Education Commons^™

Multilingualism And Augmentative Alternative Communication: A Review Of The Literature, Hannah N. Lamarca, Natalie R. Andzik

Honors Capstones

Purpose: Individuals from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds who use Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) are often offered English-only AAC systems that do not meet their language needs. Devices that host multiple languages often only offer one at a time.

Method: The authors reviewed the literature by searching relevant databases using a variety of search strings. Following our inclusionary and exclusionary criteria, 15 articles were yielded for analysis.

Results: Authors found that more than half of the included articles were discussion-based papers on AAC delivery, barriers to AAC and multilingualism, and codeswitching using AAC. The included interview studies aimed to …

Caregiver Rights, Virtual Meetings, And The Multidisciplinary Team: Communication Of Legal Rights Within Special Education, Amber Gordon, Kurustun Musick

Theses & Honors Papers

During the COVID-19 pandemic many professional settings used virtual platforms to conduct meetings that typically took place in person. Within the United States public schools, special education programs faced unique challenges when conducting students’ Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings. These meetings are mandatory and essential in creating an individualized plan to provide the necessary services and support for students or for monitoring their progress. As mandated through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), it is a legal right of parents and/or guardians to be afforded the opportunity to attend any meetings regarding the “identification, evaluation, and educational placement” of …

Collaborative Practices In Special Education: An Exploratory Study, Blanka Pentek, Katherine Sadoff, Evelyn Tang

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

Objective: This exploratory survey study examined collaborative practices of professionals working in special education. The basis for the survey was the Conceptual Model of Collaboration (CMC), created by Hess and colleagues (2017).

Methods: 27 professionals who work in special education participated. Cross tabulation tests and Pearson's correlation tests were run to determine relationships between the variables.

Results: The findings indicated that the majority of participants value collaboration for student outcomes and professional development. Most participants agreed on common facilitators and barriers to collaboration. Collaboration primarily takes place in IEP meetings, through email and text messaging and is frequent in all …

A Phenomenological Study Of Middle School Bullying In The Rio Grande Valley, Texas, Vanessa Cristina Cantu

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The purpose of this paper was to describe the study concerning special education students in middle school who were bullied. Many students in the special education program are being bullied, whether it is due to their disabilities or other factors (Mishna, 2003; Rose, Espelage, & Monda-Amaya, 2009; Coloroso, 2008; Christensen, Fraynt, Neece, & Baker, 2012). While several quantitative studies have been conducted addressing this worldwide phenomenon, few qualitative studies have been performed. A phenomenological approach allowed the participants to share their own experiences with bullying. Twenty-five students from several middle schools (6th, 7th, 8th grades) in a city in the …

Teacher Perceptions Of Elementary Students With An Articulation Disorder Of Varying Degrees, Morgan Lee Johnson

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

The purpose of this study is to examine teacher perceptions of elementary students who have an articulation disorder. An electronic survey was given to teachers in two elementary schools within Indianapolis, and specifically, Pike Township. The teachers rated six hypothetical student profiles on competence, intelligence, and various behaviors. Utilizing a standard Likert scale, the different hypothetical student profiles yielded scores that showed how positively the teachers viewed the hypothetical students. To ensure validity, there were control student profiles with no label or other, non-speech related disorders. It was hypothesized that the profiles for typically developing students would be given the …

Headway Emotional Health Services: A Parent Satisfaction Survey And Needs Assessment, Eowyn T. Gatlin

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Headway Emotional Health Services seeks to transform lives and restore families by providing a variety of quality mental health services to children and families in the Twin Cities Metro Area. The Vision Program is a partnership between Headway and the Bloomington Public School system. The Vision Program serves K-12 students who qualify for level 3 Emotional and/or Behavioral Disability (EBD) services. All students are in a classroom at their mainstream school and receive daily support from the Vision Mental Health Specialist, a special education classroom teacher, and a paraprofessional. Many students are able to participate in some mainstream programing through …

An Instructional Manual For Implementation Of Voice Recognition (Vr) In Written Communication, Lori Odagiri

All Graduate Projects

This project investigated the use of voice recognition for written communication. The literature review revealed a lack of research in using voice recognition with individuals with disabilities. An instructional manual consisting of a step-by-step process to guide students through the general training process and teaching students the additional features of the program to promote independent use of Dragon Naturally Speaking Version 5 for written communication. Field tests were completed with 3 students, two with physical disabilities and one with a learning disability.

An Alternative Residential Education Program: An Evaluative Study, Marc A. Kincaid

All Graduate Projects

Schools today are trying to make an adaptation to accommodate all children and their disabilities. For many, the problem does not lie in a child's learning ability, but rather in their behavioral disability. According to its mission, The Ranch is committed to not only accommodating at-risk boys, but is trying to help them re-adjust and re-enter society with the skills necessary to function in every day life. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate The Ranch by examining the effectiveness of the program and its goals. Evaluation was done both Formatively and Summatively, through interviews and documentation. The researcher …

The Availability Of Inferences In Children And Young Adults, Gerilyn A. Katz

Student Work

Much of the research on age-related differences in the ability to inhibit irrelevant information in a given task has been on the study of younger and older adults. Only a minimal amount of research has focused on the developmental differences in children and young adults. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to examine whether age-related differences exist between children and young adults in processes consistent with inhibition.

Third-, sixth-grade children, and college undergraduates listened to twenty-four garden path passages containing either expected or unexpected, but acceptable, conclusions. The twenty-four passages were divided into four subsets, with each subset containing …

Special Recreation: A Manual For Theraputic Riding Programs, Robin R. Ryan

All Graduate Projects

Recreational opportunities are limited to individuals with disabilities. Recreation and learning how to utilize leisure time can be more important to individuals with disabilities than to others. Therapeutic riding was studied as a means to meet this perceived need. A manual was developed describing a professionally directed service designed to meet the recreational needs of individuals with disabilities in a therapeutic riding program.