Designing assistive technology

In an article from makezine.com, Brian Goral, the CEO and co-founder of Furenexo, offers his insight on creating technology to use with people with disabilities. His company is manufacturing a device called SoundSense, a small device that people with hearing loss can wear to recognize loud sounds and alerts. In the article, Goral discusses why he decided to make devices for people with disabilities and how to go about learning about their needs.

Read the article at:
http://makezine.com/2016/07/27/why-we-decided-to-make-devices-for-people-with-disabilities/

Could Alzheimer's detection be just a sniff away?

According to an article on NPR Shots, two studies are looking into using your nose to detect Alzheimer's. The studies asked patients who were 60 or older to try to identify foods, smoke, etc. just from their scent. The goal is to create an inexpensive test for doctors to use to help with early detection of this form of dementia.

To read more about it, please visit:
http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/07/26/487391863/a-sniff-test-for-alzheimers-checks-for-the-ability-to-identify-odors

Memory and Alzheimer's

A post from Open Culture spotlights a short video produced by cut.com that has asked six people with early stages of Alzheimer's disease which memories they would never want to forget. Ranging from age 48 to 70, the interviewees discuss the most precious times in their lives, the recent past being more difficult to remember than their childhood.

To read the post and watch the video, please visit:
http://www.openculture.com/2016/07/people-with-alzheimers-tell-us-which-memories-they-never-want-to-forget.html

Mobile App Monday - Swaha

Swaha is a great app for creating social stories using your own voice to narrate! Simply take pictures, then in the app, narrate each one and swipe to the next. Young kids can use it, people with brain injuries or dementia can use it or anyone who might need a little help remembering how to do something.

For more information about this app, please visit:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id926110666

Using mixed methods research synthesis for literature reviews

Using mixed methods research synthesis for literature reviews offers 344 pages of step-by-step instruction for conducting a mixed methods research synthesis (MMRS). Part of SAGE's Mixed Methods Research Series, this book is written by two professors and a postdoctoral fellow who all teach methodology courses.

The book is written for master's and doctoral students learning about literature reviews and mixed methods. It offers introductory material for MMRS literature reviews and several chapters on how to conduct them step by step. Challenges, questions for thought, exercises and further reading suggestions accompany each chapter. Strategies on how to write your report and disseminate it along with reflections on the methods and future directions are also discussed.

Want to check it out? Email us at cedir@indiana.edu or use worldcat.org to find it in a library near you.

The out-of-sync child grows up: Coping with sensory processing disorder in the adolescent and young adult years

In The out-of-sync child grows up: Coping with sensory processing disorder in the adolescent and young adult years, the author offers information and advice for individuals with sensory processing disorder as well as parents, teachers, and other professionals on working with teens and young adults with SPD. The 320-page book is full of first-person accounts of young people with SPD learning which areas of life make them uncomfortable, from noise to lights to personal hygiene, and working through it.

The book is written in four parts: Focusing on Sensory Processing Disorder, Coping with Daily Activities, Coping with Relationships, and Living an "In-Sync" Life. Focusing on SPD highlights facts about the disorder and our eight senses. Coping with Activities is full of strategies and tips for tackling such topics as specific hygiene areas, sleeping and noise. Coping with Relationships offers ideas and tips for engaging family members, peers, and romantic partners. Living an "In-Sync" Life discusses treatments for SPD and moving into adult life.

Want to check it out? Email us at cedir@indiana.edu or use worldcat.org to find it in a library near you.

The long hello: Memory, my mother, and me

The long hello: Memory, my mother, and me is a 236-page memoir from a daughter who spent seven years caring for her mother with Alzheimer's. The book is beautifully written with heart-wrenching passages, that are painful to read and uplifting at the same time. Although haunting, the prose is, at times, almost lyrical.

In short excerpts, we get a glimpse into the life of a woman caring for her mother who doesn't always remember who she is. We are privy to Borrie's memories of growing up with a distant, alcoholic father as well as learning about her beloved only brother's brutal death at a very young age. Interspersed with her mother's increasingly random conversations, the story of the author's past gets told in a halting progression through the crushing anxiety of watching her mother's deterioration to Borrie's eventual acceptance of her mother's passing.

Interested? Email us at cedir@indiana.edu to check it out or use worldcat.org to find it in a library near you.

Mobile App Monday - Wheels on the Bus

"An award-winning tribute to a childhood classic, Wheels on the Bus, is a fun, interactive experience encouraging motor, language and cognitive skills through fresh illustrations, creative interaction and music. AGES: 2-6."

To learn more about this app, please visit:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id303076295

Blindness Prevention in Diabetics

Diabetic retinopathy is a leading cause of blindness in American adults according to an article from the Indiana University Newsroom. IU researchers have created a virtual tissue model of diabetes in the eye which can hopefully be used to develop new treatments for the disease.

To read the entire article, please visit:
http://news.indiana.edu/releases/iu/2016/07/diabetic-retinopathy-study.shtml

Overcoming Anxiety in Children and Teens

Overcoming Anxiety in Children and Teens is 146 pages of techniques, strategies, tips, and exercises to help kids and teens lower their anxiety enough to be able to confront their fears. Written in an easily accessible style, the author offers parents, teachers, and other professionals some treatment ideas for kids who are excessively burdened with anxiety. The author is the director of the Social Skills Training Project, a private organization serving individuals with autism and social communication problems and is an award winning author of nine books covering topics on autism and social skills.

This book covers treatment strategies that can be used in a variety of situations. General components of treatment such as using rewards and relaxation techniques are found in the first five chapters while chapter six reveals how to adapt treatment for children who may have a limited language ability. Chapters seven through fifteen offer case studies to learn how treatment can be applied in specific circumstances. A summary of key points is also included in the back.

Want to check it out? Email us at cedir@indiana.edu or use worldcat.org to find it in a library near you.

Community-based qualitative research: Approaches for education and the social sciences

Community-based qualitative research: Approaches for education and the social sciences is 208 pages of guidance on designing and implementing community-based qualitative research projects. Written by an associate professor at Northern Illinois University, this text offers students and researchers handouts and templates to help them apply their own research to the concepts broached in the book. Questions for reflection and discussion can be found at the end of each chapter.

Part one of this book, the introduction, takes a look at similar and related types of research approaches such as participatory action research and community-based action research and discusses relevant theories and concepts. Part two highlights the design and implementation of community-based qualitative research. Part three then looks at findings and results of research performed with this methodology and how and where to disseminate them. Case studies and real-life examples are offered to help cement the concepts throughout these chapters. Student activities for the classroom are also included.

Want to check it out? Email us at cedir@indiana.edu or use worldcat.org to find it in a library near you.

Mobile App Monday - Reading Rainbow Skybrary Family

Remember Reading Rainbow from the '80s and '90s? Host LeVar Burton is back in a new app format! Features include unlimited reading of over 500 quality children’s books, 7 themed islands that excite and inspire, more than 200 educational video field trips with LeVar Burton, new content every Friday, and much more. Keep the excitement for reading alive with your struggling readers!

For more information, please visit:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id512350210

Hypothesis Testing and Model Selection in the Social Sciences

Hypothesis Testing and Model Selection in the Social Sciences offers 202 pages of author David L. Weakliem's, PhD, thoughts on statistical methods for model selection. As a professor of Sociology at the University of Connecticut and a past fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University and at the Australian National University, Weakliem provides knowledgeable guidance on existing thinking and methods of applied quantitative research for social scientists.

The book starts off with a summary of conventional and alternative procedures of hypothesis testing and then goes on to discuss model selection. Criticisms of hypothesis testing follow along with a discussion of the classical approach, Bayesian Hypothesis tests, the Akaike Information Criterion and three-way decisions. Separate chapters on model selection and hypothesis tests are found near the end. Real life examples are found throughout the book and recommendations for practice are offered.

A companion website supplies data and syntax files for examples found in the book.

Interested? Email us at cedir@indiana.edu to check out this title or use worldcat.org to find it in a library near you.

10th Annual Open House, Fly-In & Indy Air Race

Save the Date! 

The 10th Annual Open House, Fly-In & Air Race 

Saturday, August 6th, 2016

Down Syndrome Indiana is offering a day of flying, food, fun and family! Activities include a pancake breakfast, airplane rides, candy drop, bounce houses, raffle, music, magic and much more to be announced!

For more information, please visit:
http://www.dsindiana.org/flyin.php

ADHD rating scale-5 for children and adolescents: Checklists, norms, and clinical interpretation

ADHD rating scale-5 for children and adolescents: Checklists, norms, and clinical interpretation is a 124-page guide for mental, educational, and medical practitioners to screen, diagnose, and evaluate treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Meant to determine the frequency and severity of ADHD symptoms in children ages 5-17, this assessment includes complete instructions for scoring and interpretation for both boys and girls separately.

The test offers parent questionnaires in both English and Spanish and cover behavior seen at home and teacher questionnaires cover classroom behavior. It is keyed to the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for ADHD to offer the most up-to-date results, and photocopy permission is included for continual use without having to purchase additional forms. This new edition includes functional impairment items linked to each symptom dimension (inattention symptoms and hyperactive-impulsive symptoms) and full analysis of the revised scale's psychometric properties.

Want to check it out? Email us at cedir@indiana.edu or use worldcat.org to find it in a library near you.

Statistics for people who (think they) hate statistics: Using Microsoft Excel 2016

Statistics for people who (think they) hate statistics, now in its fourth edition, is 544 pages of friendly help for researchers who find working with statistics less than fun. The book begins with a introduction of Microsoft Excel 2016 and how to use its functions and formulas. It then goes on to discuss the installation and use of the Excel Data Analysis Tools option and its analytical techniques.

Written in a clear and informative style, the author walks researchers and students through the process of analyzing statistics from simple descriptive statistics and correlations to graphical representations of data and analysis of variance and more. New in this edition of the book is a chapter on working with large datasets and data mining using Excel and its tools.

The author has a Ph.D. from University of Maryland in Human Development and is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Kansas. He has written over 100 trade and textbooks on human development, measurements, statistics and more.

Want to check it out? Email us at cedir@indiana.edu or use worldcat.org to find it in a library near you.

Happy 4th!

(photo courtesy CCWray)

The Library will close today at 2:00 p.m. and will re-open on Tuesday, July 5th at 8:00 a.m.

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy, and safe 4th of July!