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Autistic individuals with intellectual disability who speak few or no words are at high risk of anxiety but are underrepresented in research. This study aimed to describe the presentation of anxiety in this population and discuss implications for the development of assessments. Interviews were conducted with 21 parents/carers of autistic individuals and nine clinicians. Data were analysed using content analysis and interpretative phenomenological analysis. Anxiety behaviours described by parents/carers included increased vocalisation, avoidance and behaviours that challenge. Changes to routine were highlighted as triggering anxiety. Clinicians discussed the importance of identifying an individual's baseline of behaviour, knowing an individual well and ruling out other forms of distress. This study raises considerations for early identification of anxiety and for subsequent support., Author(s): Georgina Edwards [sup.1] , Joanne Tarver [sup.1] , Lauren Shelley [sup.1] , Megan Bird [sup.1] , Jessica Hughes [sup.1] , Hayley Crawford [sup.2] , Jane Waite [sup.1] Author Affiliations: [...]

Background and objectivesThe Covid-19 pandemic reduced access to social activities and routine health care that are central to dementia prevention. We developed a group-based, video-call, cognitive well-being intervention; and investigated its acceptability and feasibility; exploring through participants' accounts how the intervention was experienced and used in the pandemic context.Research design and methodWe recruited adults aged 60+ years with memory concerns (without dementia). Participants completed baseline assessments and qualitative interviews/focus groups before and after the 10-week intervention. Qualitative interview data and facilitator notes were integrated in a thematic analysis.Results12/17 participants approached completed baseline assessments, attended 100/120 (83.3%) intervention sessions and met 140/170 (82.4%) of goals set. Most had not used video calling before. In the thematic analysis, our overarching theme was social connectedness. Three sub-themes were as follows: Retaining independence and social connectedness: social connectedness could not be at the expense of independence; Adapting social connectedness in the pandemic: participants strived to compensate for previous social connectedness as the pandemic reduced support networks; Managing social connections within and through the intervention: although there were tensions, for example, between sharing of achievements feeling supportive and competitive, participants engaged with various lifestyle changes; social connections supported group attendance and implementation of lifestyle changes.Discussion and implicationsOur intervention was acceptable and feasible to deliver by group video-call. We argue that dementia prevention is both an individual and societal concern. For more vulnerable populations, messages that lifestyle change can help memory should be communicated alongside supportive, relational approaches to enabling lifestyle changes.

Semantic diversity quantifies the similarity in the content of contexts a word has been experienced in. Four experiments investigated its effect on lexical and semantic judgments in 9- to 10-year-olds and adults. In Experiment 1, a cross-modal semantic judgment task, participants decided whether a visually presented word matched an audio definition. Both groups were slower to respond to words high in semantic diversity, and this effect was modulated by task demands. Experiment 2 used the same items but in a lexical-decision task. Children were faster to respond to words high in diversity but there was no effect in adults, failing to replicate previous work. Experiment 3 examined possible reasons for this, and Experiment 4 tested the effect of semantic diversity on lexical decision via secondary analysis of 2 large megastudies. Overall, the facilitative effect of semantic diversity on lexical decision was robust. Our findings show that contextual experience influences subsequent lexical processing, consistent with context inducing semantic representations that reflect continuities and gradations in meaning. These gradations are captured by semantic diversity, and in turn, this interacts with task demands to influence behavioral performance.

Semantic diversity -- a metric that captures variations in previous contextual experience with a word -- influences children's lexical decision and reading aloud. We investigated the effects of semantic diversity and frequency on children's reading of words embedded in sentences, while eye movements were recorded. If semantic diversity and frequency reflect different aspects of experience that influence reading in different ways, they should show independent effects and perhaps even different processing signatures during reading. Forty-nine 9-year-olds read sentences containing high/low frequency and high/low diversity words, manipulated orthogonally. We observed main effects of both variables, with high frequency and high semantic diversity words being read more easily. These results show that variations in the amount and nature of contextual experience influence how easily words are processed during reading.

This article reviews recent efforts to implement the William & Mary English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum within the Paradise Valley Unified School District gifted programs. The programs include self-contained gifted, as well as content replacement programs in Title 1 and Non-Title 1 schools. Each delivery model modified the constructs of the curriculum to meet the unique needs of the students serviced. All results indicated successful academic progress and student growth.

Background: There is a critical need for the development of dependable and valid anxiety assessment tools suitable for people with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities, particularly those who speak few or no words. Distinguishing anxiety from distress caused by physical discomfort (pain) or characteristics associated with autism, prevalent in this population, necessitates specialised assessment tools. This study (a) developed a parent-report anxiety questionnaire tailored for individuals with severe to moderate intellectual disabilities, potentially with a co-diagnosis of autism, and (b) evaluated the psychometric attributes of this novel measure. Methods: A comprehensive approach involving literature reviews, inspection of existing tools, and interviews with clinicians and parents guided the creation of the Clinical Anxiety Scale for People with Intellectual Disabilities. The tool was completed by parents or caregivers (N = 311) reporting on individuals aged 4 or older with intellectual disabilities. Results: Exploratory factor analysis indicated a four-factor structure encompassing anxiety, pain, low energy/withdrawal, and consolability. The anxiety factor explained the most variance in scores (26.3%). The anxiety, pain, low energy/withdrawal subscales demonstrated robust internal consistency (α = 0.81-0.92), and convergent, divergent, and discriminant validity. Robustness of these subscales was further evidenced by test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.79-0.88) and inter-rater reliability (ICC = 0.64-0.71). Subgroup analyses consistently demonstrated strong psychometric properties among individuals diagnosed with non-syndromic autism (N = 98), children (N = 135), adults (N = 175), and across diverse communication abilities within the sample. Moreover, individuals diagnosed with both autism and anxiety exhibited significantly higher scores on the anxiety subscale compared to those without an anxiety diagnosis, while showing no difference in autism characteristic scores. Conclusions: The findings indicate that the Clinical Anxiety Scale for People with Intellectual Disabilities is a promising measure for use across diverse diagnostic groups, varying communication abilities, and with people with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine the feasibility and acceptability of NIDUS-Family, a 6–8 session manualised, individually tailored, modular intervention supporting independence at home for people with dementia; and explore participants' and facilitators' experiences of the intervention. In this single group multi-site feasibility study, trained, supervised non-clinically qualified graduates (facilitators) delivered NIDUS-Family to family carer and people living with dementia dyads. We recruited participants from GP practices and memory services in London and Bradford. We completed quantitative outcomes pre- and post-intervention; and conducted qualitative interviews with participants and facilitators. Our pre-specified main outcomes were proportion of potential participants approached who agreed to participate, intervention adherence and acceptability to family carers, and facilitator fidelity to the manual. We recruited 16 dyads (57% of those approached); 12 (75%) completed the intervention. Of 12 participants rating intervention acceptability, 9 (75%) agreed or strongly agreed that it had helped; 2 (18%) neither agreed nor disagreed and 1 (8%) disagreed. Mean facilitator fidelity was high (81.5%). Dyads set on average 3.9 goals; these most commonly related to getting out and about and increasing activity/hobby participation (n = 10); carer wellbeing (n = 6), managing physical complaints (n = 6); meal preparation/cooking (n = 5); and reducing irritability, frustration or aggression (n = 5). Almost all secondary outcomes changed in a direction indicating improvement. In our qualitative analysis we identified three overarching themes; relationships facilitate change, goal-focused versus manualised approach and balancing the needs of carers and people with dementia. NIDUS-Family was feasible and acceptable to participants. Following refinements, testing in a pragmatic trial is underway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Semantic diversity quantifies the similarity in the content of contexts a word has been experienced in. Four experiments investigated its effect on lexical and semantic judgments in 9- to 10-year-olds and adults. In Experiment 1, a cross-modal semantic judgment task, participants decided whether a visually presented word matched an audio definition. Both groups were slower to respond to words high in semantic diversity, and this effect was modulated by task demands. Experiment 2 used the same items but in a lexical-decision task. Children were faster to respond to words high in diversity but there was no effect in adults, failing to replicate previous work. Experiment 3 examined possible reasons for this, and Experiment 4 tested the effect of semantic diversity on lexical decision via secondary analysis of 2 large megastudies. Overall, the facilitative effect of semantic diversity on lexical decision was robust. Our findings show that contextual experience influences subsequent lexical processing, consistent with context inducing semantic representations that reflect continuities and gradations in meaning. These gradations are captured by semantic diversity, and in turn, this interacts with task demands to influence behavioral performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]