Tangible Symbol Research Articles

Hidden Flows: Hydropower and the Rhythms of Development on the Mekong

The Xayaburi Hydroelectric Power Project entered operation in October 2019. After this the Mekong started to behave strangely—the water ran blue and clear instead of red and silty, and the great backflow of the river into Cambodia's Tonle Sap Lake arrived off schedule or, at times, threatened to not arrive at all. Villagers who had remained ambivalent or apathetic about hydropower issues suddenly found themselves facing a radically altered world, where a seemingly distant power was able to dramatically alter the nature of their every day. These shifts introduced an arrhythmia into the hydroscape: ecological, fishing, and religious cycles adapted to a seasonal river were off sync with power demands. The radical alteration that dams make to the landscape, in the promise of irrigation, electrification, and the sheer feat of changing a river, are a tangible symbol of the state's power over its land. But with a deep look into hydropower projects—in this case, the dams across the midstream of the Mekong in Laos and China—the story grows more convoluted. Here are conflicting narratives of power: state-focused, international, and royalist; as well as religious, ecological, and hydrosocial. Here, too, as I found in my eight years of fieldwork in Lao-speaking Thailand, is an alteration in time, where the rhythms of the river change the rhythms of life, and where the cyclical riparian clock clashes with a future-oriented developmentalist notion of time.

Teaming to Design Tangible Symbol Communication Systems for Children With Multiple Disabilities

Teaming to Design Tangible Symbol Communication Systems for Children With Multiple Disabilities

Enhancing and Conservation of Ecosystem through Philatelic Education in Europe: Think Green Concept (I) - Stamp Research Study

Each year the members of PostEurop issue EUROPA stamps on a common theme. One new twist is that all stamp issuers in the PostEurop area are using the same motif. The 2016 year's theme was the environment. PostNord works actively to take environmental and sustainability responsibilities seriously and have set clear, measurable goals.
 EUROPA stamps are special stamps issued by European postal administrations and bears the official EUROPA logo, a PostEurop registered trademark under the aegis of PostEurop in which Europe is the central theme. EUROPA stamps underlines cooperation in the posts domain, taking into account promotion of thematic philately. They also build awareness of the common roots, culture and history of Europe and its common goals. As such, EUROPA stamp issues are among the most collected and most popular stamps in the world.
 Since the first issue in 1956, EUROPA stamps have been a tangible symbol of Europe’s desire for closer integration and cooperation. In 1993, PostEurop became responsible for issuing EUROPA stamps, so each year, philately working group selects the EUROPA stamp theme. “Think green!” was the 2016 theme. EUROPA stamps “Think green!” theme aimed to create awareness and give a wakeup call - its time to protect our environment for the better future of the coming generations, and to contribute to sustainable development. In this paper we propose an insight into the history of Europe preoccupations for nature protection and conservation, to bring into limelight the significant concerns in promoting ecological education via thematic issues (in this case, “Think green!” issues). In this context, for this study only, the main objective is to identify, index and describe the main philatelic pieces issued as EUROPA stamps, from the beginning of issuing in this field, and for the first half of the countries involved in the 2016 PostEurop's contest.

Using Nontraditional Curricular Tools to Address Death and Dying in Nurse Education.

Nurse educators have a unique role to prepare nursing students for all aspects of patient and family care, from birth through death. Knowing that death is inevitable is not the challenge. Preparing nursing students to cope with death and address personal and community myths about death and dying are the challenges. Opportunities for students to examine personal and community associations with death are essential for nursing students preparing to enter the field. Biophysiological processes and treatment protocols are an essential part of each course; however, one course in a Department of Nursing in a small university in the Midwestern United States provides students the opportunity to reflect on death and dying and includes the experience of creating a tangible symbol to "hold on to" as they professionally and thoughtfully work with dying patients and their families, as well as cope with their own experiences of loss and grief in their careers.

The Unifying Role of the Single Currency

Perhaps the single most tangible symbol of the European Union is its single currency, the euro. Within the European Economic and Monetary Union, it was seen as a tool to ensure that European integration would be truly irreversible. However, the euro has also contributed to cleavages and asymmetries. This article reviews whether the euro can fulfil the unifying role envisioned for it, examing the importance of the euro in four crucial European relationships.

Tangible Object Symbols: A Case Study with an Adult with Multiple Disabilities

For special educators and speech-language pathologists who work among adults with multiple disabilities, tangible object symbols may be an appropriate avenue for communication enhancement. Many of these adults use presymbolic communicative actions (Cascella, 2005), and these symbols may enable them to transition from presymbolic into symbolic communication. Collateral evidence for this transition comes from promising results of tangible symbol applications among children who also have presymbolic communication actions (Parker, Banda, Davidson, & Liu-Gitz, 2010; Rowland & Schweigert, 2000; Sigafoos et al., 2008; Trief, Cascella, & Bruce, 2013). Yet, there is a paucity of research on tangible symbol treatments among adults. To address this gap, the paper presented here describes a case study (A-B treatment design) where a tangible object symbol was introduced to an adult (pseudonym Frank) with multiple disabilities and visual impairment at his day habilitation program. The tangible object symbol was introduced in a functional manner, so that it related specifically to Frank's interests and motivation, as well as the interpersonal characteristics (that is, daily activities, partner expectations) of his environment. Two questions were addressed: Would a tangible object symbol enhance Frank's communication skills? and How quickly might Frank learn to use the tangible object symbol? METHODS Participant Frank was a 53-year-old man with a history of profound intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorder, and severe visual impairment (also known as severe low vision or legal blindness) of a degenerative nature the onset of which occurred more than five years before the initiation of the intervention. Notably, Frank did not tolerate vision testing and he does not wear eyeglasses. Three years of reports (nursing, social work, psychology, and speech-language pathology) indicated no prior or recent exposure to tangible object symbols, graphic symbols, or voice-output technology. Records indicated that Frank had functional hearing, some independent ambulation in known environments, and generally good physical health. Frank attended an adult day habilitation program where there were consistent morning activities (a beverage, arts and crafts, puzzle activities, simple meal preparation, and lunch) and afternoon events (looking at magazines, watching a news program, shopping at local businesses, going to a park, and having another beverage before departure). Frank required intermittent support to engage in activities, and his instructors (one lead, one assistant) reported that he was cooperative during daily routines and sometimes preferred being left on his own when occupied by an activity. The case study presented here began after Frank's lead instructor inquired about whether Frank could learn to more directly communicate that he wanted a drink. The instructor reported that Frank would stand up at his seat, but not directly approach or call out to a staff member, when he wanted a drink. After discussion, it was decided to introduce Frank to a tangible object symbol and a voice-output communication device (BIG-Mack Communicator). To address the methodological challenges of tangible object symbol research cited by Sigafoos et al. (2008), the case study presented here includes a detailed description of the baseline and methodology (for evaluation and replication) but not a matched control or videotape sampling, since these would have been impractical in this setting. The City University of New York Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved this study. Frank's communication status at prebaseline Two tools were used to assess Frank's communication status prior to baseline, the Communication Matrix (Rowland, 2004) and the Functional Communication Profile (Kleinman, 2003). Though nonstandardized, these tools document communication forms and functions via interview with a familiar staff member, a technique that has proven useful when compared to direct structured sampling tasks (Cascella, 2005). …

Water under the bridge? Nature, memory and hydropolitics

Memories are not confined to those who experience them firsthand. Rather, they can be transmitted and repeated by subsequent generations as prosthetic and moral memories, not linked solely to specific geographic locations but extending to affect and inform contemporary political debates. This paper investigates how and why the 1965 flooding of the village of Capel Celyn in the Tryweryn valley, north Wales is remembered through textual analysis of Welsh literature and popular music. It also highlights the profound impact that struggles over resources can have on social, cultural and political landscapes. The flooding, arguably the most dramatic hydropolitical event in the history of the United Kingdom, created tension between the need to protect cultural identity on the one hand and on the other, the need to provide essential natural resources for industry and urban development. The memory of this event has been sustained in Wales in a number of ways. Visually, graffiti calling on the public to ‘remember Tryweryn’ has become a tangible symbol of Welsh nationalism, and a potent part of the Welsh landscape. In Welsh literature (poems and songs) the memory of Tryweryn has been expressed in terms of loss and shame and the defilement of nature. Politically, Tryweryn provided the context for the rise of Welsh nationalism and devolution and has become a regularly used symbol of a culture under threat. Crucially, the memories now influence and inform contemporary debates around precipitation, drought and any forced removal justified in the name of progress.

A Field Study of a Standardized Tangible Symbol System for Learners who are Visually Impaired and have Multiple Disabilities

Introduction The study reported in this article tracked the learning rate of 43 children with multiple disabilities and visual impairments who had limited to no verbal language across seven months of classroom-based intervention using a standardized set of tangible symbols. Methods The participants were introduced to tangible symbols on a daily basis during a seven-month field study. The tangible symbols were embedded into the curriculum during daily classroom routines and were used in addition to any other forms of expressive or receptive communication that were already in place in the classroom. The data were collected daily from teachers and therapists. Throughout the seven-month period, data were recorded for 30,220 opportunities to use tangible symbols. The participants had 2 to 9 recorded opportunities to use tangible symbols per day throughout the study. Results Over a four-month period, the participants identified 46% of the tangible symbols to which they were exposed, and cognitive, language, play, and symbolism skills were not factors related to the successful acquisition of tangible symbols. The strongest predictor of outcome was independent ambulation, and seven symbols were the most often identified. In addition, decontextualized pre- and posttesting proved less effective as a measurement tool than did daily classroom probes immediately following activities. Discussion The results suggest that even children with the most severe impairments were able to identify the use of many of the tangible symbols. Implications for practitioners One implication of this research is that data collection allows teachers or therapists to measure progress in the acquisition of tangible symbols objectively and that it fosters the development of goals for the students’ Individualized Education Programs.

“The Very Hydra of the Time”: Morton’s New English Canaan and Atlantic Trade

On May 1, 1627, Thomas and the inhabitants of Mount--formerly Mount Wollaston and even more formerly Passonagessit--raised their infamous maypole, which in turn raised the ire of the precise at Plimouth. This maypole has become one of the most enduring icons of early British settlement in Massachusetts, trailing perhaps only the cornucopia that has come symbolize Plymouth-inspired Thanksgiving tradition, but in its day the Mar-re Mount maypole was for the Plymouth Separatists tangible symbol of the well-lubricated gaiety that accompanied the celebrations linking the Anglican Church with Britannia's pagan past. Bostonian Puritans likewise disapproved of these pagan significances, but also saw in the maypole reminder of the aristocratic hierarchy that sanctioned and lorded over the May Day bacchanal--a view that prompted John Endicott, during Morton's first brief exile, chop down the maypole and rebuke those still living at For later historians of Massachusetts, Morton's maypole continued justify an interpretation of Mount as place of drunken licentiousness, pseudoanarchical foil the rigid Puritanism of Plymouth and Boston. Likewise New English Canaan, Thomas Morton's account of Mare was relegated the status of second-class counterhistory William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation. (1) Fiction writers from Lydia Marie Child Robert Lowell have similarly focused on the jollity represented by Morton's maypole, for good or ill, as John McWilliams traces in his article, Fictions of Mount. Much like the gold coin nailed the Pequod's mast in Moby-Dick, the maypole of Mount reflects the mind of the observer, unlimited in its significations. semiotic flexibility of Morton's maypole indicative of the wider trouble New English Canaan has posed the two-pronged view of British colonization in North America, wherein religious Pilgrims dominated New England while Virginian settlements were focused on more secular economic interests. (2) and his plantation have seemingly always been problematic reality for the dominant narrative of Anglo-American colonization. Even his plantation's name, has engendered interpretive controversy. Though never in New English Canaan calls his rechristening of Mount Wollaston anything other than Ma-re Mount, the name has come down through popular history as Merry Mount, originally pejorative applied by Bradford and solidified in the American mythos through Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story The MayPole of Mount. As Karen Kupperman points out, the Puritan influence on American history is again seen in the fact that their construction, Merrymount, stuck (662). And while surely knew of the possibilities for punning on the name--he does joke that the Separatists threatened to make it woeful and not merry mount (136)--he consistently resists applying the lighthearted appellation himself. As this homonymic struggle indicates, much like the maypole itself, the settlement's name presents readers with a compound title of almost unlimited suggestibility'--one that evokes interpretations ranging from description of physical location bestiality (McWilliams 7). But amid the myriad possibilities, perhaps the most basic denotational definition offers the best insight into the rhetorical implications of the settlement's name. In 1892 C. E Adams maintained that Mount was evidence of Morton's playful linguistic Latinity, meaning, as McWilliams notes, Morton had in mind the ablative of mare and the name meant 'the hill by the sea' (6). (3) In thus naming his settlement seems point out its ties the Atlantic; and indeed, many of the attributes for which Mount became infamous have distinct ties the maritime world. Most critical historical and literary studies of Mount and New English Canaan dwell on Morton's connection the American interior, usually focusing on his advantageous trade and social relationships with American Indians. …

Planting Trees for Publicity—How Much Are They Worth?

Corporate marketing departments use trees and forests for advertising and public relations (PR). Trees and forests constitute a tangible symbol of the environment, reinforced by the growing awareness of the role that trees play in preventing climate change. Although the carbon sequestration function of trees is valued in monetary terms, its derivative services to marketing, CSR or HR departments are not (‘greening the image’). We focus on voluntary carbon offsets and other tree-planting activities undertaken by companies, aiming to demonstrate that the value of these derivative services of trees should be considered in monetary terms. Based on a small survey and an analysis of financial data for 10 tree-planting projects in Poland, we estimate this value at USD 7.42 per tree. This value depends on external circumstances, such as the current interest in climate change and ways to prevent it.

The Selection of Tangible Symbols by Educators of Students with Visual Impairments and Additional Disabilities

Tangible symbols are objects or partial objects that can be physically manipulated and that share a perceptual relationship with what they represent, known as the referent (Trief, 2007; Westling & Fox, 2009). They make fewer demands on memory and representational ability, making them an appropriate expressive form of communication for individuals with visual impairments and additional disabilities who communicate at the presymbolic level (Rowland & Schweigert, 2000). Although other communication forms, such as sign language, braille, and line drawings, have been standardized, little has been done to establish a standardized set of tangible symbols (Trief, Bruce, Cascella, & Ivy, 2009). Tangible symbols may be individualized or standardized. Individualized tangible symbols represent an experience of an object, person, or activity that is highly idiosyncratic to one child. Standardized tangible symbols often represent a dominant feature of an object, person, or activity that could be recognized by many children. It is possible to use the same tangible symbol for multiple children if they interact with the referent in the same way (Downing, 2005), making standardized symbol systems particularly relevant for experiences that are similar to a number of individuals. This article discusses the tangible symbols that special education teachers, paraprofessionals, and speech-language therapists (collectively referred to as educators) selected (from a standardized set of commercially produced symbols), the characteristics of the symbols that were selected, and implications for the development of a starter kit of standardized tangible symbols for use in schools. The selection of tangible symbols by educators is important to investigate because it highlights the topics that educators regard as important to the classroom context, giving insights into the kinds of communications that are expected from children at different ages. METHOD Participants The participants were 29 educators in four urban public schools in one large city on the East Coast that serve children who are visually impaired (that is, those who are blind or have low vision) aged 3-21. At the four schools, parental permission and approval from the institutional review board at Hunter College was obtained for 51 children to participate in a larger field-based study in which tangible object symbols were introduced over a seven-month period. The educators in this study were the persons who were directly responsible for communication-based programming for the 51 children, including the selection of which symbols to introduce throughout the school year. These children had both intellectual disabilities (severe and profound) and visual impairments with normal or aided hearing that allowed them to access auditory information for learning. They communicated at the preintentional to early symbolic level (that is, five or fewer words, signs, or pictures). Procedure The participants were given a commercially produced standardized set of 48 tangible symbols, manufactured by the Adaptive Design Association in New York City. These 48 whole-and partial-object symbols were developed on the basis of data from a survey of 29 special education teachers and speech-language therapists, coupled with input from a focus group of 14 advisory board members (school directors, speech-language therapists, the designer and manufacturer of the symbols, a representative of the Perkins School for the Blind, 3 college professors, and a graduate research assistant) (Trief et al., 2009). These commercially produced tangible symbols were designed to be representations for commonly occurring words in school vocabularies. In addition, this team of professionals assigned each tangible symbol to one or more of the following categories: transition (T), location (L), choice making (Ch), and conceptual skills (C). It is critical to note that these standardized symbols were not intended to replace existing individualized symbols but, rather, to augment individualized symbols that were already in use or would be needed in the future. …

Tra devozione e politica. Le chiese e gli ospedali di Santiago e Montserat di Roma, secoli XVI-XVIII

- Between devotion and politics. The churches and hospitals of Santiago and Montserrat in Rome (16th-18th cent.) At the end of the Middle Ages the city of Rome saw the foundation of the hospitals and churches of Santiago of the Castilians, located on piazza Navona, and of Montserrat of the Aragonese Nation, settled on the homonymous street. Both of them were affluent institutions, developing an intense welfare and religious action in favour of their nationals. Little by little they became the tangible symbol of the Spanish presence in Rome, provoking the intervention of the Spanish royal power. The study takes advantage of a wide range of archival sources, reconstructing in detail income, expenses and the investments of the two institutions throughout the 16th to 18th centuries.

Living Smart Homes

This article documents the rationale and experience of a pilot Australian sustainability education programme, ‘Living Smart Homes’ (LSH) based on a community-based social marketing model. Inspired by the Australian ‘Land for Wildlife’ scheme, LSH is designed to engage homeowners with sustainable practices through face-to-face workshops, an interactive website with action-learning modules and a recognition scheme, a sign displayed in front of participants’ homes—to which additions were made as they completed modules on energy, water, waste and transport. Participants were asked to change household behaviours and to discuss the changes and the barriers to participation in the programme and to making the behavioural changes. More than 120 people participated in the programme. This article documents feedback from two surveys and four focus groups. Participants enjoyed and learnt from LSH, praising the household sign as a tangible symbol of their commitment to sustainability and a talking point with visitors. Their evaluation of the LSH programme, website and workshops, as well as their identification of barriers and recommendations for improvement and expansion of the programme, are discussed.

Visiting Research Fellow, Department of History, Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand

��� Bangkok has throughout its 226 year history been a city of multiple ethnic minorities. Over much of that history the most important of those minorities in terms of numbers, economic impact, and cultural influence has been the Chinese. But the Chinese have themselves been divided among a number of distinct ethnic communities. Among them, the Hokkien and Taechiu long engaged in a bitter rivalry, with the latter eventually rising to precedence. That victory was short-lived, however, as the Thai state pursued a vigorous assimilationist policy that succeeded in greatly diffusing Taechiu ethnicity. In reviewing the history of the Taechiu struggle for self-realization within the Thai state and in rivalry with the Hokkien, the Taechiu settlement at Sampheng stands as a tangible symbol of ethnic persistence and adaptation. The story of Sampheng’s rise from adversity to economic pre-eminence, followed by its marginalization in the shadow of Taechiu cultural integration into the Thai nation-state, offers an exceptional counterpoint to the many tales of ethnic violence and tragedy that punctuate the pages of Southeast Asian history.

The Olive Jar

70 The Olive Jar Kristen Keckler I’m squatting in an olive grove in Montelepre, Sicily, searching the ground for caterpillars. It is quiet except for whistles of redwings, the clip-clop of horseshoes. Some workers climb up and down ladders shaped like tepees, the letter A, while others haul baskets on their shoulders. My great-grandfather, Niccolo Riccobono, and his brother, Giuseppe, survey their trees, discussing the rain. They pause to examine the fruit: unripe green among mottled purple. As Niccolo strokes the silver underside of a leaf, he cocks his head. He glances over his shoulder , sees shadows big as clouds. Three Mafiosi swoop by on horseback, overtaking him. They aim their guns. They shoot Giuseppe, then Great Grandpa, three bullets each, their legs and backs and necks. I gasp, covering my eyes. The workers scatter, shouting words I don’t understand. And as he lies wounded, his blood pooling like salsi, sauce, my great-grandfather whispers to his brother, “Are you okay?” But Giuseppe is dead. When the Mafiosi hear Niccolo, they shoot him once more, through the head. You see, Niccolo has refused the Mafia’s offer of protection. He hasn’t paid them off. My grandmother, as always, ends the story with the sweep of her hand and a cruel, if not practical, lesson. “My father, he shoulda kept his big mouth shut.” Decades later, when my sister loses her keys in the Atlantic Ocean, Grandma wades in to retrieve them. She pushes through the water, her arms like five-pound Arthur Avenue salamis. Kara calls out to her, but Grandma doesn’t answer, perhaps because she can’t hear over the breaking surf. Or perhaps because Grandma is dead. I’m in Texas, sitting on my front porch, listening to my sister’s dream. On the edge of my yard, the mimosa tree wears its blossoms 71 Kristen Keckler like a big pink boa. Kara (Grandma’s favorite picciotta, little girl) is in Westchester, New York, where we both grew up. We haven’t lived in the same place for more than a few months since she was thirteen. I’m five years older. Though we don’t look alike (she’s blond, blue-eyed, curvy; I’m brunette, brown-eyed, wispy), I’m always struck by how similar our voices sound, especially over the phone. “So that’s kinda weird, right? I mean, what does it mean?” she asks. “I guess I’d be worried if Grandma was doing, like, some normal grandmotherly thing. Knitting freaking booties or something.” My sister laughs. We both know it’s totally in character for Grandma to be fending off jellyfish and sharks in search of a tangible symbol of freedom. So I tell Kara my theories. Using the canvas of a dream, Grandma is relaying another one of her stories. We both know that it’s got to do with the accident, Kara hit head-on by a school bus: car flattened, jaws of life summoned, EMT shocked to find her alive. Though she would have several shoulder and knee surgeries, her pretty face was unmarred. I tell her that ocean waves point to something tumultuous, could be the accident. Grandma is sending her a message, perhaps that she was looking out for her the day of the accident. “Maybe she’s trying to recover something you’ve lost. I mean, literally, your car, but maybe also something abstract, like courage?” My sister listens intently, interjecting an occasional supportive “Uh-huh.” She’s a classic younger sibling, assumes I know more simply because I’m older. An approaching freight train bellows like two notes on the organ played at a giant’s funeral. It shakes my porch and briefly drowns our conversation. We pause until it passes. I usually don’t care about other people’s dreams, but there’s something about my grandmother wandering through my sister’s psyche. I can’t help but feel spurned, ignored. When it’s quiet, I ask, “Why doesn’t Grandma visit me?” “I dunno,” Kara says. “But you’re gonna tell me, right?” “Maybe it’s that you’re the dreamer,” I say, “and I’m just the...

The Use of Tangible Cues for Children with Multiple Disabilities and Visual Impairment

Many children with severe or multiple disabilities, including those with visual impairment, are limited in their ability to communicate. Communication is defined as how a person exchanges information about his or her desires, needs, knowledge, and perceptions with another person (Beukelman & Mirenda, 2005). Light (1997) defines communication as expressing one's needs and wants, developing social closeness, sharing information, and fulfilling social etiquette responsibilities. Communication can be verbal, written, or nonverbal, such as gestures or symbols. Young children typically communicate through gestures and vocalizations and then learn to speak words within the first year of life (Rowland & Schweigert, 2000). Children who have severe and multiple disabilities have difficulties in all aspects of communication. Augmentative and alternative communication often supplements or replaces verbal speech (Schlosser & Sigafoos, 2006). According to Beukelman and Mirenda (2005), augmentative and alternative communication attempts to compensate for limited verbal communication skills by integrating symbols, devices, techniques, and strategies to enhance or encourage communication. Augmentative and alternative communication includes unaided modes of communication, such as gestures, signs, and facial expressions, or aided modes ranging from the low tech--such as drawings and tangible symbols--to the high tech--such as speech-synthesized devices and laptop computers (Johnston, McDonnell, Nelson, & Magnavito, 2003). The most critical component for the successful use of an augmentative and alternative communication device is a child's willingness and acceptance to use it (Grassmann, 2002). In addition, a competent communication partner such as a teacher, parent, therapist, or caregiver is essential to provide the child with appropriate opportunities for taking turns, making choices, interacting socially, and expressing wants and needs to facilitate optimal communication (Kaiser, Hester, & McDuffie, 2001). According to Hetzroni (2003), the use of augmentative and alternative communication for students with significant intellectual disabilities helps to reduce problem behaviors such as biting, hitting, and having tantrums while increasing functional communication behaviors. In Hetzroni's study, the use of augmentative and alternative communication became part of the positive behavioral support plan. Rowland and Schweigert (1989) introduced the term tangible symbol, also known as tangible cues, to refer to three-dimensional tactile objects that can be manipulated easily and possess tangible qualities such as shape, texture, and consistency. Tangible symbols are typically used with children who have visual or dual sensory impairments and cognitive delays. They are real objects, miniature objects, and partial objects affixed to cards (see Figure 1). Symbols should be selected for the similarities of their tactile properties in relation to their referents, not for their visual similarities (Goldware & Silver, 1998). The response required when using a tangible symbol is pointing, touching, picking up, or, if possible, gazing in the direction of the symbol (Rowland & Schweigert, 2000). [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] In a study conducted by Rowland and Schweigert (2000) during a three-year period, 41 children with multiple disabilities--including those with significant cognitive delays, sensory impairment, and motor delays--were taught to use tangible symbols. The results indicated that the majority of these children learned to use tangible symbols as a means of communication. Some children went on to use more abstract symbols, such as pictures. Five of these children acquired speech along with the use of the symbols. The purpose of the study presented in this article was to introduce a communication system that uses tangible cues to all 48 of the preschool and lower school children at the Lavelle School for the Blind in the Bronx, New York, who met the criteria for the inter vention; these children had multiple disabilities, including visual impairment, and limited to no verbal skills. …

ASN News

Over 500 ASN members were granted FASN status in the program’s first year of operation. Created to recognize and honor those members of the ASN who are leaders in practice and research, “Fellow of the American Society of Nephrology” is an outward, tangible symbol of your accomplishments.

Interdiction at the Expense of Human Rights: A Long-term Containment Strategy

Migratory pressure is heavy around the globe and the available data does not indicate any decrease in the foreseeable future. It has always been there: the highest number of immigrants to have come to Canada in one single year is still that of 1913, with more than 400,000. Today, globalization has only increased independent intercontinental migration. Fast and cheap transportation is available, as is international communication, through telephone and internet; knowledge about host countries is circulating through television and videos; large communities exist in host countries and are able to help friends, family, and compatriots. The increase in global migrations also results from the fact that the differences in peace and prosperity have been sharpened between North and South in the past decades. Many societies in the South have become poorer and messier: some people need to escape increasing violence; others seek better survival opportunities for themselves and their children. The increase in these push factors is a negative dimension of globalization. In most host countries, the protection and promotion of rights and freedoms have been reinforced. Constitutional, regional, and international standards are more sophisticated, and implementation mechanisms are more effective. We now know that the interaction of political struggle and legal jurisprudence is key to effectively protecting human rights: the European Court of Human Rights, the InterAmerican Commission, the UN committees, the constitutional case law in, say, Canada, Germany, and South Africa testify that there is also a globalization phenomenon in the field of human rights. In host countries, this case law will often protect the foreigner and declare that she is equal to the citizen on most issues regarding fundamental rights. But our States nowadays often feel dispossessed in a field that has been at the basis of their legitimacy for the past decades: redistribution of wealth and social justice. This goal is challenged by yet another aspect of globalization: essentially free-trade policies and the pressure that economic actors exercise to lower the cost of production. Our States have tried to regain political ground by insisting on their traditional mission since the Renaissance: security. In the past twenty years, a phenomenon of securization of the public sphere has emerged and resulted in the definition of new fields of government activity: food security, environmental security, bio-security, transport security, industrial security, internal security, migration security, to name only a few. States have re-emphasized the role of the border as the traditional and tangible symbol of their power. This is not a new phenomenon. The border has always been used to distinguish between us and them. For example, in the aftermath of World War I, the Canadian government responded to the arrival of impoverished and displaced Europeans by tightening the laws and stationing immigration officials at ports in Europe to prevent further undesirables from setting sail. Following the sharp increase in asylum claims in the mid-1980s, States have launched a huge co-operative effort aimed at controlling migration flows, and in particular reducing irregular flows. This effort targeted especially asylum seekers, because, as these could count on human rights standards and mechanisms to argue against refoulement, host States knew there was a good chance that they would not be able to remove them from the territory. This co-operation was particularly productive in Europe, as the abolition of the control of persons at internal borders of the common European territory created a complete restructuring of all government agencies that used to work at the border (police, customs, health, transport, immigration, etc.). The Schengen process emerged from this and, following the Amsterdam and Nice treaties, the European Commission is now in a position to take the lead on immigration and asylum issues. …

The Little Locksmith (review)

never arguing for any of our sympathies . Perhaps it is inevitable that we should choose sides in what amounts to a gender battle, but Watson seems unwilling to trust us with even a glimpse of these men's true substance . If there are false steps—jarring flashforwards to an academic persona who examines the relationship between a Ned Weaver painting and a scene we have just witnessed, or a series of final chapters as brief and dismissive as the rolling credits of a Hollywood comedy—there are also evocations of true beauty and sadness. Orchard is that rarest and most valuable ofworks, a simple story skiUfuUy told. (MP) Book reviews by: David Abrams, Steve Street, Richard Sonnenmoser, Kris Somerville , Marta Ferguson, Jack Smith, Bern Mulvey, Jim Steck, Leslie Wootten, Michael Piafsky MR Lost Classic The Little Locksmith by Katharine Butler Hathaway The Feminist Press, 2000, 272 pp., $14.95 (paper) The Little Locksmith, a timeless personal narrative written by Katharine Butler Hathaway in the 1940s, is the story of a woman who despite deformity —she never grew any larger than a ten-year-old child—managed to live a purposeful, expansive and creative life. In 1895, at age five, Katharine had the first symptoms of a serious spinal disease. After her parents called in the best doctors for that time, she was treated by being tied down under a five-pound iron weight twenty-four hours a day, without the abUity to move her body or head, until age fifteen. When she was ultimately able to stand before a mirror—something she insisted she must do alone—she did not see the vision of beauty she had awaited patiently formany years; instead she saw a young woman shaped like the Uttle hump-backed locksmith who had visited their home in the past to fix locks. This memoir is more than a narrative of overcoming a physical limitation and deformity. The reader is treated to insights and language of such enormous strength that it seems likely that if Katharine been able to live a Ufe with fewer physical and mental torments—or even been able to live beyond her early fifties, when she died—she might have been more prolific (she wrote only one otherbook, a children's book, which she also illustrated , with a very limited run). It is the writer Katharine who enabled the woman Katharine to lead a fuU life. Hathaway seized the opportunity to write against great obstacles and resistance. She struggled much of her life against her mother's overbearing pity. When she finaUy moved from her maternal home in Salem, Massachusetts, to Castine, Maine, a spot introduced to her by a Radcliffe friend, it was as essential to her own weU-being as it was to the emergence of a writer. In looking around Castine for a home that might be suitable, she initially thought of someplace small, to suit her size, her unmarried status and her budget. But she became entranced with a very large, stately Georgian overlooking Penobscot The Missouri Review · 203 Bay, a house she at first believed would be far more suitable for her siblings. She instinctively knew she had found her home. After a night of great doubts, she approached the owner, who offered it to Katharine at a price that she could afford. The home in Castine was the tangible symbol of the beauty she had felt inside through childhood. The lovely outer sheU that after ten years of waiting should have been hers now finally, in one sense, was. There was a small cottage outside where Katharine did much of her writing. "During the summers of my Ufe . . . ," she writes, "it was my close-fitting, protecting shell which held only me alone___ Towards a sanctuary of this kind, or, I suppose toward any sanctuary which shelters the spirit and allows it to be free, a love develops which has a quality of deep and intimate gratitude." This isn't the end of the story or of Katharine'sjourney. Katharine'sbook, published in 1943, shortly after her death, was first seriaUzed in The New Yorker. The book received tremendous reviews at the time of its first publication by Coward...

Contributions of C. A. P. Turner to Development of Reinforced Concrete Flat Slabs 1905–1909

There is considerable uncertainty regarding both the timing and contributions of various individuals to the development of reinforced concrete flat slabs in the United States. The work of George M. Hill and the patent of Orlando W. Norcross are discussed first to provide context. The significant achievements of Claude A. P. Turner from 1905 to the end of 1909 are then described. Turner’s conceptual design of flat slabs is discussed. Turner conceived a cage of reinforcement, which he called the “mushroom head,” as shear reinforcement. Turner’s simple design for moment led to very small areas of steel flexural reinforcement, which drew criticism from structural engineers. Some early flat-slab buildings and bridges and the load tests that Turner performed are discussed. A tangible symbol of Turner’s contributions is his extant 1906 Hoffman (a.k.a. Marshall) building, which was designated an ASCE National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 2002. The dispiriting history of flat-slab development after the e...