Parents of children with developmental disabilities experience a greater level of stress than parents of typically developing children. Parental stress disrupts parental functioning, setting a vicious cycle of coercive parent-child interactions and further stress. The current study aims to break this vicious cycle by evaluating the effectiveness of the Incredible Years Basic Parent Training (IYPT) for Chinese preschoolers at risk for developmental disabilities in a community clinic setting in Hong Kong. Fifty-two parents of children with developmental delays (age 3-6 years) were randomly assigned to either a parenting program (EXP) or a waitlist-control (WLC) condition. Multi-informants and multi-measures of child and parenting behaviors were taken before and after the 12-week intervention. Medium intervention effects were found in primary-caregiver parents’ self-reported parental stress index. Medium-to-large intervention effects were found in both primary-caregiver parent-report and spouse-report measures of children’s oppositional behaviors. While primary-caregiver parents did not report a significant change in their parenting practices, their kins/spouses nonetheless reported improvements of a small effect size in the primary-caregiver parents’ parenting practices. Blinded observations of parent-child interactions during a structured play activity indicated significant short-term effects on positive parenting and coaching. Parents had a high attendance rate and reported high satisfaction with the program. Treatment effects did not seem to correlate with demographic and other characteristics of the parents, suggesting that the treatment effect was robust across different profiles of parents. Preliminary results suggest that the Incredible Years Basic Parent Training is an effective and feasible intervention in the community settings for Chinese preschoolers at risk for developmental disabilities and their parents in Hong Kong. / published_or_final_version / Clinical Psychology / Doctoral / Doctor of Psychology

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

This constructivist study examined the perceptions that an interdisciplinary team has about themselves in the work setting and during fieldwork interactions while working with client families. Twelve staff members of a program that provides supportive services for the families of severely handicapped children responded to a bank of fifteen questions in an effort to examine the relationship between team members perceptions of their roles and how those perceptions affect their job performance and satisfaction.

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

Shows handicapped pre-school children at the White Mountain Apache Head Start Program and the services available at Head Start.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the different perspectives of familycentered, natural environment early intervention programs. Specifically, the family's perception of early intervention services were compared to that of the speech-language pathologists' (SLPs) perception of these programs. The perspectives of the speech language pathologist and the families receiving early intervention services were explored to determine the overall satisfaction with the current early intervention model and practices, related to the assessment procedures and intervention practices utilized by the SLP. Results of this research study indicated that the parents of children with special needs are generally satisfied with the early intervention services being provided to their child and family. Respondents of the speech-language pathologist survey indicated that the current service model is appropriate and useful when working with the majority of families receiving early intervention services. Strengths and weaknesses of the familycentered, natural environment early intervention program are further discussed. / Department of Speech Pathology & Audiology

Since the enactment of Public Law 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, 1975, the Office of Special Education (OSE) within the United States Department of Education (USDE) has channeled funds directly into services for handicapped American Indian children. Despite the multiple service providers and the funds available, services provided for handicapped Indian children do not seem to be adequate. Bureau of Indian Affairs' (BIA) studies show that Indian children have a higher than average incidence of handicaps but are not afforded the services necessary to deal with these handicaps. A paucity of information exists about services for Indian youth, and research on the adequacy of services provided by the multiple service agencies appears to be limited. Various service components such as identification, evaluation, placement, and service continuum may be administered by different agencies and complicates systematic accountability in the care of handicapped children. Reservations generally have five main service providers: (1) state and local education agencies (SEAs and LEAs); (2) Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA); (3) Health and Human Services (HHS); (4) Indian Health Service (IHS); and (5) Tribal agencies. This study analyzed policies of the five agencies and the legal provisions under which they operate. The study also offers some solutions to the chronic problems in education that are confronted by handicapped Indian children on Arizona Indian Reservations.

Thesis (MEdPsych (Educational Psychology))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / Cochlear implants are electronic devices implanted in the ear, which can give children with severe to profound hearing loss, access to sound and the opportunity to aquire spoken language. Such implants are achieved via a delicate surgical procedure, followed by an intensive rehabilitation program. Parents are intimately involved in this entire process and play a pivotal role in terms of decision-making, the surgery and the child’s language development. Research has shown that this procedure causes increased stress levels in parents, as well as an initial experience of mixed emotions. They also have to consider that some cochlear implants are not successful and thus do not provide all children with access to sound and the possibility of learning spoken language. Parents’ first contact with professional services/persons is generally doctors, ear, nose and throat specialists, audiologists, speech therapists and social workers. Further research shows that the relationship between such professionals and parents is not always satisfactory. As mothers often work closest with professionals, the following research questions arose: How do mothers experience the emotional support they receive during the diagnosis, implantation procedure and rehabilitation, and what are their emotional needs during this time? Because of a lack of literature concerning the role of educational psychologists in this process, a third question arose: What role can the educational psychologist play during the diagnosis of deafness and the cochlear implant process? The purpose of this generic qualitative study, therefore, was to analyze, describe and explain the experience of eight mothers of children with cochlear implants, with regard to support and support needs. The study was conducted within the interpretive paradigm, which guided the qualitative research design. Data was collected by means of semi-structured interviews. The interview data were transcribed and analyzed. The data analysis was done by using aspects of grounded theory. The findings show that mothers’ experiences of the process were unique, as the situation of each family differed. The eight mothers’ needs for emotional support also differed because of their unique experiences. Furthermore, a lack of support to parents after the rehabilitation process, just before children start primary school, was identified, and it was established that the educational psychologist can play a role in this phase and transition phases. Recommendations were made to improve the support mothers receive from professional services or people.