Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

A Survey Of Universal Design At Museums: Current Industry Practice And Perceptions, Jennifer K. Fortuna, Kayleigh Thomas, Jenna Asper, Laura Matney, Kyra Chase, Stephanie Ogren, Julia Vandermolen

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: Museums are key educational and cultural resources in the community, yet many are not accessible to visitors with disabilities. Universal design promotes products and environments usable to the greatest extent possible by all people, regardless of ability. This study explores current industry practice and perceptions of accessibility and universal design in a small sample of American museums. Suggestions for how occupational therapists can help museums go above and beyond ADA guidelines are provided.

Method: An 17-item cross-sectional survey was used to collect data. Twenty-five museum associations assisted with recruitment. A descriptive numerical summary and qualitative analysis were …

Occupational Therapists’ Perspectives On Family-Centered Practices In Early Intervention, Irma J. Pereira, Francine M. Seruya

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: Early intervention (EI) requires service provision in natural settings while incorporating interventions based on family-centered practice (FCP). This study sought to understand (a) how occupational therapists define and implement FCP in their daily interventions and (b) therapists’ perspectives on using this model of practice in EI.

Method: This study used a qualitative, phenomenological approach. Nine licensed occupational therapists from six states with a minimum of 3 years of working experience in the area of EI participated. Semi-structured interviews were recorded, transcribed, and subsequently coded and analyzed for emergent themes.

Results: The therapists had an average of …

Social Participation In College Students With Chronic Pain, Karen Mccarthy, Megan Chamberlain, Megan Chinn, Jennifer Pineda, Camille Santiago, Jamie Spitzer, Patricia Tran

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: College students with invisible disabilities, including chronic pain, often experience difficulty engaging in social occupations, both on and off campus, because of stigma, misconceptions, or social exclusion. Previous research has examined the use of academic accommodations to address these concerns or focused on the physical barriers to participation, failing to address the psychosocial and holistic impact of pain. Chronic pain can affect a variety of occupations, including social participation, which is a significant occupation for college students. This research explores the lived experience of chronic pain for college students and the impact of pain on social participation from …

An Occupational Therapy-Based Supported Education Program For University Students With Various Dsm-5 Diagnoses: Program Description And Academic Outcomes, Victoria Schindler

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: This article describes and provides academic outcomes for an occupational therapy-based supported education program developed to assist undergraduate students with various DSM-5 diagnoses with the academic, social, and psychological skills important for college.

Method: A detailed program description and illustrative example of the intervention is provided. Quantitative designs were used to report retention, graduation, and GPA and to calculate changes in mean cumulative GPA.

Results: Of 83 students who started the program, 80 completed at least one semester (96%). Of these 80, 62 (77.5%) continued at the university for a retention rate of 77.5%, and 43 …

Perceptions And Intervention Practices Of Speech-Language Pathologists Serving Students With Emotional/Behavioral Disorders, Laura A. Getty

Dissertations

A relationship between emotional/behavioral disorders (E/BD) and language deficits has been validated by researchers in special education (Cantwell & Baker, 1991; Beichman, Cantwell, Forness, Kavale, & Kaufmann, 1998; Cohen, Barwick, Horodezky, Vallance, & Im, 1998) as well as researchers in speech-language pathology (Hyter, 2003; Hyter, Rogers-Adkinson, Self, Simmons, Jantz, 2001; Ruhl, Hughes, & Camarata, 1992; Gallagher, 1999; Fujiki, Brinton, Morgan, & Hart, 1999). The exact prevalence rate between E/BD and language deficits was not definitive as it varies between 35% and 97% depending on the study reviewed (Benner, Nelson, & Epstein, 2002). While it has been documented that a relationship …

Work Stress, Non-Work Stress And Mental Health Among School-Based Speech-Language Pathologists: Effects Of Social Support, Lena Gloria Caesar

Dissertations

This study utilized secondary data from the Work and Well-being of SLPs survey (Caesar, 2004) to examine possible sources (predictors) of work stress, job satisfaction, and psychological distress among 409 speech-language pathologists (SLPs) employed in public school settings in Michigan. This study also investigated the relationship of work-related and non-work-related stress to the mental health status of SLPs and sought to determine the mediating and/or moderating effects of varied types of social support on the mental health of respondents. Data analysis was done in three stages. First, each of the dependent and independent variables were described statistically. Secondly, correlation analyses …

Factors Affecting School-Based Speech-Language Pathologists’ Use Of Language Assessment Practices With Bilingual Children, Lena Gloria Caesar

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify the assessment procedures and practices of school-based speech-language pathologists (SLPs) employed in the state of Michigan. A survey method was used to gather information from 409 SLPs regarding the assessment procedures used for assessing both their bilingual students, as well as their monolingual English-speaking students. The survey also gathered information regarding perceptions about language proficiency, professional training, and bilingual assessment products. In order to analyze factors related to their use of recommended practices, the study investigated the relationship between selected demographic, caseload, and work-setting variables, and the type of bilingual assessment methods …

Transitioning And Adapting To College: A Case-Study Analysis Of The Experience Of University Students With Psychiatric Disabilities, Kenneth M. Werner

Dissertations

The psychiatric rehabilitation literature (Unger, 1987) indicates that few studies have been conducted about the adaptational demands associated with the transition to college for young adults with psychiatric disabilities who negotiate the university experience without the benefit o f a supported education program .

The purpose of this study was to describe how individual, social, and institutional factors contributed to the successful transition and adaptation to college life for students with psychiatric disabilities. The study sought to identify how students with psychiatric disabilities disclosed their illness in order to request support services and accommodations, and which services were essential or …

The Prevalence-Based Need For Adapted Physical Education Teachers In The United States, Jiabei Zhang

Human Performance and Health Education Faculty Research

The purpose was to develop a method for projecting the need for adapted physical education (APE) teachers in the public schools in the United States. This method was derived from a prevalence-based model---dividing the nurn- ber of APE students enrolled by the APE student-teacher ratio and then sub- tracting the number of APE teachers hired. This model used the findings of Kelly and Gansneder (1998) that (a) 4% of the school population required APE services and (b) the overall national APE student-teacher ratio was 104: 1. The results revealed a need for 22,116 additional APE teachers nationwide as well as …