladaptive behavior and its association with intellectual functioning, adaptive skills, language skills, and social communication in a population of adults with deafness and special needs.

Special Issue "Early Intervention for Hearing Loss in Children: Drafting from Theory to Clinical Practice".

Globally, around 34 million children are affected by disabling hearing loss [...

Multidimensional Family-Centred Early Intervention in Children with Hearing Loss: A Conceptual Model.

At least two per thousand newborns are affected by hearing loss, with up to 40% with an additional disability. Early identification by universal newborn hearing screening and early intervention services are available in many countries around the world, with limited data on their effectiveness and a lack of knowledge about specific intervention-related determinants of child and family outcomes. This concept paper aimed to better understand the mechanisms by which multi-dimensional family-centred early intervention influences child outcomes, through parent behaviour, targeted by intervention by a review of the literature, primarily in the field of childhood hearing loss, supplemented by research findings on physiological and atypical child development.

Screening for autism spectrum disorder in deaf adults with intellectual disability: Feasibility and accuracy of two autism screening instruments.

Background: There is a lack of autism screening instruments for deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) adults with intellectual disability.

Aims: This study examined the diagnostic validity of the Pervasive Developmental Disorder in Mental Retardation Scale and the Diagnostic Behavioral Assessment for autism spectrum disorder - Revised in this rare population.

Methods And Participants: 56 DHH adults with intellectual disability living in three specialized therapeutic communities were examined, 9 of whom met criteria for autism.

Development of a Social Communication Questionnaire (QSC-ID) for People With Intellectual Disability in a Deaf Sample: A Pilot and Feasibility Study.

Social communication (SC) includes the use and interpretation of verbal and non-verbal messages within a social context and thus requires more than knowledge of language. Social communication skills are essential for connecting and engaging with others, and SC deficits are often associated with emotional and behavioral problems. There is a lack of feasible instruments for assessing SC skills in individuals with intellectual disability (ID).

Enhancement of Social Communication Behaviors in Young Children With Autism Affects Maternal Stress.

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show difficulties in social communication behaviors, emotion regulation and daily living skills, and they frequently present with challenging behaviors. In parents of children with ASD, higher rates of stress and mental health problems have been reported than in parents of either typically developing children or children with other conditions. In this study, we tested whether maternal well-being changes with improved social communicative behaviors of children with ASD receiving early intervention.

Language Screening in 3-Year-Olds: Development and Validation of a Feasible and Effective Instrument for Pediatric Primary Care.

The study was aimed at evaluating the validity and feasibility of SPES-3 (Sprachentwicklungsscreening), a language screening in 3-year-old children within the constraints of regular preventive medical check-ups. A four-component screening measure including parental reports on the child's expressive vocabulary and grammar based on the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory and pediatrician-administered standardized assessments of noun plurals and sentence comprehension was used in a sample of 2,044 consecutively seen children in 30 pediatric offices. One-hundred forty-four children (70 who failed and 74 who passed the screener) comprised the validation sample and also underwent follow-up gold standard assessment.

Development and Implementation of a Low-Cost Tracking System after Newborn Hearing Screening in Upper Austria: Lessons Learned from the Perspective of an Early Intervention Provider.

More than one decade after the introduction of newborn hearing screening in Upper Austria, most children were still older than 6 months at enrolment in early intervention. In this study, under the guidance of health authorities, a revised screening and tracking protocol was developed by a network of early intervention providers and representatives of ENT, obstetrics, and pediatrics, including screening professionals and parents of children with hearing loss. Critical process indicators following internationally recommended benchmarks were defined and collected annually by the health authorities.

Therapeutic living communities for adults who are deaf and have intellectual disabilities: A conceptual model linking social communication and mental health.

As a consequence of long-lasting experiences of communicative and social deprivation and exclusion, adults who are deaf and have intellectual disabilities must be considered a high-risk group for the development of mental health problems. A therapeutic living community model with special emphasis on social communication development that has been implemented at three different sites in Austria is described. Through the development of the therapeutic living communities and subsequent observations, an approach is suggested to understand the mediating role of signed language and social communication skills in mental health outcomes for those with such mental health risk factors.

Simple approach for extending the ambiguity-free range of dual-comb ranging.

Dual-comb (DC) ranging is an established method for high-precision and high-accuracy distance measurements. It is, however, restricted by an inherent length ambiguity and the requirement for complex control loops for comb stabilization. Here, we present a simple approach for expanding the ambiguity-free measurement length of DC ranging by exploiting the intrinsic intensity modulation of a single-cavity dual-color DC for simultaneous time-of-flight and DC distance measurements.

Assessment of Autism Spectrum Disorder in Deaf Adults with Intellectual Disability: Feasibility and Psychometric Properties of an Adapted Version of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS-2).

This study describes the adaptation of the autism diagnostic observation schedule (ADOS-2) to assess autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in adults with intellectual disability (ID) and hearing loss who communicate primarily visually. This adapted ADOS-2 was applied to residents of specialized therapeutic living communities (n = 56). The internal consistency of the adapted ADOS-2 was excellent for the Social Affect of modules 2 and 3 and acceptable for Restricted and Repetitive Behaviors subscale of module 2, but poor for module 3.

Providing a Safe, In-Person, Residential College Experience During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education institutions were forced to make difficult decisions regarding the 2020-2021 academic year. Many institutions decided to have courses in an online remote format, others decided to attempt an in-person experience, while still others took a hybrid approach. Hope College (Holland, MI) decided that an in-person semester would be safer and more equitable for students.

Deaf Residents With Intellectual Disabilities During the First Covid-19 Associated Lockdown.

Two indicators for stress (mood and aggressive behavior) were evaluated in order to investigate the effect of the restrictions taken against the spread of the coronavirus on people who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) and have intellectual disabilities (ID). In three therapeutic living communities, specifically designed for the visual communication needs of people who are DHH and have ID, the mood of the residents is routinely assessed by staff members and every aggressive incident is recorded with the Staff Observation of Aggressions Scale-Revised (SOAS-R). For the 38 residents who were present 8 weeks before the first lockdown (t1) and the following 8 weeks (t2), mood ratings and ratings of aggressive behavior were compared between the two time periods.