Companion animals in families of children with autism spectrum disorder: Lessons learned from caregivers.

Companion animals (i.e., pets) have been increasingly recognized for the roles they play in families, including those with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This cross-sectional study explored the unique functions of companion animals within families with a child with ASD. Phenomenology was used to analyze the responses of participants (N = 338) who responded to a survey offered through the Interactive Autism Network. The study initially focused on dogs; however, the analysis was forced to expand to other species due to the data provided by participants. Seven major themes emerged: bonding and benefits, learning opportunities, barriers, grief, fit (match of family characteristics with those of the companion animal), safety, and alternative animals. Successful fit between companion animals and families was often described as necessary for beneficial functions. Barriers included necessary cost and time, as well as required supervision of interactions to enhance safety of the children and animals.     

User satisfaction and user experiences with Access Grid as a medium for social science research: a research note

Access Grid (AG) is a state-of-the-art video conferencing system that operates over computer networks such as the Internet. In the research sphere it has principally been used to conduct meetings of natural scientists in large international collaborations, such as physicists collaborating over the Large Hadron Collider. Social scientists have recently begun exploring the use of AG to conduct ‘virtual fieldwork' where researchers carry out interviews or moderate group discussions involving participants at remote sites. There have also been experiments in using AG to deliver social research methods training and to facilitate meetings between social researchers and government researchers who are collaborating on research projects. This article provides a quantitative analysis of the experiences of a sample of participants in such AG sessions. It finds a high degree of satisfaction with the technical affordances of the medium, and identifies differences in perspective according to whether a session is research-oriented or has a ‘real world' purpose.     

Information and communication technologies in interventions of Czech social workers when dealing with vulnerable children and their families

ABSTRACT

The topic of informatization and digitization of social work is a new phenomenon bringing new challenges that need to be dealt with. However, in the Czech Republic, the processes of informatization, digitization and e-social work may still look like grey zones. This article presents the result of one of the first Czech studies whose aim was to find out how social workers interpret the impacts of the use of information and communication technologies on social work. The goal of the research was to find out how the ongoing process of informatization permeates the Czech social work aimed at the target group of vulnerable children and their families. The authors have applied a qualitative research strategy in this research project using semi-structured interviews as the technique of data collection. The utilization of this technique has enabled them to obtain information from 25 social workers. The interviews have been analysed using the procedures of situational analysis. When interpreting the results, the authors focused on the area of communication where information and communication technologies are used, which social workers considered crucial.