How can the study of typical development inform our understanding of atypical development? How can the study of atypical development inform our understanding of typical development? This book addresses these questions in the context of cognitive development—a discipline that focuses on the changes and continuity that characterize the intellectual processes that support mental life. The contributions range from a consideration of what autism teaches us about the development of attention, to how the study of multiracial and gender-nonconforming children enriches and challenges traditional approaches to understanding social perception. This book demonstrates how two fields of study that too often operate independently can benefit from each other theoretically, empirically, and practically. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Cognition and Development.

The Neuroscience of Autism provides a comprehensive accounting of autism spectrum disorders by integrating scientific findings from behavioral, cognitive and neurobiological research. The book begins by defining autism, identifying characteristics and prevalence, exploring its history, and then moving on to the cognitive and social bases of behavioral symptoms, the brain bases of behavioral and cognitive symptoms, and finally, intervention practices. It examines theoretical models such as weak central coherence, enhanced perceptual functioning, and the extreme male brain hypothesis. Finally, the book addresses the increased attention on the brain connectivity model of autism, looking at the synchronization of brain activity across different brain areas, the causal influence of a brain region on another, and white matter cable connections in the brain. - Delves into the increasing prevalence of autism in the United States - Focuses on screening tools for early identification - Discusses the neuroanatomical differences seen in individuals with autism - Examines the inferences gained from functional MRI studies of autism

Children and adolescents with intellectual disability (ID) have difficulties in executive functioning and when coping with everyday planning tasks. However, the literature cannot explain whether individuals with ID perform according to their developmental level or not. The studies in this thesis investigated if life experience could be a contributing factor to the diversity seen in the literature. Planning performance can be improved by either using external or internal support. Assistive technology for cognition (ATC) is an example of external support. This thesis investigated how the ATC is being used in an everyday planning situation which has not been investigated before. Furthermore, this thesis explored whether the internal supports of cognitive abilities and life experience correlate with planning ability in adolescents with ID, and if planning ability can be trained using a cognitive training program for everyday planning. Results showed that ATC supported cognitive functions, but that the children did not formulate the plans themselves. Furthermore, the results support the difference model of ID since planning correlated with different cognitive measures and life experience in adolescents with ID compared to children with a typical development. Adolescents with ID got better at the planning tasks in the training program, however, no transfer effects to untrained planning tasks were found. To conclude, the planning was supported by external and internal support. However, ATC needs to be designed and prescribed in a way that increases independence. Practitioners should actively support in training planning and should be cautious when introducing cognitive interventions if the transfer gap is too large. Barn och ungdomar med intellektuell funktionsnedsättning (IF) har svårt med sina exekutiva funktioner och dagliga planeringsuppgifter. Litteraturen kan dock inte förklara om individer med IF presterar enligt deras utvecklingsnivå eller inte. Studierna i denna avhandling undersökte om livserfarenhet kan vara en bidragande faktor till varför denna skillnad ses i litteraturen. Planeringsförmågan kan förbättras genom att använda externt eller internt stöd. Hjälpteknik för kognition (HM-K) är ett exempel på externt stöd. Denna avhandling undersökte hur HM-K används i en vardaglig planeringssituation vilket inte har undersökts tidigare. Vidare undersökte denna avhandling om de interna stöden för kognitiva förmågor och livserfarenhet korrelerar med planeringsförmåga hos ungdomar med IF, och om planeringsförmåga kan förbättras med hjälp av ett kognitivt träningsprogram för vardagsplanering. Resultaten visade att HM-K stödde kognitiva funktioner, men att barnen inte formulerade planerna själva. Vidare stöder resultaten skillnadsmodellen för IF eftersom planering korrelerade med olika kognitiva mått och livserfarenhet hos ungdomar med IF jämfört med barn med en typisk utveckling. Ungdomar med IF blev bättre på planeringsuppgifterna i träningsprogrammet, men inga överföringseffekter till otränade planeringsuppgifter hittades. Avslutningsvis så stöds planeringen av externa och interna stöd. HM-K måste dock utformas och förskrivas på ett sätt som ökar självständighet. Praktiker bör aktivt stödja träning av planering och bör vara försiktiga när de inför kognitiva insatser om överföringsgapet är för stort.

"The chapter traces some key historical developments in the field of Down syndrome. After describing general issues of classification in intellectual disabilities, we describe Langdon Down's identification of the syndrome in the 1860s; the movement to name the syndrome after Down; the identification of trisomy 21 as the syndrome's cause; and the beginnings of sustained research attention to the syndrome. We end with a glimpse into the future, discussing issues of longer life spans, more integrated lives, and the roles of families, organizations, and self-advocates. Working together, researchers, practitioners, and individuals and their families can all continue to advance the lives of persons with Down syndrome"--

Recent decades have seen an upsurge of research with and about young children, their families and communities. The Handbook of Early Childhood Research will provide a landmark overview of the field of early childhood research and will set an agenda for early childhood research into the future. It includes 31 chapters provided by internationally recognized experts in early childhood research. The team of international contributors apply their expertise to conceptual and methodological issues in research and to relevant fields of practice and policy. The Handbook recognizes the main contexts of early childhood research: home and family contexts; out-of-home contexts such as services for young children and their families; and broader societal contexts of that evoke risk for young children. The Handbook includes sections on: the field of early childhood research and its key contributions new theories and theoretical approaches in early childhood research collecting and analysing data applications of early childhood research This Handbook will become the valuable reference text for students, practitioners and researchers from across the social sciences and beyond who are engaged in research with young children.

This book presents a supportive and practical guide for healthcare professionals ​and trainees in a way that considers a wide spectrum of atypical communication conditions, their impact on everyday healthcare interactions, and the social and cultural contexts in which interactions with atypical communicators take place. A growing number of patients have been reporting atypical capacity for communication, creating unique challenges for healthcare professionals and patients in forming meaningful clinical interactions. In this book, leading international scholars from a range of healthcare professions provide insight into optimal management for those with atypical communication conditions. This includes speech, language, and hearing impairments. Chapters provide optimal management strategies, case examples, clinical recommendations, and recommended resources relevant for a range of healthcare professionals. The first collection of its kind, this book supports inter-professional practices and serves as a useful guide for those with an interest in clinical communication, and communication and diversity. This book will be a valuable resource for health and mental healthcare professionals as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students in healthcare and allied healthcare courses. It can be included as recommended reading material in clinical communication curricula.

The two-volume set LNCS 10896 and 10897 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Computers Helping People with Special Needs, ICCHP 2018, held in Linz, Austria, in July2018. The 101 revised full papers and 78 short papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 356 submissions. The papers are organized in the following topical sections: Web accessibility in the connected world; accessibility and usability of mobile platforms for people with disabilities and elderly persons: design, development and engineering; accessible system/information/document design; accessible e-learning - e-learning for accessibility/AT; personalized access to TV, film, theatre, and music; digital games accessibility; accessibility and usability of self-service terminals, technologies and systems; universal learning design; motor and mobility disabilities: AT, HCI, care; empowerment of people with cognitive disabilities using digital technologies; augmented and alternative communication (AAC), supported speech; Art Karshmer lectures in access to mathematics, science and engineering; environmental sensing technologies for visual impairment; 3D printing in the domain of assistive technologies (AT) and do it yourselves (DIY) AT; tactile graphics and models for blind people and recognition of shapes by touch; access to artworks and its mediation by and for visually impaired people; digital navigation for people with visual impairments; low vision and blindness: human computer interaction; future perspectives for aging well: AAL tools, products, devices; mobile healthcare and m-health apps for people with disabilities; and service and information provision.