Perkins School for Blind

UN Women identified gender-based Violence (GBV) as the shadow pandemic of the COVID-19 pandemic between 2020 and 2022. For almost two years, women and girls worldwide were sheltering in homes with abusive intimate partners and experiencing violent trauma and even death. The United States (US) was among the nations that experienced lockdown-related spikes in GBV. Indeed, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that the domestic violence crisis peaked in early 2021 during the COVID-19 lockdown, mostly among women and children who were having to shelter with their abusers. Among this population of women living in the US who were experiencing the shadow pandemic were female college/university students who experienced either intimate partner violence (IPV) while sheltering with abusive partners and/or cyber intimate partner aggression (IPA) via technology and social media. Black female college students were not only victims of IPV and IPA but also of femicide during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a case study of an HBCU chaplain, this article explores intervention in and prevention of IPV, IPA, and femicide during the COVID-19 pandemic at the intersection of race, gender, class, and religion for African-descended female college students. Specifically, this article will investigate what role historical black college/university (HBCU) chaplains play in intervening in lockdown IPV, IPA, and femicide. Using the concept of positionality, the author argues that the HBCU chaplain is a key on-campus figure who can intervene and prevent sexual assault on college and university campuses. The article concludes with suggestions for necessary further research needed to address GBV on HBCU campuses.

Cerebral visual impairment (CVI) is a leading cause of pediatric visual impairment worldwide. Despite the ramifications on multiple developmental domains and quality of life factors, substantial barriers remain for evaluation, diagnosis, treatment, and education of this growing population of children and adults. At the root is a lack of consensus on the definition and diagnostic criteria of CVI and a narrow ocular/acuity-based classification of visual impairment. This article covers four main issues that need to be urgently addressed to make strides toward removing current barriers. These challenges highlight the need for policy change at multiple levels to help ensure that individuals with CVI will have access to appropriate (re)habilitation and education services regardless of their acuity or visual function. Suggested solutions include the implementation of a globally accepted definition of CVI and increased multidisciplinary training programs. These will support international efforts to develop and implement quantitative interdisciplinary assessment methods, identify meaningful and effective intervention approaches, and monitor long-term outcomes for those with CVI. Additionally, sensitive and specific markers can be identified for differentiating CVI from other related developmental conditions, such as autism spectrum disorder and developmental coordination disorder. Ultimately, these proposed changes will lead toward improved quality of life for individuals with CVI and their caregivers.

This paper continues the evaluation of touch current generated by switching circuits within the Dalziel space. This work further confirms the inclusion of impulses below half cycle when compared in the normalized Weiss-LaPique space. Al this confirms the usefulness of the Frequency Factor compensated peak touch current measurements for evaluating touch current waveforms as generated by equipment.

Noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) involves the delivery of maintaining reinforcers on a time-dependent schedule and often includes extinction. However, arbitrary reinforcers may be equally efficacious during NCR without extinction for treating escape-maintained problem behavior. The purpose of this study was to extend previous research on NCR by evaluating the relative efficacy of NCR without extinction and comparing maintaining versus arbitrary reinforcers for 4 individuals with escape-maintained problem behavior. Two different NCR conditions, NCR using the maintaining reinforcer (escape) and NCR using an arbitrary reinforcer (an edible), were evaluated using multielement and reversal designs. Treatment effects varied across participants. Results for 2 participants showed a reduction in problem behavior during NCR without extinction with both the arbitrary and maintaining reinforcers. For 1 participant, results showed a reduction in problem behavior with both the arbitrary and maintaining reinforcers only when extinction was added to NCR. For the 4th participant, the maintaining reinforcer was effective during NCR without extinction, but the arbitrary reinforcer was ineffective.

Field reps can be helpful, but there may be some additional allies in the industry who you haven't considered.

<p>While students with MDVI are at school, they receive various supports from their school system. Educators and related service providers explore teaching strategies and activities with the students in an effort to ensure their success in life. However, through our experience, those supports are not enough to prepare students with adequate skills and services needed when they become adults. In Indonesia, many schools for students with MDVI have residential programs. This environment can restrict their chance of learning in a natural environment. Students do not have the opportunity to interact with other people other than their teachers and family. They also become secluded from their community, causing the community to develop a negative stigma about students with disabilities. In Bhakti Luhur Bandung, a partnership was created between the school and villagers in a local farming community. Students work with villagers on the farm, where the students learn to identify, plant and cook vegetables from the garden. The farming partnerhsip, which started in 2014, provides an essential functional learning opportunity for the students. The farm involves 10 Villagers who happily teach the students, although they don’t have any background working with students with MDVI. Currently, students sell their crops in the local market, which allows them to become more visible and recognized in the community.This presentation will share testimony from the villagers, values and beliefs about students with MDVI, and the impact of strengthening the relationships within communities. This relationship expanded the worlds of both the children and the community</p>