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In 2018, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the statistic that 1 out of every 59 children had a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Young children with ASD have unique needs specifically related to the characteristics that impact their communication and social emotional and behavioral development. These unique needs require early and intensive intervention to minimize their lifelong impact. It is important to identify and use evidence-based interventions to help parents support their children at home, and as a continuation of the skills they are being taught in other settings. This chapter will address the prevalence of young children with ASD, the impact and need for family involvement in intervention, and service provision and potential interventions.

Self‐injurious behaviour can become an intransigent difficulty, reduce people's quality of life and lead to hospital admissions or other restrictive outcomes (such as the wearing of protective devices to prevent serious injury). Over the last 15 years there have been some important developments in the treatment of severe self‐injury, but the evidence is that these are making little impact on most people's lives. The reasons why this might be are discussed, and it is proposed that it is time for a radical new approach to interventions for self‐injurious behaviour.

The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the dominant approaches used to explain causes of challenging behaviour.

This paper is the second in a two‐part series. It presents the causes of challenging behaviour according to the three theoretical approaches that have dominated the literature: applied behaviour analysis; biological factors; and psychiatric disorders.

It is apparent that the causes of challenging behaviour are likely to be complex and involve multiple factors. The approaches that have dominated the literature focus on single causes and do not explore possible interactions between various causes. Given the shortcomings of existing approaches, a fourth approach, the biopsychosocial model, is proposed as an alternative model to explain the causes of challenging behaviour.

This paper is the most recent of only a few providing an overview of the various approaches that seek to explain the causes of challenging behaviour.

With the national emphasis on the use of evidence-based practices in educational settings, intervention research within the field of special education is being scrutinized. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has defined evidence-based practices primarily by research that is based on quantitative, experimental designs (i.e., RCT). Although the use of appropriate experimental designs has an important place in educational research, defining evidence-based practices based on research design alone is limiting. One critical aspect of research that has not received much attention is the importance of rigorous and precise measurement and systematic replication of research findings. The purpose of this chapter is to review issues surrounding measurement and its effect on validity in intervention research in the field of behavioral disorders. Specifically, we discuss how more rigorous measurement can positively influence the internal, external, construct, and social validity of research findings. A review of current trends in behavioral disorders intervention research is discussed as well as implications for future research.

The purpose of this paper is to broaden the discussion on some of the barriers and solutions for co-production in positive behaviour support (PBS) planning as identified in the paper “Including people with intellectual disabilities in the development of their own Positive Behaviour Support Plans”.

Drawing on the literature associated with co-production in PBS planning, this commentary will reflect on the wider systems and culture needed to enable successful implementation of this way of working.

Co-production in PBS planning is recommended as part of best practice guidelines. However, there is limited research in the area of co-production with regards to PBS and use of augmentative and alternative communication methods. Collaboration among speech and language therapy and PBS practitioners is an important factor for co-production to achieve the best outcomes for people with learning disabilities who display behaviours of concern. Along with identifying a range of communication tools/strategies needed for PBS assessment/planning, it also requires a whole systems approach and culture shift to ensure the necessary foundations are in place.

Co-production in PBS planning remains an under practiced way of working. This commentary builds on the barriers and solutions identified for co-production and provides further insight into what might be needed to achieve this in health and social care settings.

Nigeria, like any other country in the world, was overtaken by the coronavirus, a global pandemic that started as a local problem in China. The pandemic had a complex outlook, coming with threat to health and graduated to threat to the governance of the world community in all respects, including economy, social life and even politics. The threat to global health was a threat to which all nations have to respond, even when the infection level was quite low. The federal government in Nigeria responded in many ways in order to contain the pandemic. The federal government responded to the pandemic through presidential actions, institutional measure and support systems in order to contain the spread of the pandemic. These governance instruments have different outcomes in terms of the limitation of the spread of the pandemic, perception of the pandemic, changing attitudes in order to live with the pandemic and building resilience among the population. The objectives of this chapter are to trace the dynamics of the coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria, examine the executive actions to contain the pandemic, examine the institutional and legal instruments for the containment of the pandemic, to assess the medical management responses of the pandemic, relate the governance process to the outcome of the pandemic and draw lessons for the governance of future health disaster.

This research is about the evaluation of organizational risks in the hospitality sector, using the experience of a guest with visual impairments. The objectives of this research are to (1) identify if the previous expectations of a guest with visual impairments trip will be exceeded in the final; (2) classify organizational risks in the hotel sector; (3) verify if there are direct impacts on the travellers' future behaviour, such as destination recommendation and intention to return to the destination. Despite of the fact that organizational risks are composed by transport, hospitality and tourism attractions (tourism players can jeopardize the success of a travel experience), this research will only focus on the hospitality sector. To assure the achievement of the referred objectives, a case study will be used based on the analysis of the experience of a Portuguese guest with disabilities, who traveled alone, around Europe, with a guide dog. His expectations, constraints and risks will be analysed through a deep-depth interview, in which questions are organized from the literature review. Finally, it is expected that this exploratory research helps to find new avenues for the study of organizational risks, more precisely, hospitality risks for disabled people.

The aim of this paper is to propose a model for international harmonization of the training and qualification of human resources for industrial professions. The outcome is a system based on training guidelines and a quality assurance methodology that is now in use in 42 countries around the world.

The paper describes the motivations that led to the development of the International System for the Training and Qualification of Welding Personnel. The structure of this system and the documents on which it is based are outlined.

The approach used has gained wide international acceptance. The progress achieved is analysed in the final part of the paper. More than 150,000 qualifications have so far been awarded around the world.

The need for a harmonized International System for the Training and Qualification of Welding Personnel has been recognized by industry and the authorities. The reference to this system in international standards and the general recognition of its reliability by stake holders is leading to its widespread use in more countries and by more professionals.

The harmonized international system for the qualification of human resources in welding technology is unique in Europe. The methodology used has proved to be successful and can be benchmarked for application in human resources development for other professions.