Elizabeth Newson

Developing a Diagnostic and Intervention Package for 2 to 3-Year-Olds with Autism Outcomes of the Frameworks for Communication approach

The aim of the research was to develop and evaluate a model of good practice which would make an explicit link between diagnosis and intervention, and so give parents a very clear rationale for the autism-specific yet individualized programme that they were carrying out. It employed an action research design, which essentially is responsive to participants, thus developing a user-friendly model of service. The programme was based on the developmental perspective that the pragmatics of language are the precursors of speech itself and enable both communication and relationship between child and parents. Since these are impaired in autism they should therefore be prioritized in early intervention. Ten children aged 1:10 to 2:9 at assessment, and with a diagnosis of autism, underwent an intervention based on home visits, modelling, workshops and written information, with parents as ‘therapists’ in naturally occurring situations. Within 18 months all children made substantial progress in social interaction and expressive communication, including gestural and verbal communication.

The family and the handicapped child : a study of cerebral palsied children in their homes

This book describes an inquiry into the upbringing of young cerebral palsied children. Following the precedent set by John and Elizabeth Newson in their studies of normal children at home; Sheila Hewett visited the mothers of 180 spastic children and obtained their personal accounts of their experiences.

Parents as Experts: An Assessment Approach for Hard-to-Test Children.

How best to make use of parental input in multidisciplinary assessment is a question that faces professionals involved in evaluating hard-to-test children. An integrated parent-professional approach to assessment has been used at the Child Development Research Unit, Nottingham University. This approach uses parents as expert information gatherers and verifiers in an ongoing process of evaluating the child and establishing treatment goals. The Nottingham assessment model is described here, and suggestions for implementing parent-professional collaboration are discussed.

The Interview Schedule

Wednesday, DATE/Year: 9:00 a.m. Departmental orientation-Lee (Meet in McFarland 315) 9:15 – 9:45 a.m. Campus tour 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. Interview with Search Committee McFarland 317 11:00 – 11:30 a.m. Meeting with Dr. Margaret Dahlberg, Vice President for Academic Affairs 11:30 – 11:45 a.m. Meeting with Eric Shanenko Payroll Account Specialist, Business Office 11:45 – 12:45 p.m. Lunch 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. Teaching presentation – Eng (Open to faculty, staff, and students) 2:00 p.m. Wrap-up with Search Committee

Six Books that Influenced Our Professional Development

O N E O F U S has retired, while the other is five years into her ‘retirement career’, and our academic life spans nearly 50 years. Once we had both got our doctorates under our belts, we worked in partnership in joint research for more than half of that time, gradually moving in the latter years towards more separate specialisms. Even so, we continued to influence one another very closely, and to share those outside influences that were strongest in our research thinking. So it has been relatively easy for us to agree on which authors were most significant for us as a couple. Revisiting these books in order to write this piece has been a nostalgic but comfortable pleasure, like discovering favourite old garments and finding that they still fit and that the fashion has come round again; we slightly expected that one or two might disappoint 20 or 30 years later, but in fact we see them now with an enhanced historical perspective. Sometimes a sentence leaps from the page with a vigour unremembered from the first reading, perhaps arousing new resonances. We also realize that sometimes influence is about recognition of support: the ideas which chime so harmoniously with one’s own that, especially in academic youth, one is emboldened despite establishment discouragement. One sentence from G.W. Allport (who did not otherwise influence us exceptionally) gave us strength at a time when interviewing as a research method was derided as ‘unscientific’ compared with attitude scales: he suggested in a journal article that if psychologists really wanted to know what people do and think, they might do worse than just ask them. For Elizabeth, the first major professional influence was in early childhood; but since this was shared with John 20 years later, and he acknowledges its significance for him, we can certainly include it, although speaking for the moment in Elizabeth’s voice. The first child of a social historian and a biologist lecturing in education, I was reading at three, and took my responsibilities as big sister to a new baby very seriously; I certainly started then to read bits of the small book my mother was reading: The Nursery Years by Susan Isaacs. I did not finish it, but eventually read it right through when I was six and my next sister was born. Susan Isaacs and her husband, Nathan Isaacs, were deeply

Deaf Children and Their Families: Learning to Communicate: Equipment

It is very clear from the preceding chapters that the basic problem of deaf children is not that they cannot hear, but that communication between themselves and others is difficult. Learning to communicate presents the deaf with increased problems. In these next two chapters we shall consider what help is available to the deaf child and his parents in developing an ability in the child to communicate. The first and obvious type of help is a hearing aid. Most children have some hearing. A hearing aid can amplify what sounds they do hear. Other equipment available is a speech trainer, similar to a body worn aid in principle, but which has larger and more efficient earphones and microphone. It has the disadvantage that it is cumbersome and can only be used for as long as the child is prepared to stay in the same place, but it gives much better amplification of sound with less distortion. It is usually used for short periods and for more intensive work. For virtually all deaf children a hearing aid is essential equipment. Most deaf children do have some hearing and a hearing aid can amplify what sounds they do hear. However, it must be made clear at the outset that even the very best hearing aid has its limitations. Many people expect a hearing aid to do for a hearing loss what spectacles do for defective vision. Spectacles make vision normal for the wearer. A hearing aid does not restore its user to normal hearing.