Alternative Forms Of Communication Research Articles

Getting it off your soul: transformative conversations for processing traumatic experiences

ABSTRACT Emergency workers are confronted with trauma as an essential part of their work. Learning how to moderate the impact and coping with traumatic experiences is at the center of this study. The researchers empirically chart ways that emergency workers cope with trauma, process and integrate these experiences, and describe what supports their learning. Findings suggest a need to engage in alternative forms of communication, differentiating between professional and emotional feedback in order to foster transformative learning. The study reveals two different, complementary ways to constructively communicate, each with its own architecture: structured debriefs and transformative conversations. Mezirow borrowed from Habermas’s idea of rational discourse in dialogue, some of which is seen in debriefs, wherein emotions are set aside in the intensity of the moment in favor of processing facts and identifying decisions and actions for the future. In transformative conversations, by contrast, emergency workers seek to understand their inner selves and make meaning of their experiences. The research shows that certain conditions for transformative conversations need to be in place in order to work through emotions and unblock cognition by recognizing and working through affect, emotion, and potential vicarious trauma. This qualitative analysis derives from 57 reflective writings collected from paramedics and firefighters.

Caregiver views on father-child contact in prison during the COVID-19 pandemic: implications for the use of video visits

ABSTRACT It is generally understood that visits to see incarcerated family members are good for children, families and those in prison. Much research has focused on the impact of prison visits on children and incarcerated mothers, ‘parents’ as a generic group or barriers to contact, while less attention has been paid to the effect of prison visits on incarcerated fathers. When COVID-19 spread across the globe in early 2020, prisons restricted in-person visits. In Australia, alternative forms of communication between prisoners and their families were utilised, including phone calls and video visits. Drawing on data from an online survey of caregivers of children with a family member in prison (n = 84), this paper specifically focuses on a sub-sample, reporting on imprisoned fathers (n = 70), describing and evaluating experiences with video visits. Most respondents reported that the father was not coping well with the lack of face-to-face contact, and almost two-thirds of respondents reported problems with keeping in contact after in-person visits were suspended. However, a small cohort of fathers were found to be coping well. These findings are explored, highlighting barriers to technology-facilitated visits, and point to a range of issues that need to be addressed for such visits to be beneficial.

American Sign Language Recognition and its Conversion from Text to Speech

Abstract: Speech impairment is a complicated condition that impairs a person's capacity for verbal and audible communication. Those who are impacted frequently use sign language and other alternate forms of communication. While sign language has gained popularity, bridging the communication gap between those who sign and those who don't remains a challenge. Our project endeavors to address this issue by developing an innovative application that offers real-time sign language-to-text translation. This technology aims to facilitate seamless communication between those who use sign language and those who do not. To achieve this, we have constructed a cutting-edge sign language recognition system as part of our project. Our system primarily utilizes American Sign Language (ASL) as its foundation. To accurately detect gestures, we employ a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) with Inception V3 as the underlying model. This project's core objective is to harness Machine Learning Techniques for converting ASL hand gestures into text and vice versa. We go beyond mere translation by enabling real-time American Sign Language interpretation through single-hand gestures. Furthermore, our system can recognize ASL words, converting them into text before rendering them into audible speech.

The independent and moderating role of choice of non-financial reporting format on forecast accuracy and ESG disclosure

Over the last two decades, the non-financial disclosure requirement has become a major concern for companies, consumers, governments, and policymakers. While compelling evidence has accumulated over time on the positive effect that moving away from disclosing non-financial information within mandatory financial statements, conflicting findings have emerged on the relative merits that choice of non-financial reporting format, in particular between sustainability and integrated reporting, can have on analysts' forecast accuracy. In addition, recent evidence from a non-voluntary setting has suggested that such choice could influence the effect of ESG disclosure and consequently reduce information asymmetry. Aiming to shed some light on these propositions within a voluntary setting, we conducted an empirical study focusing on a representative sample of listed European companies. We retrieved and analysed the last ten years (2012–2021) of publicly available financial information about the top 600 companies listed in the Eurostoxx. Our findings indicate that both a sustainability and an integrated report are significantly associated with improved forecast accuracy, relative to an annual report. We also find that ESG disclosure is significantly moderated by such choice. The environmental pillar score was found to strongly and positively affect forecast error, independently from other controls including the social and governance pillars. For companies opting to disclose non-financial information within an annual report, alternative forms of communication will therefore become critical to ensure that financial analysts, and ultimately investors, are informed about the company's sustainability-related activities and plans. Future research should be directed at examining the magnitude and direction of these effects among small and medium-size listed companies and in other decision-making settings to test the generalisability of these findings.

AI Supporting AAC Pictographic Symbol Adaptations.

The phenomenal increase in technological capabilities that allow the design and training of systems to cope with the complexities of natural language and visual representation in order to develop other formats is remarkable. It has made it possible to make use of image to image and text to image technologies to support those with disabilities in ways not previously explored. It has opened the world of adaptations from one picture to another in a design style of a user's choosing. Automated text simplification alongside graphical symbol representations to enhance understanding of complex content is already being used to support those with cognitive impairments and learning difficulties. Symbol sets have become embedded within applications as dictionaries and look up systems, but the need for flexibility and personalization remains a challenge. Most pictographic symbols are created over time within the bounds of a certain style and schema for particular groups such as those who use augmentative and alternative forms of communication (AAC). By using generative artificial intelligence, it is proposed that symbols could be produced based on the style of those already used by an individual or adapted to suit different requirements within local contexts, cultures and communities. This paper explores these ideas at the start of a small six-month pilot study to adapt a number of open licensed symbols based on the symbol set's original style. Once a collection has been automatically developed from image to image and text descriptions, potential stakeholders will evaluate the outcomes using an online voting system. Successful symbols will be made available and could potentially be added to the original symbol set offering a flexible personalized approach to AAC symbol generation hitherto not experienced by users.

LACKING FAMILY TIES DURING A GLOBAL PANDEMIC: OLDER ADULTS CONCEPTUALIZATIONS OF SOCIAL SUPPORT

Abstract Social support from family provided benefits for coping during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, not all older adults had access to family. The present study investigates how older adults without access to traditional family ties conceptualized their social relationships throughout the first two years of the pandemic. A subsample of eight older adults without direct access to traditional family ties were identified from a larger 5-wave interview study conducted between April 2020 and June 2022. Transcripts were holistically coded and three overarching themes emerged: constraints of place, redefining family, and feelings of isolation and closeness. The first theme addressed having family members living far away and uncertainty of when they would get to see them again. However, these distance barriers could be overcome through technology. The second theme illuminated that during the pandemic, those without access to traditional family ties redefined their social relationships by developing fictive kin from neighbors, colleagues, and friends. The third theme highlighted that some older adults felt they were lacking strong social networks and were concerned they had nobody to contact if they needed help, while others felt that despite limitations, their social relationships grew closer due to connection through alternative forms of communication (e.g. texting). Results from this study clarify how traditional family ties were challenged and strengthened during physical distancing for some older adults. These findings extend the literature on how fictive kin forms in older adulthood during temporary crises and suggests potential avenues for social connection for older adults lacking traditional family support.

Poison control centres and alternative forms of communication: comparison of response rates between text message and telephone follow-up

Introduction In recent years, the number of patients managed by poison control centres (PCCs) has increased without a proportional increase in the number of physicians. To improve efficiency without neglecting patient follow-up, some PCCs have begun using text messages. We evaluated the difference in response rates between text messaging and traditional telephone follow-up. Materials and methods This retrospective, monocentric, non-randomised cohort study was conducted using data from calls made by the New Aquitaine PCC between February 27, 2019, and March 31, 2019. Patients were contacted up to three times by a phone call or short message service (SMS). Results For the analysis, 823 patients were included. At the end of follow-up, the response rates were similar in the phone call and SMS group (94 vs. 94%; p = 0.76) with median [interquartile range] response times of 0 min [0; 27 min] and 29 min [6; 120 min], respectively. The response rates did not differ in subgroups stratified according to sex, self-poisoning vs. relative response, age class, and solicitation during working hours vs. outside of working hours (all p > 0.5). Moreover, health practitioners required 2.4-fold more time to call than to send text messages (p < 0.001), and all practitioners were satisfied or very satisfied with text messaging implementation. Conclusion Patients had good adherence to text messages. Text messages are easy to use, rapid, and allow the physician to easily prioritise follow-up without occupying the emergency line. Additionally, the costs of installation and maintenance are low for text message systems; these low costs facilitate the implementation of such services in various medical situations.

Archival Communication in the Age of Social Media. The Italian Case and the Main Strategies in the International Context

The widespread use of social media in people ’ s everyday life has set the basis for big changes in the relationships between individuals, public and private bodies on a global scale. With public administrations willing to adjust their identities to new tools for communication, archival organizations approached to social networks to connect with new users and enhance their heritage. This paper aims to define methods, specificities and limits of the Italian archival institutions ’ social media policies, opening up to a first comparison with other national strategies, especially with the French one. A special focus has been put on the role of social networks in March and April 2020, when Italian archives faced a two-month lockdown following the health emergency caused by the spread of COVID-19: moved away from the ordinary work, archivists and archival institutes were encouraged to start alternative forms of communication with their users, including a more effective social campaign.

Functional communication training: From efficacy to effectiveness.

Functional communication training (FCT; Carr & Durand, 1985) is a common function-based treatment in which an alternative form of communication is taught to reduce problem behavior. FCT has been shown to result in substantial reductions of a variety of topographically and functionally different types of problem behavior in children and adults (efficacy). The extent to which these reductions maintain in relevant contexts and result in meaningful changes in the lives of those impacted (effectiveness) is the focus of this paper. This review evaluates the degree to which FCT has been established as an evidence-based practice in psychology (EBPP) according to the definition set out by the American Psychological Association's 2005 Presidential Task Force on Evidence-Based Practice. Our review finds overwhelming evidence in support of FCT as an efficacious treatment but highlights significant limitations in support of its effectiveness. In order to also be recognized as an EBPP, future research on FCT will need to focus more closely on issues related to home, school, and community application, feasibility, consumer satisfaction, and more general and global changes for the individual.

Cross-Cultural Narrative through graphic stories In Polisario Refugee Camps

The Graphic Novel as a development of the last decades and nowadays an independent art form is presented in the context of workshop series within its educational potentials. Graphic story telling workshop series as methology exemplifies us an alternative form of communication beyond textual literacy. This took place within the framework of teacher training workshops in the Polisario refugee camps in Algeria. With the possibilities of the graphic novels, contents from the school environment and the everyday life of the participants were developed by means of art education, in the sense of a reflection of the own work event/ reference, for oneself and others. Drawings and personal stories from everyday life were developed in detail in the form of successive pictures and pictorial elements, sometimes including writing. In a non-verbal and playful way, the reality of life should come to face. In particular, one's own experiential space should be experienced as a source of creativity - personal, original, self-referential should be appreciated and valued. Unconventional forms of communication were generated and established as mutually effective educational methods.

자폐스펙트럼장애 학생의 자해행동에 대한 기능적 의사소통 훈련 중재연구 분석

The purpose of this study was to review recent researches conducted abroad and domestic regarding functional communication training(FCT) to reduce self-injurious behavior for students with autism spectrum disorder(ASD). A total of 12 studies including 11 abroad studies and 1 domestic studies were selected according to inclusion criteria and exclusion criteria. For a more systematic analysis, we divided the FCT into three essential steps to examine the functional analysis of self-injurious behavior, alternative responses of communication, and intervention methods. The analysis revealed that all studies conducted a single subject research method. Self-injurious behaviors of students appeared in various forms, accompanied by aggression, destruction and disruption. In addition, the function of self-injurious behavior was ‘tangible’ with the highest frequency, followed by ‘escape demand’, ‘attention’ and ‘free play’. Alternative forms of communication were spoken, picture cards and AAC. The form was diversified in consideration of the student’s level of communication and preference. Out of a total of 12 studies 9 studies applied the prompts step by step. And nine of the studies confirmed that the schedule thinning was applied. The degree of the FCT effect differed according to the function of problem behavior, the amount of task, the mediator, and the communication response. The extent of the FCT effect was high when the intervention was provided through the student’s preferred communication style. Lastly, we suggested a limitation for the follow-up research along with discussions based on these findings.

The Analysis Of Motor Imagery And SSVEPs For the BCI Application

Many studies have shown that the electrical and magnetic fields generated during brain activities can produce certain signals. Some of these signals can be captured using electroencephalography, a detection tool involving mobile brainwave sensors whose use has matured and become affordable. The brain-computer interface (BCI) provides an alternative form of communication between the human and a system (computer or actuator) without any physical contact between them. There are many ways to evoke brain signals for translation into computer tasks, but the most popular are motor imagery and steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEPs). In this research, an offline analysis of motor imagery and SSVEPs based on BCI experiments that use electroencephalography (EEG) is reported. The results show that SSVEPs are more accurate and convenient than motor imagery, with errors of 15 percent and 35 percent, respectively.

More Than Words: The Use of Video in Ethnographic Research With People With Intellectual Disabilities.

There is a tendency to exclude people with intellectual disabilities from participating in research about their own lives. While the use of participatory research approaches is increasing, the methods used for engaging people with intellectual disabilities in research are generally limited to interviews and focus groups. Yet a focus on the spoken or written word can present a challenge for those who may prefer to use alternative forms of communication. The purpose of this article is to share the methodological insights gained from a visual ethnographic study that sought to explore the experiences of people with intellectual disabilities engaged in nature based (or "green care") therapeutic interventions for health and well-being. If used within carefully negotiated relationships, we suggest that video can be an empowering visual medium for doing research that can help to elicit the experiences of people with intellectual disabilities firsthand, without having to rely on the views and perspectives of other people.

Shifting styles: Do auditor performance levels influence the review process?

We examine communication behaviors during the audit review process using a survey of audit partners, managers, and in‐charge/senior associates from each Big 4 accounting firm and one international accounting firm. We inquire about reviewers' preferred communication style when discussing review notes with preparers of varying performance levels, their likelihood of taking over the audit work of preparers due to either a lack of a response or an inappropriate response to a review note, and their propensity to self‐correct preparers' documentation along with the reasons for doing so instead of leaving a review note. Consistent with expectations, results indicate that reviewers are more likely to discuss review notes face to face with below‐average‐performing subordinates than with above‐average‐performing subordinates, and instead use alternative forms of communication with above‐average performers. Further, we find that reviewers self‐correct and/or update documentation themselves more frequently for below‐average subordinates than for above‐average subordinates. Supplemental analysis reveals that reviewers are likely to revise the work of subordinates, whether below average or above average, for a variety of reasons, including ease of doing so, efficiency, and pending deadlines.

Social media and disaster communication: A case study of Cyclone Winston

This article presents an analysis of how social media was used during Tropical Cyclone Winston, the strongest recorded tropical storm that left a wake of destruction and devastation in Fiji during February 2016. Social media is increasingly being used in crises and disasters as an alternative form of communication. Social media use in crisis communication varies according to the context, the disaster and the maturity of social media use. Fiji’s experience during TC Winston contributes to the growing literature as it shows how social media was used during each stage of a disaster in a developing country. The article finds that before the cyclone, people used social media to share information about the cyclone and to be informed about the cyclone. During the cyclone, individuals used social media to share their experiences with some citizens capturing the cyclone as it happened and even one citizen live-tweeted her ordeal during the cyclone. Finally, following the cyclone, the hashtag #StrongerThanWinston was coined as a rallying point to bolster a sense of national solidarity.

Exploring Experiences of Expressive Aphasia in Brain Injury Patients: A Qualitative Study

Background: Aphasia affects 0.37% of South Africans. Expressive aphasic patients’ ability to react appropriately to the environment contributes to their hospital experience, and ultimately their mental health and recovery. The challenge of communication for these patients makes it important to anticipate their experiences. Objectives: The purpose of the present study was to explore the patterns of patient experiences in relation to expressive aphasia following brain injuries in order to identify helpful recommendations for alternative communication and for promoting mental health and well-being.Methods: A qualitative case series study was completed with the participation of seven adults who had recovered from expressive aphasia. Participants had received their acute care at Worcester Provincial Hospital, South Africa and at the time of the study were able to communicate effectively concerning their experiences and perspectives. Interviews were transcribed and transcripts analysed by two independent researchers. A thematic analysis method, within a constructionist framework, and at a latent level, was applied.Results: Participants were generally satisfied with the services of health professionals. All participants described their families as being supportive. However, even though most participants had attempted to initiate alternative forms of communication, their families had not reciprocated this. Participants experienced sadness, frustration and anger following the onset of expressive aphasia. They reported gaining insight into the way their lives might change in the near future, such as their roles within the community, as well as into their experiences of introspection and self-reflection. Conclusions: Persons with new onset expressive aphasia during acute care at a large South African hospital experience negative emotions (such as feelings of frustration, entrapment and sadness) as well as inadequate responses to their desire to use alternative forms of communication. Anticipation of such negative experiences may substantially help communication. Formal training in this regard is recommended for health care professionals. Also, visitors to patients with expressive aphasia require basic instruction on the use of alternative communication.

Applying Best Practice Online Learning, Teaching, and Support to Intensive Online Environments: An Integrative Review

Demand for flexible online offerings has continued to increase as prospective students seek to upskill, re-train, and undertake further study. Education institutions are moving to intensive modes of online study delivered in six- to eight-week study periods which offer more frequent intake periods. Prior literature has established key success factors for non-intensive (12-13 week) online offerings; for teachers, skill development is critical to promote a flexible, responsive approach and maintain technological capabilities; for students, an ability to navigate the technology, interact with the learning environment in meaningful ways, and self-regulate learning is important, as the absence of physical infrastructure and opportunities for face-to-face interactions in online environments places a greater emphasis on alternate forms of communication and support. The current paper explores known best practice principles for online instructors, students and student support, and considers how these might apply to intensive online environments. It is suggested that the accelerated nature of learning in intensive settings may place additional demands on students, instructors and support mechanisms. Further research is imperative to determine predictors of success in online intensive learning environments.

Respecting young people’s informal learning: Circumventing strategic policy evasions

This paper explores experiences at the interface of research and policy through the lens of informal learning. The paper contends that in order to further social justice it is essential to value the informal learning that takes place outside the confines of educational institutions. However, it also demonstrates the difficulties in getting policymakers to take this issue seriously. Formal education, in its fixity around the neo-liberal human subject, will inevitably reproduce the values and assumptions that have created an unequal society in the first place. To achieve social change, what constitutes learning and where and how it happens must be rethought. The paper reflects on three research studies – two achieved, one imagined – which help to reveal the extent and nature of young white working-class informal learning. These findings challenge their positioning as abject, deficit and hating learning. It discusses the policy interest in these studies and the current move of white working-class masculinity to the centre of political debate. It argues that despite the nominal attention to such working-class lives, their informal learning was and is deflected and ignored by policymakers. It is not a question of educating policymakers better, but that policy actively chooses this blinkered stance because a shadow body of unrecognised informal learners helps to shore up the status of their privileged qualified peers. The paper concludes that rather than pursuing familiar research pathways, partnership working and micro levels of research combined with alternative forms of communication and agitation may better serve to support young people’s own fight for social justice.

Beyond disaster framing: exploring multi-mandate INGOs’ representations of conflict

This article examines how and why multi-mandate INGOs represent contemporary armed conflicts in particular ways. Based on empirical analysis of NGO communications and interviews with staff, it finds that these organisations typically adopt a two-track approach to representing conflicts. They use mainstream media to present consequence-oriented accounts to the general public, while utilising alternative channels to represent more nuanced depictions of conflict to more targeted audiences. These alternative forms of communication often aim to disrupt the dominant narratives of conflict produced by influential policy or media actors. Decisions about how to represent conflict are shaped by organisations’ histories, identities and funding relationships.

Are scientific abstracts written in poetic verse an effective representation of the underlying research?

The central purpose of science is to explain (Purtill, 1970). However, who is that explanation for, and how is this explanation communicated once it has been deduced?Scientific research is typically communicated via papers in journals, with an abstract presented as a summary of that explanation. However, in many instances they may be written in a manner which is non-communicatory to a lay reader (Halliday &amp; Martin, 2003). This study begins to investigate if poetry could be used as an alternative form of communication, by first assessing if poetic verse is an effective form of communication to other scientists. In order to assess this suitability, a survey was conducted in which two different groups of participants were asked questions based on a scientific abstract. One group of participants was given the original scientific abstract, whilst the second group was instead given a poem written about the scientific study. Quantitative analysis found that whilst a scientific audience found a poetic interpretation of a scientific abstract to be no less interesting or inspiring than the original prose, they did find it to be less accessible. However, further qualitative analysis suggested that the poem did a good job in conveying a similar meaning to that presented in the original abstract. The results of this study indicate that whilst for a scientific audience poetry should not replace the prose abstract, it could be used alongside the original format to inspire the reader to find out more about the topic. Further research is needed to investigate the effectiveness of this approach for a non-expert audience.Alternative version:Are scientific papers understood,By anyone from outside of the field;And is an abstract really any good,If jargon means its secrets aren’t revealed?Could poetry present a different way,Of summing up research in a nutshell; Presented in a language for the lay,Yet still useful for scientists as well?This study aimed to find if it was true,That poems could be a way to convey fact;By splitting sample researchers in two:And giving each a different abstract.The findings showed that whilst prose was preferred,Related meanings from both were inferred.