Special Education and Teaching Commons^™

Do Dyslexia Laws Help Students With Visual Impairments Receive Needed Reading Supports? A Mixed-Methods Approach., Lindsay N. Harris, Johnnie Jones, Molly Pasley, Lisa Liberty, Tiffany Puckett

CISLL Publications

Teachers of students with visual impairments (TSVIs) have long expressed frustrations about the difficulty of getting a dyslexia diagnosis for students with visual impairments, but there is limited data to validate their concerns. Moreover, although most U.S. states have passed dyslexia laws that require universal screening and/or intervention for students with dyslexia, the laws may not be applied equally across all populations of students. A mixed-methods approach can validate TSVIs’ perspectives by revealing whether dyslexia legislation is associated with TSVIs’ perceptions of how their students’ needs are being met. To this end, we conducted a qualitative analysis of TSVI survey …

Music Education Within An Autism Support Classroom: Building Community And Educational Skills, Emma Lamberti

Honors Theses

The purpose of this action research study was to explore how music education might provide a sense of community, develop educational skills, and discuss general best practices for teaching students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in a middle school autism support classroom. To examine community, educational skills, and best practices, this study completed two cycles of action research. The curriculum in Cycle 1 consisted of typical music lessons for a general music classroom. Interviews with teachers and students, video observations, and researcher reflections after each lesson were used to inform the development of Cycle 2. Cycle 2 retained the overall …

Unlocking Understanding About Giftedness, David Wolff

Open Educational Resources - Teaching and Learning

The goal of undergraduate teacher preparation programs is to prepare future teachers to work with all learners. Gifted and talented learners are likely found in every classroom regardless of where they reside, however, according to Rinn et al. (2022), Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Nebraska do not require undergraduate teacher candidates to take university coursework on gifted education. The goal of this presentation is to provide a general overview of gifted education specific to Kansas. This presentation aims to address myths and misconceptions about gifted education and gifted learners, characteristics of gifted learners, a basic overview of a general identification …

Dueling Abilities, Behaviors, And Characteristics Of Gifted Learners, David Wolff

Open Educational Resources - Teaching and Learning

Using the Star Wars’ characters, R2-D2 and C-3PO as analogies, educators can better conceptualize the diverse ability, behaviors, and characteristics of gifted learners. Gifted learners do not fit a single profile and this essay aims to help challenge stereotypes teachers may have of gifted learners and highlight the diverse cognitive, social, and emotional needs gifted learners may have.

Using Naturalistic Language Interventions To Increase Expressive Communication Of Aac Users With Autism, Kacey Eaton

Theses and Dissertations--Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education

This study's purpose was to use naturalistic language interventions to increase the communication rate via alternative and augmentative communication during play with young children with autism. A nonconcurrent multiple baseline design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of a combination of naturalistic language interventions when implemented during 10-minute play sessions within the participants resource classroom. Naturalistic language interventions utilized include aided language modeling, environmental arrangements, naturalistic time delay, and language expansions. Results indicated that naturalistic language interventions are effective in increasing expressive communication via AAC with children with autism.

Group Vs. Individual Video Modeling For Acquisition Of Pilates For Individuals With Disabilities, Brittany Rounce

Theses and Dissertations--Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education

This study presents findings from an alternating treatment design investigation into the efficacy of group versus individual video modeling in facilitating the acquisition of Pilates techniques among individuals with disabilities. The study aimed to assess how these different instructional modalities influenced participants' learning outcomes. The research involved a detailed analysis of two participants, with a focus on observing any variations in their response patterns during the acquisition phase. Through systematic data collection and analysis, the study evaluated the effectiveness of group versus individual Pilates video modeling. The results revealed distinct responses within the participant group, with one individual exhibiting differential …

Building Independence Through Structured Work Systems For Students With Moderate To Severe Disabilities, Maggie Smith

Theses and Dissertations--Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education

Students, especially those with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities oftentimes need support in learning to work independently. This study examined if the use of structured work systems increased student independence during regular scheduled independent work times in the general education and MSD special education classrooms. Using a single-case multiple-probe design, this study measured the percentage of steps completed independently when working with academic tasks related to individual IEP goals.

Child Language And Happiness Behaviors: Evaluating The Effects Of Caregiver Coaching, Ashlen Grubbs

Theses and Dissertations--Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education

Caregivers of young children who have or are at risk for disabilities may struggle supporting their child’s language development. This study used a tailored rapid coaching intervention to teach a caregiver different naturalistic language interventions that can be used with their child during play. Evidence-based naturalistic skills for increasing child communication were chosen to teach the caregiver based on baseline levels of skills. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a tailored RCI (training and coaching) with caregivers of children with developmental disabilities. Like other studies, this study involved evaluating child-level communication but extended child measures …

Training Paraprofessionals In The Implementation Of Aided Language Modeling With Individuals With Intellectual Disabilities And Ccn, Julianne Hill

Theses and Dissertations--Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education

The purpose of this research is to train special education paraprofessionals in the implementation of Aided Language Modeling (ALM) through a coaching program. A single-case multiple probe design across three paraprofessional/student dyads was used to analyze data. Coaching procedures included a single 20-minute training workshop with the researcher between baseline and intervention and post-session conversations after each intervention trial. The research took place in a public school in the southeastern United States. The school was located outside of a metropolitan area in a suburban school district. The study took place to answer the following questions: (1) With the implementation of …

Pixels Or People: A Comparison Of The Differenital Effects Of Animated And Human Video Models On Exercise Behaviors For Hgh School Students With Intellectual Disability, Jade Alexis Fulkerson

Theses and Dissertations--Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education

Individuals with intellectual disabilities, with or without autism spectrum disorder, often require structured programming to facilitate acquisition of skills. Video modeling, an evidence-based strategy, offers a promising avenue for skill instruction. While research has demonstrated the effectiveness of human-modeled video interventions, limited research has been conducted into the efficacy of animated models. Addressing this gap, the present study employed an alternating treatments design to compare the effectiveness of human and animated models in teaching exercise behaviors to high school students with intellectual disabilities, with or without autism spectrum disorder. Results revealed variability among participants: one individual exhibited superior performance with …

The Effects Of A Stay-Play-Talk Intervention On Social Communicative Acts For Elementary Aged Children With And Without Disabilities, Mackenzie Loar

Theses and Dissertations--Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of the Stay-Play-Talk (SPT) intervention for increasing the rate of peer interactions among elementary-aged students who display social deficits or delays in a free-time small group setting. Peermediated instruction (PMI) is used to teach typically developing peers’ ways to interact with and help learners with disabilities acquire or increase social skills by increasing social opportunities within natural environments. With PMI, peers are systematically taught ways of engaging learners with disabilities in social interactions (Neitzel, 2008). PMIs are designed to support target children without interrupting the natural interactions between peers. One …

Differential Effects Of Criteria For Increasing Delay Intervals In Progressive Time Delay, Kai O'Neill

Theses and Dissertations--Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education

The purpose of the study was to compare the differential effects of response independent and response-dependent criteria used to determine when to increase to the next delay interval in the progressive time delay (PTD) procedure. An adapted alternating treatments design was used to evaluate the relative efficiency of three variations of the PTD procedure when teaching expressive word identification to first-grade children with moderate to severe intellectual or developmental disabilities, language impairments, and reading deficits. All three PTD variations consisted of increasing the delay interval in 1-s increments from 0s to 4s. The three PTD variations compared included (a) a …

Multi-Tiered Professional Development System To Increase Paraprofessional Use Of Behavior Specific Praise, Lauren Phillips

Theses and Dissertations--Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education

To further support learning in self-contained settings, it is crucial for both teachers and paraprofessionals to implement effective classroom and behavior management strategies. Behavior specific praise (BSP) is one strategy that has been taught to teachers and used in general education classrooms to increase positive student outcomes (Gage et al., 2017) In this study, we used a multi-tiered system for professional development to increase paraprofessionals’ rate of BSP in a self-contained special education setting during one-to-one instructional activities. The results of this study indicated that Tier 1 professional development was sufficient for the paraprofessionals, and it not only increased paraprofessionals’ …

The Effects Of Hierarchical Training On The Emergence Of Emotion-Related Metaphors In Autistic Children, Katherine Lynch

Theses and Dissertations--Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education

Recently, research on derived relational responding has increased in volume, along with the publication of assessments, curricula, and textbooks on this topic. The allure of engineering derived relations due to purported accelerated learning makes this topic interesting to researchers and practitioners. Recent reviews have examined types of verbal operants, and specific relational frames studied in this body of literature, but there is scarcity in terms of the instructional procedures and variations thereof, and there is little available to focus on single case design (SCD) evaluations of these procedures. Hierarchical training (HT) to produce derived relations between arbitrary stimuli has shown …

Inclusion And Teaching Students With Disabilities In Belize, Yvonne Mcfadzean

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This qualitative study investigated the preparedness of teachers in the southern districts of Belize to meet the educational needs of students with disabilities in general education classrooms. Despite the Belize Ministry of Education’s 2016 licensure requirement for all teachers, there is no national mandate for ongoing professional training, especially in special education. This study explored how 17 elementary and secondary teachers, five site administrators, and three teacher educators were equipped to handle diverse learners, particularly those with disabilities.

The research employed a phenomenological approach to understand teacher experiences with inclusion. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, conducted via Zoom and …

The Effect Of Asynchronous Pre-Service Training On Aac Strategy Use, Cheri Dodge Chin

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the impact of a one-time online, asynchronous training program on graduate students' use of communication partner strategies for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) users. The study examines the training effect on the overall correct usage of naturalistic communication partner strategies, the implementation immediacy, the influence of feedback, and the training's benefits and drawbacks. Using an A-B single case research design with qualitative feedback, the study included pre-service university students studying speech pathology or education. Participants engaged in storybook reading activities with communication devices at a university clinic to establish baseline measures. Following this, they completed a one-hour …

Barriers Secondary Special Education Teachers Face When Developing Transition Plans For Students With Disabilities, Charles Joseph Baima

Theses and Dissertations

The process of transitioning from high school to adulthood is an intimidating one for disabled students. It is also cumbersome for the individuals that work with these students. Transition planning and services for students with disabilities differ across schools across the United States. By the time they turn sixteen, students with disabilities must have a transition plan created within their individualized education program in accordance with federal and state laws. These mandates present challenges to educators as they develop plans for a disabled student’s postsecondary life. Success for disabled students should focus on their interests and strengths while considering their …

Caring For The Caregiver: A Study On The Quality Of Life Of Informal Caregivers Of Aging And Elderly Adults With Down Syndrome, Isabel E. Latorre-Lagos

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This research studied the quality of life of informal caregivers of aging and elderly adults with Down syndrome. Prior research indicates some degree of deteriorating Quality of Life (QoL) for caregivers, however, there is no empirical research isolating the aspect QoL affected. This study seeks to research the following two questions: 1) What are the trends in the four domains that influence Quality of Life, both positively and negatively, of informal caregivers of aging and elderly adults with Down syndrome? and 2)What supports do caregivers of aging and elderly adults with Down syndrome want to improve their own Quality of …

Diverse Minds, Shared Planet: Designing, Assessing, And Adapting Curricula To Engage Diverse Learners With Their Environment And Inspire Positive Change, Mallory Rose Lampe

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

The pieces that compose this portfolio together explore how environmental education can connect diverse learners to their environment through the integration of accessible curricula to inspire stewardship and action to take care of the planet we share.

Ecpse 733: Advanced Seminar In Aba Syllabus, Lenwood Gibson

Open Educational Resources

No abstract provided.

Instrumental Assessment Of Aero-Resistive Expiratory Muscle Strength Rehabilitation Devices, Angela M. Dietsch, Rahul Krishnamurthy, Kelsey Young, Steven M. Barlow

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Purpose

Expiratory muscle strength training (EMST) is increasingly being used to treat voice, cough, and swallowing deficits in a wide range of conditions. However, a multitude of aero-resistive EMST models are commercially available, and the absence of side-by-side comparative data interferes with clinicians’ ability to assess which model is best suited to a particular client’s needs. The primary aim of this research was to test and compare the pressure and flow parameters of six currently available EMST models to help inform clinical decision making.

Method

We identified and tested five devices of each of six different EMST models to generate …

Ethnic-Racial Socialization Experiences Of Mexican American Youth, Katherine J. Bingham, Elizabeth A. Cutrer-Párraga, Timothy B. Smith

Faculty Publications

Research has shown that ethnic–racial socialization (ERS) predicts education and mental health outcomes for adolescents. However, limited research has evaluated the ERS experiences of Latinx students. The current study examined ERS experiences of Mexican American youth in four focus group interviews that were transcribed and analyzed at both the individual and group level using interpretive phenomenological analysis. Main themes included feeling like an outsider, navigating discrimination, encountering social/emotional difficulties, and achieving a positive identity. Each theme contained two to three subcategories that provide further insight into the Mexican Americans' ERS experiences. Participants reported within-group discrimination, motivation to disprove stereotypes, and …

Preservice Preparation Practices To Increase Family-Professional Collaboration: A Mixed-Methods Systematic Review, Chelsea Pansé-Barone, Janet Vanlone, Annie George-Puskar, Lisa Ziegler

Faculty Journal Articles

Due to the important impact family-professional collaboration has on child outcomes for infants, toddlers, children, and students with disabilities, research in special education preservice personnel preparation has evaluated the impact of higher education programs and curricula geared towards improving preservice educators’ knowledge and practices regarding family-professional collaboration in inclusive settings. The resulting qualitative and quantitative literature has provided the field with insights as to instructional strategies faculty have implemented to better prepare preservice special educators to collaborate with families. The purpose of this mixed-methods systematic review was to identify and synthesize the current state of knowledge behind these instructional strategies …

How Virtual Reality Simulations Prepare Teachers In Teacher Preparation Programs For Inclusive Classrooms, Lorilei G. Thompson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Teacher preparation programs are ever evolving based on research and student needs. The use of technology, such as virtual reality (VR), is at the forefront of education to help provide opportunities for teacher candidates to practice teaching in a semi-authentic classroom environment of students with and without exceptionalities. VR is a way for teacher candidates to practice teaching in a structured and conceivably less stressful environment in comparison to a real brick and mortar inclusive classroom. This qualitative study utilizes interviewing with video cuing for two novice teacher participants who went through the same inclusive education course at a major …

The Effects Of The Video Modeling Product Gemiini© On Verbal Response Production Of Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder Who Are Nonspeaking Or Minimally Speaking, Miranda Ann Galvin

Dissertations and Theses

The current study evaluates the effectiveness of the commercial video modeling program GemIIni© (GemIIni© Educational Systems, 2012) in increasing expressive spoken language production in individuals who exhibit characteristics of autism spectrum disorder and are considered nonspeaking or minimally speaking. Based upon the principles of Applied Behavioral Analysis, video modeling has been identified as an evidence-based practice in teaching skills to students with disabilities. In this study, the criteria for using a single-case alternating treatment design embedded within an AB experimental design was implemented to evaluate the effect of the video modeling system on the number of responses produced.

Academic Grouping And School Sense Of Belonging: An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis Of Middle School Student Voices, Kevin Cox

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

School sense of belonging is critical for students’ academic achievement and emotional well-being. The development of a sense of school belonging is influenced by direct and indirect factors within the school environment. Categorization into low and high achievement groups based on academics is a process largely outside the direct control of a student. This study employed an interpretive phenomenological analysis of interviews conducted with 17 seventh- and eighth-grade students about their belonging experience in a Midwestern public middle school. Experiences of students academically categorized as high, typical, or low achievers were compared and described in the context of three emergent …

Effective Communication With People With Dementia: An Exploratory Study Of Pre-Registration Occupational Therapy Students, Samita Kirve, Lucy Perkins

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

Dementia is a major global concern, with 50 million people already affected worldwide in 2018, and this number is expected to triple by 2050. Healthcare practitioners, specifically occupational therapists, are responsible for providing care and ensuring the well-being of people with dementia. However, occupational therapy students may not always have the necessary knowledge and skills to effectively communicate and support dementia patients, which could negatively impact the quality of care they provide. To explore this issue, a study was conducted with final-year pre-registration occupational therapy students at a public university in England. The study used a qualitative methodology, with semi-structured …

Qualitative Evaluation Of Interprofessional Education Experiential Learning (Ipeel) For Health Professional Students, Kelle Deboth Foust, Madalynn Wendland, John Schaefer, Suzanne Giuffre, Donald Allensworth-Davies

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

Interprofessional education (IPE) is critical for health professional students to form professional identities and develop collaborative skills. Although accrediting bodies mandate incorporating IPE, the effects of IPE programming on health professional students and the best pedagogical approach for achieving desirable outcomes are still unclear. In addition, specific effects of IPE within the context of experiential learning are not fully understood. That is, the literature has not presented a clear framework for structuring IPE programs, nor have outcome measures for IPE utilizing experiential learning (IPEEL) been established. The purpose of this study was to complete a grounded theory qualitative analysis of …

Power Of Partnership: The Effects Of Parent Training In Aided-Language Input On The Use Of Core Vocabulary Boards In The Homes Of Preschool Children: A Program Evaluation, Stephanie Jean Smith

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) systems play a crucial role in enhancing communication, language development, and learning for children with complex communication needs (CCN). Research suggests that AAC can significantly improve interaction with communication partners and mitigate risks in various developmental areas such as functional communication skills, speech, social engagement, and academic participation.

Early intervention is paramount for children with CCN to foster speech and language development, enabling them to express needs, interact socially, and lay the groundwork for future language skills. Introducing AAC systems early on and ensuring frequent exposure are essential for natural integration. Parents and caregivers must …

The Importance Of Endrew: Analyzing The Influence Of A New Legal Precedent In Pennsylvania Due Process Hearing Officer Decisions Before And After Covid-19 Closures, David H. Rush

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

In 2017, a new standard for determining substantive violations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was established with the ruling for Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District. Recently, the United States Department of Education and State Education Agencies have cited the Endrew decision as being important in defining what constitutes a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) under the IDEA, in light of mandated school closures due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Despite its noted importance, there has been limited analysis into how this new legal precedent has influenced special education due process hearing officer decisions. …