The purpose of this study is to increase understanding of how parents of children in need of special support have experienced their interaction with the pre-school. Our three main areas of interest were to investigate how several parents experienced their contact with the pre-school, if there were any experienced factors that had played a part in the contact with the pre-school and if we could conclude anything about how the curriculum had been followed in these cases, with assistance of the parents’ experiences. Our study is qualitative and we chose to interview six parents. We both participated in all of the interviews. The theoretical base of this study is rooted in the phenomenological theory and we also used the framework factor theory to complement our analysis. One of our conclusions was that the parents expressed so many different experiences that we decide not to try compare them in general. On the other hand, all of the parents expressed that they were the ones who knew their children best and due to that, another conclusion that we interpreted was that the pre-school educators should pay attention to the parents so as to ensure that their contact would work as well as possible.

This thesis investigates the positioning of partnership in the process of assessing a child's special educational needs. It looks at partnership in parent-professional relationships and in relationships between different professionals. Two case studies provide the empirical basis of the research: one of the first two years of an LEA parent partnership project, the other of a child, David, whose 'special educational needs' were in the process of being assessed. The reasons for choosing case studies, the kind of knowledge this would be expected to generate, and issues of validity are discussed. This thesis looks at whether an educational psychology service can act in partnership with parents by analysing a variety of data from an LEA Parent Partnership Scheme. It also investigates the meaning of partnership for the stakeholders of a child's statutory special educational needs assessment by looking at the views of everyone involved in one child (David)'s statutory assessment. The people interviewed are the child, the mother, the named person, the head teacher, the class teacher, the special education needs coordinator, the educational psychologist, the clinical psychologist, the senior clinical medical officer, the occupational therapist, and the acting principal educational psychologist. They are asked their views of the child's situation, what they think assessment is really about, what their role is in the assessment, what kind of partnership they experience in the assessment, what kind of partnership is possible, and where power is located in the assessment. Two case studies raise many questions about conceptions of 'professional', 'need', 'objectivity' and 'partnership'. Five key areas are identified from the results of the two case studies for further discussion. The first two areas each take a different unexpected finding with the aim of an explanation: 1) David's Mother's achievement of her aim of a statement emphasising David's learning difficulties rather than behavioural difficulties, despite the school's insistence on the latter; and 2) The discovery of David as lacking agency in the assessment process. The explanation incorporates the descriptive and the theoretical. Engestrom's activity theory assists an understanding of the boundary crossing accomplished by David's Mother in the realisation of her goal. The last three areas theorise about, respectively, partnership, power and statementing. The basis of multi-disciplinary assessment is challenged. Instead of one multi-disciplinary assessment in one case there are as many assessments as there are participants. Statementing is suggested to involve the painful negotiation of different discourse within a complex power structure. Implications for professionals working with children deemed to have special educational needs are discussed and policy changes are considered. Methodological issues for the position of the researcher, as insider practitioner, outsider practitioner and outside researcher is reflected upon.

This study investigated the effects of family structure on Italian grandmothers' perceptions of their level of involvement, role conceptualizations and their positions on common familial issues. The sample consisted of Italian grandmothers from two groups of families: intact families (N = 30) in which grandmothers' adult children were in first marriages; and divorced families (N = 23) in which grandmothers' adult children were permanently separated or divorced. Level of involvement was operationalized in terms of contact, specifically frequency of visitation and telephone calls, between a grandparent and a grandchild. Variables that have been found to influence contact (a grandparent's custodial and kinship relationships, geographic distance, age of both grandparent and grandchild, and grandparent-parent accord) were also assessed. A grandparent's role within the family was operationalized in terms of their level of agreement to statements made by grandparents about their roles as involved family members, special protectors of grandchildren, available family members, conveyers of cultural traditions, and family "watchdogs". A grandparent's view with respect to contemporary family issues was assessed through their responses to statements about contemporary family life. The results indicate that contact was significantly greater between grandmothers and grandchildren in the intact as opposed to the divorced group. Grandmothers' roles within the family as well as their attitudes towards various family issues were not found to differ across family type. The findings were discussed in light of cultural and ethnic perspectives on divorce.

Teaching children with autism to interact with their typically developing peers can be a challenge. Previous research has documented that there are many effective ways to teach social interaction; however, these interventions were implemented almost exclusively by trained professionals. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of parent-implemented contextually supported play dates. Specifically, two parents were taught to use mutual reinforcement and to design cooperative arrangements to help their child with autism to interact with a typical peer in their homes. Two independent reversal designs were used to demonstrate a functional relationship between parent-supported contextually supported play dates and an increase in synchronous reciprocal interactions for both participants. Social validity was also high for both parents; however, there was no consistent impact on participant, confederate, or parent affect. The results are discussed with reference to previous research, future directions, and implications for practice.

This study set out to examine the relative influence of personal and school-based characteristics and parental involvement on mothers’ and fathers’ perceptions of public school performance. A national and representative sample of parents of school-aged children (N= 2008) were asked to award a grade (A, B, C, D or F) to their community school. There is a significant lack of empirical study of the factors influencing parents’ perceptions of school performance. The present study controlled for the socioeconomic status of parents and the community school being graded. Parental involvement in schools and assisting with homework are elements of parents’ relations with schools and were controlled for in the multivariate analysis. It was found that mothers and fathers are differentially influenced by personal and school-based characteristics; and, of import, there is a negative and significant association between participation in school-based activities and a father’s perception of school performance. The opposite association with participation in school-based activities was observed for mothers. Further, perceptions of “Failing” schools are influenced to a greater extent by the socioeconomic status of the parent and of the school. The results are interpreted by gendering the relations between parents and schools, and drawing from feminist standpoint theory. Particular focus is brought to the discordant association of parental involvement and the grades awarded to schools by mothers and fathers.

The psychometric properties of this Parental Stressor Scale: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (PSS:NICU) were assessed, before using the scale to describe stress experienced by parents in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). The extent to which parental stress from the parent-infant relationship in the unit was linked to parenting they received as a child, and adjustment to their couple relationship, was also examined. The sample consisted of 182 mothers and 183 fathers, who were in a cohabitating relationship, of infants from the NICU at Christchurch Women's Hospital. The self-report questionnaires included the PSS:NICU, Parental Bonding Instrument, and the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, and were administered to parents within 2-3 weeks of their infant's birth. This study extends the finding of satisfactory psychometric properties of the PSS:NICU (Franck, Cox, Allen & Winter, 2005; Miles, Funk & Carlson, 1993; Reid & Bramwell, 2003) to this New Zealand sample. Mothers experienced significantly higher stress from the unit compared to fathers (p < .01). A previous finding, for mothers, of the parent-infant relationship being the most stressful aspect of the unit (Franck et al., 2005; Reid & Bramwell, 2003; Shields-Poe & Pinelli, 1997) extends to the New Zealand sample. The most stressful aspect of the unit for fathers was sights and sounds. Lack of evidence was found for associations between parental stress from the parent-infant relationship in the unit and parenting received as a child, or adjustment to their couple relationship. A weak but significant negative correlation was, however, found between stress from the mother-infant relationship and maternal care received in childhood. It is unnecessary to provide all parents with intervention further to what is already being practiced in the unit, as overall low levels of stress were reported. Some parents, however, did find the unit more stressful, and they may benefit from increased intervention.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 170-183).

Lic. -avh. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karolinska institutet, 2007. / Härtill 2 uppsatser.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1989. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [113]-125).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Tufts University, 2005. / Advisers: Donald Wertlieb; Jayanthi Mistry. Submitted to the Dept. of Child Development. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 138-156). Access restricted to members of the Tufts University community. Also available via the World Wide Web;