Translating Genetics Leaflets into Languages Other Than English: Lessons from an Assessment of Urdu Materials

Genetic counselors frequently counsel clients whose first language is not English, relying on interpreters and on supplementary translated written material. This paper highlights factors that counselors need to consider before using or commissioning translated leaflets. It is based on an assessment of leaflets translated into Urdu, the national language of Pakistan, which are available through U.K. genetics clinics for use with Pakistani-origin clients. The 2 authors, who know Urdu as their 2nd and 1st languages respectively, independently read each leaflet, checking for accuracy of information, ease of reading and understanding, cultural sensitivity, and contact details for Urdu-speaking professionals. There were factual errors and confusing or very difficult text in all leaflets; some leaflets also contained culturally insensitive messages that could alienate users of genetics services. The paper discusses the reasons for these pitfalls and makes recommendations to guide the future production of translated genetics leaflets.     

The Influence of Temporal Orientation and Affective Frame on use of Ethical Decision-Making Strategies

This study examined the role of temporal orientation and affective frame in the execution of ethical decision-making strategies. In reflecting on a past experience or imagining a future experience, participants thought about experiences that they considered either positive or negative. The participants recorded their thinking about that experience by responding to several questions, and their responses were content-analyzed for the use of ethical decision-making strategies. The findings indicated that a future temporal orientation was associated with greater strategy use. Likewise, a positive affective frame was associated with greater strategy use. Future orientation may permit better strategy execution than a past orientation because it facilitates more objective, balanced contemplation of the reflected-upon situation, and minimizes potential self-threat associated with past behavior. A positive affective frame likely improves strategy execution because it facilitates active analysis of the experience. Future directions and implications of these findings are discussed.     

A STIMULUS CONTROL PROCEDURE TO DECREASE MOTOR AND VOCAL STEREOTYPY

A changing criterion design was used to examine the effects of two stimuli (a green card and a red card), conditioned via discrimination training, on reducing motor and vocal stereotypy in a youngster with autism while he looked at books. During discrimination training, motor and vocal stereotypy was not interrupted in the presence of a green stimulus, but was interrupted in the presence of a red stimulus using manual guidance and appropriate behavior was reinforced. After the participant demonstrated successful discrimination of the stimuli (i.e., the absence of stereotypy in the presence of a red stimulus and the engagement in stereotypy in the presence of a green stimulus), intervention began. During intervention, upon meeting criterion for latency to engage in motor and vocal stereotypy in the presence of the red stimulus for a target duration, the participant was provided access to the green stimulus, which signaled that motor and vocal stereotypy would not be interrupted. The criterion latency to engage in stereotypy in the presence of the red stimulus was systematically increased. Simultaneously, the duration of access to the green stimulus was systematically decreased. The red and green stimuli were faded from poster boards to colored 10 × 10 cm cards, and stimulus control was generalized to the participant's classroom and to a community setting (i.e., public library). Results are discussed in terms of discrimination training as a useful intervention for reducing motor and vocal stereotypy. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

How do High School Youths’ Educational Experiences Relate to Well-Being? Towards a Trans-Disciplinary Conceptualization

Educational research and practice could benefit from and contribute to multi-disciplinary study of well-being. In particular, research on the well-being of youth within and beyond school may benefit students, educators, administrators, and the community. This review provides a conceptual framework that (a) integrates research on well-being from economics, sociology, psychology and the health sciences, (b) organises this literature within seven domains of inquiry: Having, Being, Relating, Thinking, Feeling, Functioning, and Striving, and (c) highlights research pertinent to senior high school level educational experiences. This framework provides an important foundation from which further research on well-being can be developed.     

The vocational well-being of workers with childhood onset of disability: Life satisfaction and perceived workplace discrimination

Workers with disabilities are understudied, and workers with childhood onset of disability have been excluded from many of the studies on disability and work that do exist. This research compares the effects of childhood and adult onset of disability in a nationally representative sample of workers with disabilities. Educational disruptions due to disability status in childhood are negatively associated with life satisfaction and positively associated with perceived discrimination. Although age is associated with increased life satisfaction and decreased perceptions of discrimination for workers with adult disability onset, age is unrelated to these outcomes for workers with childhood disability onset. Receiving workplace accommodations is positively associated with satisfaction and negatively associated with discrimination for both groups, however, these relationships are stronger in magnitude for the childhood disability onset group. Organizational environments, both in education and in the workplace, play a critical role in the vocational well-being of workers with childhood disability onset.     

Young Children as Protagonists and the Role of Participatory, Visual Methods in Engaging Multiple Perspectives

How can the perspectives, insights and interests of young children, under 6 years‐old, be given status in processes of change? This paper will examine the contribution participatory and visual methods can make to enabling young children to document their experiences and to facilitate exchange with adults. Examples will be drawn from three research studies in educational settings which have developed a specific research method, the Mosaic approach (Clark and Moss 2001 ; Clark 2004 ; Clark 2005 ) which brings together visual and verbal research tools. This paper will discuss how researching with young children rather than on young children can redraw the boundaries between adults’ and children's roles in the research process including the relationship with the research audience.