Phelan-McDermid syndrome (PMS) is a single-locus cause of developmental delay, autism spectrum disorder, and minimal verbal abilities. There is an urgent need to identify objective outcome measures of expressive language for use in this and other minimally verbal populations. One potential tool is an automated language processor called Language ENvironment Analysis (LENA). LENA was used to obtain over 542 h of audio in 18 children with PMS. LENA performance was adequate in a subset of children with PMS, specifically younger children and those with fewer stereotypic vocalizations. One LENA-derived language measure, Vocalization Ratio, had improved accuracy in this sample and may represent a novel expressive language measure for use in severely affected populations.
Chronic absenteeism is associated with poor health and educational outcomes. School nurses have great potential to address the health and educational needs that contribute to absenteeism. Through qualitative analysis of interviews with school nurses, we characterize their current role in reducing absenteeism and identify barriers 3 that limit their capacity to meet this goal, organized by the Framework for 21st Century School Nursing Practice. Interviewees ( n = 23) identified actions perceived to reduce absenteeism aligned with domains of care coordination, leadership, quality improvement, and community and public health. Barriers perceived to limit the capacity of school nurses to address absenteeism were identified within these domains and ranged from student- and family-level to federal-level barriers. Specific healthcare system-level barriers included insufficient communication with community-based healthcare teams and the need for coordinated approaches across health and education sectors to address absenteeism. Strategic opportunities exist to address barriers to comprehensive school nursing practice and reduce absenteeism.
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