The Welfare of Animals in Australian Filmed Media.

Animals play a significant role in the production of film and television in Australia and globally. Given this, regulating and monitoring their welfare on- and off-set is imperative. We therefore aim to compare Australia's state and territory-based legislation and regulation to those in the United States and the United Kingdom and assess regulations against the Five Domains Model of animal welfare. Historical examples of animal incidents in Australian film are used to illustrate potential deficiencies. We reviewed archived media for animal welfare incidents on and off production sets. We demonstrate a lack of uniformity, with 37.5% (3/8) of states and territories providing targeted Codes of Practice for animals in filmed media, and partially addressing behavioural interactions or mental state within the Five Domains Model. Three themes of welfare concerns were identified including incidents on-set, incidents off-set, and effects of portrayal on perception or ownership of specific species. This highlights the need for standardised national legislation and improved monitoring and regulation. Further research should quantify the number of animals used in productions, describe the type and duration of the work the animals undertake, investigate the frequency of animal welfare incidents, and explore alternative methods to the use of live animals in film and television.

The relationship between parent report of adaptive behavior and direct assessment of reading ability in children with autism spectrum disorder.

PURPOSE: This study was designed to shed light on the profile of reading ability in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A key aim was to examine the relationship between parent report of adaptive behavior and direct assessment of reading ability in these children. METHOD: The authors investigated children's reading ability using the Wide Range Achievement Test­Fourth Edition (Wilkinson & Robertson, 2006) and the Neale Analysis of Reading Ability­Third Edition (Neale, 2007). Parent report data was collected using the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales­Second Edition (Sparrow, Cicchetti, & Balla, 2005). Participants were 21 children with ASD (6-11 years) and their primary caregivers. RESULTS: Direct assessment of children's reading ability showed that some children with ASD have difficulty learning to read and exhibit particular weaknesses in comprehension. The results revealed positive relationships between Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales scores in the Adaptive Communication domain and direct assessment of children's reading ability across 3 measures of reading (word-level accuracy, passage-level accuracy, and passage-level comprehension). CONCLUSIONS: Although literacy levels vary among children with ASD, some clearly struggle with reading. There is a significant relationship between parent self-report of adaptive behavior and direct assessment of children's reading ability.