While there is ample evidence that children treat words as mutually exclusive, the cognitive basis of this bias is widely debated. We focus on the distinction between pragmatic and lexical constraints accounts. High-functioning children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) offer a unique perspective on this debate, as they acquire substantial vocabularies despite impoverished social-pragmatic skills. We tested children and adolescents with ASD in a paradigm examining mutual exclusivity for words and facts. Words were interpreted contrastively more often than facts. Word performance was associated with vocabulary size; fact performance was associated with social-communication skills. Thus mutual exclusivity does not appear to be driven by pragmatics, suggesting that it is either a lexical constraint or a reflection of domain-general learning processes.

The results support the hypothesis that at least some PWAs exhibit deficits of rhythm and timing. This may have implications for treatments involving tapping or other rhythmic cues.

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(1) Background: With an increasing demand for telepractice services, the need for telepractice education is more important than ever. In addition to learning how to deliver these services, certain clinical and technological skills learned through telepractice apply more broadly to in-person care. Evaluating students’ abilities to master these skills is necessary to ensure clinical skill competence. (2) Methods: We utilized self-efficacy ratings and self-reflections to determine student growth after hands-on telepractice training among nursing, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech-language pathology students. (3) Results: Students across disciplines demonstrated growth in all measured skill areas and reported overall increased confidence. Students with less prior telepractice experience reported greater increased confidence in seven measured competency areas than students with more prior telepractice experience. The number of completed sessions at the end of student placements was correlated with increased confidence for one measured skill area. Regardless of whether or not students had prior experience when starting their placement, as the number of telepractice sessions completed increased, thus did students’ confidence levels. The results of this study support telepractice as a viable clinical education tool for student growth and the use of self-efficacy and self-reflection as valuable tools for monitoring the effectiveness of telepractice clinical learning activities.

Date Presented 03/26/20 This project explores the impact of a service-learning pilot program, LEGO club, on OT and speech-language pathology graduate students’ self-efficacy in clinical and interpersonal collaboration skills. Students facilitated weekly LEGO club sessions with pediatric clients with and without social-skills deficits and reflected on their professional growth throughout the program. Primary Author and Speaker: Aubrey Matthews Additional Authors and Speakers: Amanda Worek, Andrea Fairman Contributing Authors: Sarah Friel, Anthony Sindelar