<p> The purpose of this study was to explore the application of andragogical principles to real-time embedded coaching of parents, when teaching their children with hearing loss to talk. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.) </p>

<p> Increasing the independence of individuals with severe disabilities is of increasing concern to schools and federal agencies. Improving quality of life for high needs individuals with disabilities is an objective of transition programs, which allow consumers to adapt from one aspect of life to the next. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between variables (a) vocational assessment and exploration; (b) workplace readiness training; (c) independent living skills; and (d) self-advocacy and self-care and the independence level of individuals with severe disabilities residing and receiving their education within an institutionalized setting. Finally, this study will examine the efficacy of the Functional Independent Skills Handbook curriculum and assessment in addressing the independent living skills needs of individuals with severe disabilities in-residence in a state institution. Participants include adolescents with severe disabilities receiving services from the Special Purpose School at the Parsons State Hospital. </p><p> The results obtained by this study may be of extreme use to educators, service providers, and policy makers in Kansas, as well as other states utilizing a similar institutionalization model for severely disabled individuals. The study yielded statistically significant results that a focused, leveled curriculum emphasizing (a) vocational assessment and exploration; (b) workplace readiness training; (c) independent living skills; and (d) self-advocacy and self-care can increase the independence level of individuals with severe disabilities.</p>

<p> Research has shown that there is an achievement gap with students of color in the urban environment and their White non-urban peers (Norman, Ault, Bentz, &amp; Meskimen, 2001; National Research Council, 2012) additionally an achievement gaps exists between students with disabilities and their non-disabled peers (National Center for Learning Disabilities, 2011). The demand for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) preparation is growing and more students need to be prepared in school for STEM careers (Carlson, 1997). The didactic traditional style of teacher led text book reading has proven unsuccessful for large groups of urban youths and students with disabilities (Kahle, Meece, &amp; Scantlebury, 2000; Haberman, 1991; National Research Council, 2012). Using a hands-on, experiential informal learning environments in science has proven successful in engaging students to the science curriculum (National Research Council, 2012). Nature has also proven to engage students into the curriculum. This study combines these topics and addresses the gap in the literature where these topics overlap. This qualitative case study sought to understand how students with learning disabilities from an urban environment experienced nature-based informal learning. The participants for this exploratory case study informed by ethnographic methods of observation involved seven eighth grade students with learning disabilities from an inclusive science program at a public urban school.</p><p> The students participated in four nature related informal learning experiences that were aligned to the science curriculum. These students&rsquo; experiences were collected from observations, and conducting both one-on-one interviews and focus groups. The data was then triangulated, analyzed thematically, and interpreted. The students&rsquo; experiences were shared thematically. The three themes which emerged from the data were:</p><p> -Hands-on learning is an engaging and a more enjoyable way of learning for students with learning disabilities.</p><p> -There is not enough science being taught.</p><p> -Students are not habitually accessing natural areas.</p>

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to investigate the cognitive development of visually impaired children in the Republic of China, as measured by Piagetian tasks of conservation. / Procedure. Eighty children, age 6 through 15, with varying degrees of vision loss, and 40 sighted children, age 6 through 15, were randomly selected, using a stratified constant procedure. Each child was presented individually with eight tasks of conservation including number, length, distance, substance, liquid quantity, area, weight, and displacement volume. Each task included one transformation. The subjects were identified as conservers or nonconservers for each task. / Methods. (1) Discriminant analysis techniques were used to classify individuals into one of two groups (conserver, nonconserver) on the basis of age, vision, gender, and residence; and to identify which variables contribute to making the classification, (2) The order of difficulty of eight conservation tasks were analyzed descriptively by determining the percentage of children who passed for each task, (3) The percentage of children who passed each task by age level was presented in table form, (4) Explanations given by the children were analyzed descriptively. Responses were categorized and presented in table form. / Results. (1) Age and vision were two significant variables contributing to the attainment of conservation. Younger visually impaired children were more apt to be nonconservers, (2) The order of difficulty of eight conservation tasks for the partially sighted children was more similar to that of the sighted children than to that of the blind children, with the blind children differing greatly from both the partially sighted and sighted children, (3) A one to four year developmental lag in the attainment of eight conservation tasks was found in blind children compared to the sighted and partially sighted children, (4) Blind children made up these developmental delays at the age of 11, (5) The explanations given by the conservers among the sighted, partially sighted, and blind children were similar; however, the explanations given by the blind and partially sighted nonconservers demonstrated more variability than the sighted nonconservers. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-05, Section: A, page: 1693. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1986.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perspectives of practitioners working with families of young children with disabilities regarding the implementation of family-centered intervention. Fundamental assumptions of family-centered services include family choice and professional responsiveness to the concerns and priorities of families. This changes the nature of traditional family-professional relationships and requires that families and professionals work together as equals in evaluation, decision making, and intervention. / The study examined how practitioners transform the philosophy and principles of family-centered services into practice with families of infants and toddlers with disabilities. The variability in practitioners' individual interpretations of family-centered services was investigated and the impact of practitioners' beliefs, personal development, and personal experiences were considered in relation to their practices with families. Findings indicated that implementation must remain flexible enough to accommodate individual interpretations of the philosophy and must be viewed as an evolving process, both personally and systemically. Implications for policy, for practitioner education, and for further research are provided. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 55-04, Section: A, page: 0930. / Major Professor: Mary Frances Hanline. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1994.

The history of people with disabilities has been characterized by a progressive trend toward inclusion in the mainstream of life. During the last three decades, in particular, significant progress has been made toward the societal goals of normalization, deinstitutionalization, and community integration. As a result, the effects of contact with disabled peers on the attitudes of normally developing children has become an important research question. To date, it is a question with no definitive answers. / To approach this question, methods of naturalistic inquiry were used in the context of a case study. The unit of analysis was a child-care center in which young children with and without disabilities were fully integrated on an ongoing basis. The primary informants in the study were the normally developing children, aged 3 through six, enrolled in the center. Participant observation and open-ended interviewing were the primary data collection techniques. Nonparticipant observation and analysis of school records were also used. Upon completion of field study, the data were analyzed and interpreted according to accepted procedures in the naturalistic research tradition. Data consisted of comprehensive field notes and interview transcripts derived from participant observation, formal interviews, and document analysis. / In contrast with many earlier studies of disability attitudes, contact between children with and without disabilities did not result in the development of prejudicial attitudes toward peers with disabilities. The participants expressed early awareness of sensory and physical disabilities, but virtually no awareness of intellectual disabilities. They expressed feelings of tolerance with regard to their peers with disabilities, and their feelings were corroborated by their actions. They named children with disabilities as their "best friends" less often than children without disabilities, but made some friendship choices from among their disabled peers. Negative evaluations of peers were elicited by behaviors that violated social norms, but not by sensory, physical, or intellectual differences. Program characteristics that appear necessary for the success of disability integration were discussed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-08, Section: A, page: 2452. / Major Professor: Pearl E. Tait. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.

The responses of special education to the death of their students were examined. An ethnographic study was conducted at a center for pre-kindergarten children with handicaps. Staff members were interviewed about their emotional and functional responses to student death. Previous experiences with death and belief systems were also explored. / It was found that staff experience deep feelings of grief and loss at the death of a student. Analysis found that the staff coped with the loss provided that a support system (formal or informal) existed, staff had a good relationship with the parent, and staff had access to death rituals. / The hypothesis was developed that coping with death takes place if there exists a feeling of control. Components of control were described as empowerment, action, effecting change, recognition, and endowing. Expressed needs of staff and this hypothesis were used to generate intervention strategies. Implications for further research were examined and specific suggestions were made for implementation. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-12, Section: A, page: 3686. / Major Professor: Pearl E. Tait. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1988.

The purpose of this study was to predict placement and non-placement outcomes for mildly handicapped three through five year old children given knowledge of their developmental screening data. In order to do this, discrete discriminant analysis was used to demonstrate the prediction scheme and was modified for application to Child Find data. / Developmental screening data and placement outcomes were systematically retrieved from a longitudinal set (1982-1989) of Child Find records located at the Florida Diagnostic and Learning Resources System (FDLRS)/Sarasota network for 602 subjects. The independent variables included performance on developmental activities from the Comprehensive Identification Process (Zehrbach, 1975), including: (a) gross motor, (b) fine motor, (c) cognitive-verbal, (d) expressive language, (e) receptive language, (f) social-affective, and (g) the expressed concern of parents, guardians, or primary caregivers regarding observations of children's developmental performance. These independent variables were related to two outcome groups, namely, placement and non-placement. / In addition to the two outcome groups, placement and non-placement, 128 combinations of the seven developmental variables were specified. These combinations were statistically analyzed using discrete discriminant analysis, resulting in a prediction technique for estimating the outcomes of developmental screening efforts. The expected frequencies of subjects falling into the prescribed outcome groups were computed. Also, the relative costs of misclassification (prediction mistakes) of subjects into the wrong groups were determined. / For each cost function, a comparison was made between the predictions of the discriminant analysis and the observed outcomes for the 602 subjects. Chi-square tests were conducted to test the significance of the predictions for the placement groups with each of the cost functions. The null hypothesis, that the predictions using this technique were no better than what would be expected by chance, was rejected in each instance. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-12, Section: A, page: 3844. / Major Professor: Andrew Oseroff. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.

The purposes of this study were to conduct a content validation of braille transcription on the National Literary Braille Competency Test (NLBCT) and investigate the teaching and use of braille-related communication skills. Print questionnaires for teachers and braille questionnaires for consumers were developed, reviewed by teachers or consumers in the field of visual disabilities, field tested, and revised accordingly. Questionnaires were mailed to subjects with follow-up correspondences soliciting completion of the documents for collection of data on the use of braille-related communication skills by teachers of students with visual impairments and blind consumers. Two hundred thirty-three teachers of visually impaired in Florida and 531 consumers in the United States were the pool of participants in the study. / The major findings in this study are: (1) The skill of braille transcription using a braillewriter or a slate and stylus without the use of braille reference materials are not valid requirements of the NLBCT; (2) Teachers spend one to two hours a week teaching use of one or more of the following: braillewriter, computer, tape recorder, and typewriter. Few teachers teach use of the slate and stylus and reader service; (3) Consumers use a variety of braille-related communication devices. The most popular devices include the braillewriter, reader service, writer service, and slate and stylus; and (4) There is a positive association between the braille-related communication skills that teachers teach and consumers use for all skills except the use of slate and stylus and use of reader service. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-11, Section: A, page: 4347. / Co-Major Professors: Gideon R. Jones; Bruce Menchetti. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

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