Digital Commons Network^™

Fostering Language Development And Literacy In Children From Birth To Two Years Old, Vanessa Vives

Honors Theses

This thesis explores what language is and how its development can impact literacy. It includes a brochure with practical tips for parents and guardians to foster language and literacy development in children from birth to two years old.

Exploring Selective Mutism And Determining The Best Treatment Options, Austin Arroyo

Honors Theses

Selective mutism is a complex childhood anxiety disorder characterized by a child’s inability to speak or communicate effectively in certain social situations but ability to communicate in settings where they are comfortable and relaxed. This paper seeks to explain selective mutism including the description of theories of anxiety, history and etiology of selective mutism, and common characteristics associated with selective mutism. It also contains information about treatment options and determines which treatment is considered the most effective. The conclusion is that there is not one treatment that is considered the best for selective mutism. Selective mutism manifests differently from person …

Examining The Impact Of Living Arrangements On Children's Academic Achievement, Rachel G. Coan

Honors Theses

In my paper I examine how different living arrangements impact how well a child performs in school. The living arrangements are: living with both biological parents, living with biological mother, and living with biological father. Using a linear regression method, I regress living arrangements against GPA and find that children who do not live with both of their biological parents are expected to perform about 0.3 GPA points worse in school than children who do. With added control variables the difference in predicted GPAs decreases. Additionally, I find that living arrangements aren’t predicted to impact children differently depending on their …

Executive Functioning In Language Learning Disabilities: Defining Executive Functioning, Executive Functioning Deficits, And Clinical Intervention Strategies To Support Children, Kaylie Trumble

Honors Theses

This thesis aims to select a working definition of executive functioning (EF) to identify possible EF deficits and clinical interventions strategies to support children. Included are EF deficits, ways of assessing EF components, and intervention strategies for executive dysfunction in LLD. Scenarios are provided to demonstrate both matching strategies to a child and strength/deficit in EF, along with a sample intervention script.

Resilience Training & Parental Support For Children Who Stutter - A Systematic Review, Rachel Elizabeth Davis

Honors Theses

The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between emotional resilience and family/parental/caregiver support for children who stutter, and to review existing research on resilience training and family support relative to enhancing the quality of life in children who stutter. Thus, A systematic review of appropriate published studies was conducted utilizing the electronic databases PubMed and Google Scholar. Analysis revealed that there is an abundance of research supporting parental support and resilience training; however, there was limited direct clinical application relative to the unification of these concepts. Data indicates that the clinical application of emotional resilience and cognitive …

Communication Resources For Deaf Or Hard Of Hearing Children In Mississippi: Parents’ Perspectives, Julia Rossano

Honors Theses

A parent’s ability to communicate with their child through formative years may often be taken for granted, as the options for such communication seem intuitive and apparent. However, hearing parents of children with hearing loss must not only make a choice between several communication methods, but they must also navigate an environment where the methodologies are not clearly delineated. Blaiser and colleague provide succinct descriptions of the most common methods which can be chosen. These methods include listening and spoken language systems, manual-visual systems, and systems combining these two modalities (Blaiser & Bargen, 2018). This choice is often challenging because …

The Impact Of Technology On The Developing Visual And/Or Auditory Memory In School-Aged Children, Cameron Mayer

Honors Theses

This study aimed to determine whether time spent on technology impacts the developing auditory or visual memory in school-aged children. A survey was completed with the child participants to acquire a catalog of time spent on both technological devices and non-technological activities. Tests included a visual and auditory memory assessment adapted from the Preschool Language Scales Fifth Edition (PLS-5). The results indicated that there was no significance between the time spent on technology and the visual and auditory memory scores. However, the researchers did find that the auditory mean scores were significantly different from the visual mean scores across the …

Differential Effects Of Verbal And Written Disclosure On Perceptions Of A Child Who Stutters, Peyton Mcknight

Honors Theses

This study measured perceptions of a 12-year-old boy who stutters, relative to perceived speech skills and personal characteristics, as a function of seven potential stuttering disclosure conditions, featuring either a personal verbal disclosure, written disclosure, or no disclosure, delivered by various authors (i.e., self/child, mother, teacher). 641 participants college-aged adults were randomly assigned to one of seven stuttering disclosure groups: no disclosure control, verbal self-disclosure, written self-disclosure, verbal mother disclosure, written mother disclosure, verbal teacher disclosure, or written teacher disclosure. Participants in the control group viewed a brief video of a 12-year-old male who stutters reciting a short passage. Participants …

"We Missed Our Youth": The Identity Formation Of Child Migrants, Refugees, And Jewish Children In France From 1940 To 1942, Michaela Maria Gouge Watson

Honors Theses

From 1940 – 1942, hundreds of Jewish children from Germany, Austria, Russia, and France were hidden from Nazi and Vichy French authorities in children’s homes in France. These homes were administered by the Oeuvre de Secours aux Enfants, a Jewish aid organization that assisted children in need during World War II. This study employs a quantitative content analysis of the testimonies of twenty Holocaust survivors who were hidden children in France between 1940 and 1942 to investigate to what extent the experience of outsider status and trauma affected these children’s personal and religious identity formation. The analysis finds that the …

Teaching Echoics To A Student With Autism: Video Model Vs Live Model, Dana Waddell

Honors Theses

Learning a language is not always an easy task for all children. Typically, language is a skill that comes naturally very young in a child’s life, but for children with autism, the path to learning language is very different. The first stages of learning language involve many skills, one of which are called “echoic skills,” because the child directly echoes a sound a person elicits. This is fundamental to learning language, especially in children with autism. The field of behavior analysis has conducted great amounts of research on this topic and has found that using technology in therapy sessions can …

The Effects Of Yoga On Balance For Elementary School Aged Children Receiving Occupational Therapy, Amelia J. Hunley

Honors Theses

Balance is crucial to many daily life activities and is an indicator of independence. The addition of yoga has been shown to improve balance deficits in children, self-reported healthy adults, elderly individuals, and those with Other Health Impairments such as Autism Spectrum Disorder. Yoga is a holistic method, incorporating mind, body, and soul. This holistic method is what occupational therapy operates under as well, allowing the two to work in tandem for the improvement of balance. This study explored the effects of implementing yoga to students receiving occupational therapy services for balance deficits. The Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency balance …

A Comparative Study Of Esl Children's Improvement In Reading, Writing, Listening, And Speaking Using The Grapeseed Program, Morgan Mainess

Honors Theses

GrapeSEED is a program currently administered in the Berrien Springs Public School System that is specifically designed to improve literacy (reading and writing), listening, and speaking skills for English as a Second Language (ESL) chi ldren. This study analyzed whether the GrapeSEED program would significantly improve participants' development when compared to their pre-tests. Empirical observational data was additionally collected at Mars Elementary during the 2018-2019 academic year. A statistical analysis indicated significant advancement in listening and literacy with increased improvement for younger participants in the GrapeSEED program.

Purpose

This study aimed to determine the improvement in participant's development in the …

Exercise Program At Seacoast Youth Academy, Mamie R. Henshaw, Justin Guilkey

Honors Theses

Worldwide the prevalence of child obesity is increasing, this affects many aspect of their daily lives, including their overall health and quality of life. The purpose of this study was to discuss different options to prevent and combat adolescent obesity in children at an impatient health facility. This study included children living in an inpatient health facility, The Seacoast Youth center. A majority of these patients are on atypical medications for various reasons including psychiatric illnesses. An unfortunate side effect from atypical medications is weight gain. This study used a variety of different methods including muscular endurance and cardiovascular training …

Social Skills Training And Generalization Of Skills In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Brittany Wright

Honors Theses

The social deficits observed in individiuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can often be improved with social skills training. The current study evaluated the effects of the Superheroes Social Skills training program which uses animated superheroes, video modeling, and comic books to teach social skills training. Three participants with ASD were trained in Conversation, Responding to Questions, and Body Basics over ten sessions, with sessions occurring twice a week in a non-school setting at the Arc of Southeast Mississippi. A multiple baseline across skills design across participants was used to examine the effects of the intervention on skill …

Campbell Elementary Afterschool Nutrition Science Club: Fun With Food, Natalie Strawhecker

Honors Theses

Several schools in the Lincoln Public School district have afterschool programs for students from 3:30-5:00pm in order to provide a safe and fun place for students to play while their parents are still at work. For this Honors Thesis an afterschool nutrition club was created for students to learn about MyPlate and healthy living.

A seven-week curriculum was created for students at Campbell Elementary with each week focusing on a different food group in MyPlate and healthy living as a whole. In order to track the students’ progress, an eight question pre and post quiz was developed. A weekly journal …

War's Children, Julie Niejadlik

Honors Theses

When one thinks of war, one does not often think of children. Images of Navy SEALS in camouflage tanks and the desert may come to mind when thinking of modern war. Those of Pearl Harbor, the Allied Forces, and Hitler may arise when thinking of war in a more historical sense. In the mind of the civilian children and the key role that they play in armed conflict rarely surfaces. In this thesis, I will address the function of children in war by arguing that their assumed innocence, as well as their assumed status as a "child" makes them easily …

Neuropsychological Test Performance In Pediatric Tbi, Learning Disability, And Adhd: Difference In Reliable Digit Span, Emily West

Honors Theses

Children have been found to give non-credible performances on neuropsychological evaluations and using Performance Validity Tests (PVT) can help identify such cases, but maximum effort is necessary for tests to be reliable for determining next steps. This study assessed the differences in rates of non-credible performance on the Reliable Digit Span (RDS) between traumatic brain injury (TBI), learning disability (LD) and ADHD diagnoses in a pediatric clinical sample. It was hypothesized that those with ADHD would have a higher failure rate than those with either TBI or LD. RDS data from 200 clients referred to neuropsychological testing agencies were collected …

Interactive Physical And Cognitive Exercise System (Ipaces™): The Neuropsychological Effects For Youth On The Autism Spectrum, Michaela Haller

Honors Theses

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects 1 in 68 children in the United States (Center for Disease Control, 2016). The disorder is characterized by deficits in social interaction, verbal communication, restricted interests, and repetitive behaviors (DSM- V, 2013). While the apparent cause of ASD is biological, the diagnosis remains based on social deficits (Hapé & Frith, 1996). Exercise has been found to improve executive function for children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder, but motivation is an issue and exergames hold promise. This pilot study evaluated an interactive Physical and Cognitive Exercise System (iPACES™), wherein children pedal …

Theory Of Mind In Children And Adolescents On The Autism Spectrum: Comparison With Normative Individuals, Courtney Cross

Honors Theses

Theory of Mind (ToM) is the ability to recognize mental states of oneself and that of other individuals (Parsons & Mitchell, 2002), which typically evolves with age in normative individuals (Hutchins et al., 2011). Research has shown that autistic (ASD) individuals lack a developed ToM and that this triggers social impairments (Rajendran, 2013; Mathersul et al., 2013). The developmental progress of ToM in children on the spectrum is unknown; therefore, this study analyzed normative individuals and those on the spectrum to discover how the development of ToM in these two groups may differ with age. This study hypothesized that normative …

Reducing Social Demands In Child Eyewitness Memory Using Robot Interviewers, A. Zachary Buchanan

Honors Theses

A recent study showed that children's memory for a witnessed event was not impaired when misleading post-event information was presented by a robot interviewer. However, their memory was impaired when the misleading information was presented by a human interviewer, despite the implementation of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development's Investigative Interview Protocol (NICHD). The NICHD is specifically designed to elicit veridical information from child eyewitnesses, in both human and robot conditions. The proposed explanation for these memory findings is that the social demands inherent in human interviewers were not present in robot interviewers. The current study sought …

A Comparative Analysis Of Mixed Race Marriage In Fiji And The United States, Rachel Kung

Honors Theses

In Fiji it is imperative to belong to group, particularly a racial/ethnic group because of a history of ethnic pluralism under British colonialism. Making connections and forming relationships is all determined by one’s racial/ethnic group. Due to this, belonging to two groups, especially if those two distinct races do not get along, such as indigenous Fijians and Indo‐Fijians, it becomes increasingly difficult to create a system of social networks. Fijians also tend to define ethnicity in terms of behavior rather than simply looking at one’s biology. If one cannot speak the native language of that particular race, he or she …

Becoming Our Parents: A Proposed Investigation Into Family Influence In Consumer Behavior, Katie E. Bowman

Honors Theses

Relationships between children and parents have been studied for years across multiple disciplines. Family ties affect countless decisions made throughout the world, making this study relevant to multiple researchers. The need to understand these family influences is particularly important within the business world. Because sales are the goal, being able to comprehend why a consumer purchases one product over the rest of its competition is crucial. This paper is focused specifically on the relationships between parents and their children and how that relationship affects the consumer behavior of the children. These relationships are being studied through intergenerational consumer patterns including …

To Screen Or Not To Screen Parent’S Perceptions Of Eye Care Prevention For Pre-School Age Children, Bonnie E. Keaton

Honors Theses

One in 20 children is at risk for permanent vision loss from disorders such as amblyopia and strabismus (Why Save Sight, 2016). Despite vision disorders and childhood blindness being a common disability in children, preventative vision screenings are not at the center of prevention discussions. Studies have suggested that vision screenings for young children are beneficial in preventing permanent vision loss (Vision Screenings for Healthy Vision, 2016). Vision screenings for preschool children are important and require more attention in the United States. This descriptive study addressed parental perceptions of early detection of vision problems among preschoolers in southeast Mississippi as …

Understanding Childhood Hunger: A Qualitative Look At The Issues Hindering Progress In The United States, Samantha Kropp

Honors Theses

This thesis examines childhood hunger as roughly 1 in 5 kids live in households that struggle to put food on the table. These children experience physical problems as a result of their food instability, but this problem is connected to other personal and societal issues, such as poor education. To understand how hunger affects children, this study began with a historical analysis of the past 60 years of government supported programs and policies, such as the school breakfasts and summer lunch programs. Four interviews were conducted with different experts in the field, specifically three individuals from a prominent national non‐profit …

Reducing Anxiety And Increasing Social Skills In Children With Asperger's Through Drama And Role-Playing Games, Rachel Magin

Honors Theses

Children with Asperger’s syndrome have higher than typical levels of anxiety; moreover, their level of anxiety is related to their degree of social skills deficits. In non-clinical populations, role-playing and drama techniques have been used successfully to lower anxiety and increase social skills. We held seven sessions of role-playing and theater exercises, conducted in small groups, focused on specific social skills (getting to know people/introducing self, working together/trust/listening, reading emotions/nonverbal cues, self-control/assertiveness, managing stress and anxiety, detecting emotions through the voice, understanding others’ perspectives/cooperation). We examined whether participation in these sessions would lower anxiety and increase social skills in children …

Toys Don't Have A Gender: Gender Play And Aggression In A Small Co-Operative Play Based Preschool, Bryn Peterson

Honors Theses

In this thesis I explore the relationship between gender and free-play in a small, cooperative preschool in Niskayuna, New York. While psychologists and sociologists have studied gender in young children, I found that children had been largely overlooked in the field of anthropology. While some anthropologists have historically believed that children do not fully understand their culture and cannot be reliable informants, I believe that there is much we can learn by understanding children's games - which often reflect our culture. Through observing children's free play I was able to analyze gender conforming/nonconforming play, aggression, and the themes of the …

Language Development Of Bilingual Russian/English Speaking Children Living In The United States: A Review Of The Literature, Jeanette D. Grosman

Honors Theses

The number of bilingual speakers in the United States is increasing. Children in particular provide unique contributions and challenges to the English-speaking communities in which they live. Various aspects of the young bilingual population have been studied, including an emphasis on the communicative abilities and trends of such children. However, there is a paucity of research regarding communication of bilingual Russian/English-speaking children. The purpose of this project is to review the existing literature on the language development of bilingual Russian/English-speaking children as compared to that of monolingual English-speaking children to establish grounds for further research about this increasing population. The …

Speech And Language Interventions, Holly Hajnal

Honors Theses

In this review of literature, authors examined the effects of speech and language impairments and how to correct them. 15 studies were review that compared when interventions should be implemented, what the best types of interventions are and how speech and language impairments affected children's development. The overall question is, How do interventions assist in correcting speech and language impairments? In order to answer this question, the questions, What are speech and language impairments? Do speech and language impairments affect children's psychological attitude? Do speech and language impairments affect children's behavior? Do speech and language impairments affect children's ability to …

Subjective Well-Being Of Adolescents: Single- Versus Two-Parent Households, Diana Fletcher

Honors Theses

Adolescent well-being is an important issue in society today. There are a growing number of children being raised in single-parent households, which raises questions as to whether or not these children are worse off than children raised in two-parent households. Using the 2010 American Time Use Survey Well-Being Module, this study investigates if the subjective well-being of children raised in single-parent households is worse than that of children raised in a two-parent household. Two measures of subjective well-being-the U-index and net affect-are analyzed. The U-index measures the proportion of time a respondent spends in an unpleasant state and net affect …

Parental Involvement In Speech-Language Intervention, Victoria Beech Finley

Honors Theses

This thesis examines how parents of children who are successful in therapy are involved, from the parent’s perspective. Literature on parental involvement in therapy is limited, especially findings from the parent’s perspective. This thesis follows a phenomenological qualitative design. The investigator interviewed three mothers regarding their participation. The investigator then transcribed the interviews and cyclically analyzed them to find salient themes across all three. There were two shared themes, acceptance and emotions. It is hoped that this study will provide insight for other parents so that they can contribute to their children’s success in speech-language intervention.