Fidget devices are often used in classrooms to help students move their bodies while attending to academic or behavioral directives. Devices range from small handheld tools such as spinners and tangle puzzles to larger full-body devices such as exercise balls. The current study provides a meta-analysis of the effects of fidget devices as academic…

Fidget toys have been marketed as universal educational supports in the absence of a scientific evidence base. This article gives an overview of the existing literature on the effect of fidget toy use on student attention, behavior, and learning, and a review of two competing theoretical approaches to fidget toys: sensory processing theory and…

This article presents a review of studies published between 2006 and 2016 on research into multi-sensory environments (MSEs), as part of a project to develop a community-based MSE. This scoping review aimed to identify the settings MSEs are used in, rationale for implementation, equipment installed and the reported effects of the MSE upon users.…

The Every Child Achieves Act of 2015 has drawn greater attention to the academic achievement of students considered at risk who attend alternative schools. Due to problems both inside and outside of schools, students in alternative education settings may struggle with academic content and require a different educational approach. This…

Clinical Question: Would a preschool-aged child with childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) benefit from a singular approach--such as motor planning, sensory cueing, linguistic and rhythmic--or a combined approach in order to increase intelligibility of spoken language? Method: Systematic Review. Study Sources: ASHA Wire, Google Scholar, Speech Bite.…

The paper discusses the need to exercise greater experimental control over instructional variables in the investigation of sensory communication aids for the deaf. An analysis of several recent papers with respect to control of instructional variables, the need for better procedural descriptions in research reports and its relationship to…

The Canterbury Child's Aid, a binaural sensory aid for research with blind children, is described along with the rationale for its design features. (Author)

This research review on tactual communication of speech discusses methods of communication intended for the tactual sense alone, issues related to tactual input as a supplement for speechreading, and issues related to developing new synthetic tactual aids and the roles such aids could play in treating people with profound hearing loss. (Author/JDD)

This article presents a systematic review of the research evidence on the effects of the characteristics of typefaces on the legibility of text for adult readers with low vision. The review revealed that research has not produced consistent findings and thus that there is a need to develop standards and guidelines that are informed by evidence.…

Laboratory results are presented which suggest that hearing-impaired individuals' speech perception can be enhanced through use of tactile aids with a number of tactile transducers conveying information about the spectral content of the speech signal, and speech production can be improved through experience using a multichannel tactile aid.…

Experiments using portable tactile aids in speech perception are reviewed, focusing on training studies, additive benefit studies, and device comparison studies (including the "Tactaid II,""Tactaid V,""Tacticon 1600," and "Tickle Talker"). The potential of tactual information in perception of the overall…

Trends in the education of the gifted handicapped student are briefly reviewed, three model projects funded by the Bureau of Education for the Handicapped (now the Office of Special Education) are described, and several devices to aid the gifted handicapped are pointed out. (SB)

The article stresses the need for systematic studies on the effectiveness and utility of products designed for the visually handicapped and identifies exemplary procedures and common methodological problems (using 7 Optacon--Optical to Tactile Converter--studies as a basis). Research methodology is discussed in terms of sampling techniques, data…

Reviewed is the historical development of tactile aids to supplement speechreading by hearing-impaired individuals, from early use of bone conduction vibrators driven by hearing aids, to multichannel tactile aids representing the full speech spectrum and tactile speechreading aids complementing visual cues. Adequate training in use of tactile…

This article translates research from the fields of optometry, ophthalmology, neurology, and medicine on the efficacy of tinted lenses for students with reading disabilities into understandable information for lay people. The paper concludes that the treatment does not significantly improve reading, although some reports indicate improvement in a…