Education Commons^™

Burning Community Integration And Disability, Christopher Shane Brace

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Individuals with anxiety and depression have always been marginalized and stigmatized. Individuals with “hidden” disabilities are encouraged by society to keep them hidden, or face ridicule and persecution. Society decreases their sense of self-worth, and self-efficacy by destroying any perception of normalcy. Social support resources are vital for individuals with anxiety and depression’s continued mental health. As time goes on the individuals experience a decrease in the amount of available resources, at the same time the need for them increases. These individuals need a way to quickly replenish their social resources and the Burning Man regional network creates a unique …

Learning In The Margins: The Educational Experiences Of An African American Male With Disabilities, Aisha Holmes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

African American males with disabilities meet challenges in K-12 public education and higher education. Educational practices often focus on a deficit interpretation of the abilities of African American males with disabilities. Educational stakeholders who do not reflect their layered identities of race, gender, ability, and socioeconomic status often make educational decisions for this student population. The purpose of this study is to include in the educational conversations the voice of an African American male with disabilities who experienced K-12 public education and higher education. Using narrative inquiry and analyzed through the lens of DisCrit, findings from the study revealed two …

Variations In Experience And Meaning: Accounts Of Leadership Involvement And Identities With Special Education And Disability, Roderick James Jones

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study focused on retired school principals’ involvement in special education. More specifically, it explored various ways former principals conceived of their leadership identity and accounted for their level of involvement in special education and with students identified or identifying as disabled. The following research question guided this study: How do former principals account for their involvement with special education and/or disability? The study’s subquestions were: What are principals’ accounts of being, becoming, and remaining involved with special education and/or with disability?; In what ways do principals attend to special education and/or disability?; and How do principals conceive of …

Students’ And Parents’ Perspectives On The Social Inclusion Of Secondary School Students With Learning Difficulties, Jennifer E. Richardson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

For this integrated-article dissertation, I interviewed three groups of participants, one group for each of three studies, to elicit their perspectives on the social inclusion of secondary school students with learning difficulties in school. The three participant groups were (a) secondary school students without learning difficulties, (b) secondary school students with learning difficulties, and (c) parents of secondary school students with learning difficulties. All participants were asked the following focus prompt “Are high school students with learning difficulties sometimes left out at school? Why or why not?” Following Trochim’s (1989) concept mapping methodology, all unique statements that answered the focus …

The Physical Therapeutic Benefits Of Hippotherapy On Children With Physical Disabilities, Heather Brand

Culminating Projects in Special Education

Hippotherapy is a great choice of treatment for children with physical disabilities. It can improve gross motor function, balance, spasticity, posture, and gait, as reviewed in this paper. It can also have benefits for many other areas in the child’s life, physically or mentally. This form of therapy may be so effective because children often are able to connect to animals and it is fun to ride a horse; they may be more motivated in doing the therapy activities than with a traditional form of treatment.

Stem Pipeline For Students With Disabilities: From High School To Intentions To Major In Stem, Joshua Bittinger

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examined the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) major declaration intentions of students with disabilities as they graduated high school and entered college. I used data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09) because data collection began in high school and followed students into college, facilitating research focusing on access. Before investigating major declaration intentions, I critiqued the definition and measurement of disability in the HSLS:09, drawing from survey research methods literature. The two subsequent analyses focused on psychological and structural components, respectively. My focus on psychological components drew from Eccles and colleagues’ (1983) expectancy-value framework. …

Values, Mushfaking, And Literacy In Disability: Applying James Paul Gee’S Discourse Theory To The Deaf And Mental Health Communities, Adrienne Griffiths

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The disability community has been a historically marginalized group and continues to be. Many advocates for inclusive language feel uncomfortable around the disability community because they are uncertain how to act and speak. There are two forms of language syntaxes that people primarily use to refer to someone with a disability: People-first language and Identity-first language. People-first language identifies someone first, then refers to their disability, such as “person with autism.” The second framework, Identity-first language, includes referring to someone’s disability first, then by another attribute. In other words, “autistic person.”

Both forms of language syntaxes have many reasons as …

An Intersectional Examination Of Disability And Lgbtq+ Identities In Virtual Spaces, Justine E. Egner

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a multi-methodological project that examines the experiences of being both LGBTQ+ and disabled from an intersectional perspective through narratives constructed in virtual spaces. In this project, I address the question ‘how do individuals who identify as both disabled/chronically ill and LGBTQ+ negotiate these often contradictory identities?’ I also complexify this intersectional analysis by examining how LGBTQ+/disabled identities are constructed in relation to race, class, and gender. Additionally, by conducting virtual ethnography as the primary method of data collection, I explore questions pertaining to how members of LBGTQ+ and disability online communities engage in virtual identity construction and …

Adapted Art Curriculum: A Guide For Teachers Of Students With Disabilities, Genevieve Yoder

Graduate Education Student Scholarship

Due to the changes in the educational system since the 1997 Individuals with Disabilities Act, few resources have been created to assist art teachers in adapting curriculum and art tools for students with disabilities. This research project explores studies in art and disabilities, as well as curriculum adaptations. The literature review offers an extensive view at current literature on four major themes: a need for curriculum, general education curriculum adaptations, adapted arts curriculum, and the impact of arts education in the lives of people with disabilities. Based on this research, a project was developed to incorporate aspects of these themes …

Parental Characteristics And Parent-Child Relationship Quality In Families With Disabled Children, Tammy Young

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Parenting can be very challenging, especially when raising a disabled child. Children with disabilities require more supports and are more likely to be abused. The parent-child relationship is an important factor in ensuring child welfare. Little research has focused on identifying the impact of parenting characteristics on raising a child with a disability. The purpose of this study was to examine whether parenting style, parenting competence, and parenting stress were predictors of parent-child relationship quality in parents of children with disabilities ages 3 to 12 years. This study was quantitative and used multiple linear regression to identify predictor variables of …

The Experience Of Parenting Stress In Parents Of Twice-Exceptional Children, Christiane Wells

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Parenting stress (PS) is a phenomenon experienced by all parents to varying degrees due to the demands of meeting a child's needs. This distinct type of stress is caused by an imbalance between the perceived demands of parenting and the perceived coping resources available to parents. The construct of twice-exceptionality (2E) is defined as the co-occurrence of giftedness and disability or possessing both high cognitive abilities and at least 1 of 13 potential disabilities identified under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004. The purpose of this study was to understand how PS is experienced by parents of children …

Motivators Impacting Employment After Disability Due To Injury Or Chronic Illness, Damion B. Jackson

Theses and Dissertations

Unemployment caused by the need to treat and recover from a disability due to injury or chronic illness is a common phenomenon. Research illustrates that absence from work damages organizational growth, employers, and employees. Employees often experience problems with their mental and physical health that affect their social identity and function. In the context of the recognized value of employment for human health and well being, policy-makers have implemented various programs and approaches to encourage re-employment of those unemployed due to required treatment and rehabilitation. Many of the approaches are driven by financial incentives to encourage individuals to rejoin the …

Using Multiliteracies To Engage And Empower Students With Complex Support Needs, Sudha Vaghul Krishnan

Doctoral Dissertations

Using Multiliteracies to Engage and Empower Students with Complex Support Needs This dissertation is comprised of two studies:

• Creating New Learning Spaces Using Multiliteracies with Students with Complex Support Needs

• Transforming Narrative Identity through Multiliteracies

Students with complex support needs (SCSN) are frequently denied access to meaningful and challenging literacy instruction. These studies explore how student- authored narratives in the individualized education plan (IEP), implemented during a multiliteracies curriculum, can simultaneously engage and empower SCSN. These studies are based on the qualitative research that I conducted from November 15, 2018 to February 11, 2018 at a special day …

Disability Resource Specialists' Capacity To Adopt Principles And Implement Practices That Qualify As Universal Design At A 4-Year Public Institution, Cecilia Spencer Grugan

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Due to the continuous growth of diverse student bodies on college campuses, creating accessibility for each unique student needs to be considered. Students who have a disability or disabilities are a substantial part of this growing diverse student body. Since disability resource specialists play a significant role in creating accessibility for such students, they can consider implementing practices that qualify as Universal Design. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore where disability resource specialists fall on Lewin's (1951) continuum of change and Reynold's (2009) levels of expertise in regards to implementing practices that qualify as Universal Design. Six …

Resiliency And Age As Predictors Of Academic Performance Among Adult Online Students With Trauma-Related Disabilities, Carrie Lebarron

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Understanding the importance of resilience in academic performance as it pertains to adult online students is valuable to the people who provide services to, work with, and are a part of the population. The need to develop and enhance social programs that will improve outcomes for students with trauma-related disabilities is beneficial in increasing graduation rates and improving on the time it takes for adult online students to graduate. There is also a need for research focused on students with trauma-related disabilities because the literature in the field was found to be lacking in information. The purpose of the study …