<p>Restricted and repetitive behavior (RRB) is a core feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Research suggests that the severity of RRB may be influenced by both environmental variables (e.g., absence of sensory stimulation input) and neurophysiological activity within the body (e.g., atypical regulatory capacity of the autonomic nervous system). Substantial research efforts have been devoted to the assessment of factors that influence the occurrence of RRB in individuals with ASD, which have led to the development of assessment methodologies, such as functional analysis, to identify specific contexts in which RRB occurs, and measures of heart rate variability (HRV) to index the level of neurophysiological activity for individuals with ASD.</p><p>However, despite the increasing consensus that the assessment and treatment of RRB require a more comprehensive approach due to the complexity and heterogeneity of the neurodevelopmental disorder, there exists a paucity in research that addresses both the functional behavioral and neurophysiological dimensions of RRB. This study aimed to address this gap by (a) designing and evaluating the effects of an integrated function-based assessment on identification of the functional subtypes of RRB and (b) examining the relationship between RRB and HRV as an indicator of neurophysiological functioning. The study included six participants, ages four to seven, with ASD. A single-case alternating treatments design, with two conditions simulating low- and high-stimulation environments, was used for the assessment of functional subtypes within each participant. Dependent variables included the duration of RRB and HRV. RRB was measured using MOOSES, a multi-option observation system for experimental studies. HRV was measured using wearable technology that collects blood volume pulse. Visual analysis of time series data as well as nonparametric analyses of the dependent variables were conducted to determine the functional subtypes of RRB and the association between HRV and RRB across participants.</p><p>Study results suggest that (a) the integrated assessment is effective in identifying specific functional subtypes of RRB and (b) HRV is positively correlated with the rate of RRB. The findings of this study offer new insights on the understanding of how underlying environmental and neurophysiological mechanisms may influence the occurrence of RRB in ASD. Furthermore, the study provides an integrated assessment model that can be feasibly implemented in applied settings.</p>

<p>Students who have disabilities often face many difficulties throughout their lives and are not always given the same opportunities to learn important daily living skills as their peers. Most research in this area does not account for the need to teach daily living skills to students with mild disabilities, and instead is focused on teaching these skills to students with severe disabilities. In this study, the methods for teaching daily living skills are examined and skills that should be taught to middle school students with mild disabilities are discovered. Key findings from this study indicate that there are many daily living skills that are not being taught to students with mild disabilities, teachers do not often have the time to teach these skills, and there is a lack of resources for teaching daily living skills to middle school students with mild disabilities. The handbook created from this study aims to fill part of the gap by sharing suitable methods for teaching daily living skills and providing a checklist of daily living skills to teach to the students.</p>

<p>A majority of special education students—64%—spend 80% or more of their time in regular education classes. The primary method of delivering special education services is by creating co-taught classes. Despite its popularity, literature suggests that most co-teaching relationships never meet their full potential due to a number of factors. The purpose of this study was to explore the nature of co-teaching in one high school. This included an exploration into teachers’ employed strategies, their perceptions, and the challenges related to their co-taught classes. Twenty-nine teachers from an urban, public high school, in a city in the Midwest participated in the one-time anonymous survey. Results from this study suggest that most teachers rely on “One Teach, One Drift” (also known as “One Teach, One Assist” and “One Teach, One Support”) as their primary mode of implementing co-teaching in their classes. Additionally, the results from this study suggest that most teachers believe that co-teaching is an effective way to provide special education services to students with special education needs. However, 59% of teachers reported that they have not received expectations of their role and their collaborators role (65%) in co-taught classes. Participants cited lack of common planning time as the most prominent challenge that hinders successful co-teaching (70%), and lack of content knowledge (56%). Additionally, perspectives and attitudes of collaborators and lack of access to adequate resources/training presented a challenge. </p>

<p>The rising prevalence of developmental disabilities has created an increased demand for service providers capable of delivering behavior-analytic services with high fidelity. As the need for these services continues to grow, ensuring that service providers have easy access to the essential training for delivering high-quality services becomes paramount. This dissertation aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and acceptability of asynchronous training methods in developing service providers' skills to effectively implement trial-based functional analysis (TBFA).</p> <p><br></p> <p>In Study 1, four board-certified behavior analysts (BCBA) were trained using an asynchronous model, which included remote behavior skills training and self-monitoring. Three BCBAs achieved mastery criteria for all TBFA conditions, while one BCBA required additional support through self-monitoring to meet the criteria for the escape condition. While the BCBAs showed improved accuracy in implementing TBFA, they faced challenges in fully generalizing their skills to actual clients, indicating the need for planned support to enhance skill generalization. In Study 2, four BCBA trainees were trained using the same asynchronous model, but with increased mastery criteria and planned supports available during the generalization phase. The findings showed that all BCBA trainees met the mastery criteria when using TBFA with video-annotated feedback, and the inclusion of planned supports during the generalization phase resulted in consistent implementation with 100% fidelity across all TBFA conditions, highlighting the importance of such supports for skill generalization.</p> <p><br></p> <p>Overall, the dissertation suggests that asynchronous training methods hold promise for training service providers, but the availability of planned supports is essential for effective skill generalization. The study's major findings and implications for practice are discussed, along with directions for future research.</p> <p><br></p>

<p>  </p> <p><strong>Abstract</strong></p> <p><br></p> <p>Students with mild disabilities are often taught in an integrated class setting where they are provided additional support and accommodations while remaining in general education classes with their non-disabled peers. These students often have high-incidence disabilities (e.g. learning disabilities, emotional disabilities, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and some other health impairments), and have a unique set of characteristics that create challenges for academic and social growth (Stelitano et al., 2019; Trainor et al., 2016). Recent research has shown that exposure to social emotional learning and the 16 Habits of Mind has been beneficial for students with mild disabilities, however teachers are struggling to implement these ideologies in addition to their traditional responsibilities (Jones et al., 2017; Dyson et al., 2019; Cueso & Harrison, 2012). The 16 Habits of Mind are a set of 16 problem-solving, life-related skills that promote personal growth and success (Costa & Kallick, 2000). </p> <p><br></p> <p>The present study was conducted as a requirement of a master’s degree in special education. There are two sub projects: administrating an anonymous survey through Qualtrics and developing an instruction manual. The purpose of the study was to determine teachers’ understanding and experience of social emotional learning and the 16 Habits of Mind and to identify obstacles that prevent teachers from implementing such practices in their classrooms. Twenty-eight licensed teachers recruited from a Title I, public, high school answered the 13 survey questions. The analysis of the results addressed three research questions, (1) What understanding and experience do teachers have about social emotional learning for high school students with mild disabilities?, (2) What understanding and experience do teachers have about using the 16 Habits of Mind with high school students with mild disabilities?, and (3) What kinds of supports (e.g. administrative, district-level, building-level, online resources) are in place to help teachers implement social emotional learning for students with mild disabilities? </p> <p><br></p> <p>Results from the study show that teachers occasionally implemented social emotional learning, and they are confident in their ability to do so, but there were factors that limited regular implementation. Teachers were concerned with the time requirement of social emotional learning, and the support available within their building when navigating sensitive subjects. Many participating teachers had heard of Costa and Kallick’s (2000) 16 Habits of Mind and teach many of the concepts informally through daily practices and routines. A majority of teachers reported teaching three habits formally and often within their classrooms: Striving for Accuracy (50%; N=24), Questioning and Posing Problems (60.87%; N=23), and Applying Past Knowledge to New Situations (54.17%; N=24). When asked to identify which habits were most influential to student success, 20% (N=19) of teachers identified persistence as most important. Teachers’ testimonies showed that using the 16 Habits of Mind as a tool to drive social emotional learning could be beneficial, but, they expressed concerns about being able to blend concepts with existing curriculum without neglecting instruction time.</p> <p><br></p> <p>Using the survey results, a handbook was created to support teachers in implementing the 16 Habits of Mind, as a tool for social emotional learning, into their classroom. The handbook contains the following sections: Students with Mild Disabilities, Social Emotional Learning, The Habits of Mind, Implementation Suggestions, and a detailed outline for each habit. For each of the 16 habits the outline included the following items: Objectives, Relevant Vocabulary, Definition, Application to Learning, Quote, Daily Practices, 1-3 Mini-Lesson Plans, and Journal/Discussion Questions. The hope is that the handbook will provide a resource for teachers, so they feel more comfortable integrating the 16 Habits of Mind into daily curriculum without compromising instruction time. For teachers that would like to go above and beyond, the mini-lesson plans provide activities that can deepen student understanding of the habit and only require 5-15 minutes of class time. In order to develop a handbook that would be most effective for teacher use, it was reviewed by university faculty and licensed special education teachers. After review minor adjustments were made for teacher use and benefit.  </p>

<p dir="ltr">Previous wok has established that multiple academic and cognitive skills can contribute to difficulty with mathematics (Bull & Lee, 2014; Morgan et al., 2019; Purpura Day et al., 2017; Schmitt et al., 2017). However, little is known about how using both domain-specific (i.e., numeracy) and domain-general skills (i.e., executive function (EF), language, vocabulary) can help to identify children at risk for mathematics difficulties. Given that an estimated 3% to 8% of children are diagnosed with a math related disability (Desoete et al., 2004) and even more children experience difficulties with mathematics, and that mathematics is an important predictor of academic and career success (Duncan et al., 2007; Watts, 2020) it is imperative to understand how both domain-specific and domain-general skills, along with key demographic factors, can be used to identify children at risk for future mathematics difficulties. <a href="" target="_blank">The current study utilized data from a longitudinal project that assessed children’s academic and cognitive skills over four time points: the fall and spring of preschool and kindergarten</a> in a state in the Midwest of the United States.The analytic sample for this study consisted of 674 children from three cohorts. <a href="" target="_blank">A person-centered latent profile analysis was used to generate profiles of early math learners using children’s early numeracy, math language, executive function (EF), literacy, and vocabulary skills. Based on the model fit statistics and interpretability, a six-profile solution emerged from the data.</a> The latent profile approach was compared to a variable-centered regression for identifying risk for mathematics difficulties. <a href="" target="_blank">Results</a> show that there is variability in performance profiles in a sample at the lower end of mathematics performance. This study <a href="" target="_blank">suggests that domain-general skills such as EF, literacy, and mathematical language skills can help to distinguish between different performance profiles of mathematics learners</a>. <a href="" target="_blank">Results also demonstrate that person-centered and variable-centered approaches should be used in conjunction with one-another to best identify children at risk for mathematics difficulties.</a></p>

<p>This meta-analysis aimed to investigate the effectiveness of instructional technology on mathematical word problem solving for elementary and middle school students with disabilities. This study examined specifically digital technology such as computers and tablets. From the article identification based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total of 21 studies were included in this study. The 21 included studies consisted of seven group design studies and 14 single-case design studies. This study computed an overall effect and analyzed moderators of group design studies (Hedges’ <em>g</em>) and single-case design studies (between-case standardized mean difference) in the same analyses. The overall effect of instructional technology on word problem solving across 21 studies was large (Hedges’ <em>g</em> = 1.18, 95% CI = 0.84, 1.52). The study characteristics, including publication years, intervention settings, intervention agents, technology devices, technology types, and mathematics topics, were found to moderate the effects of interventions. The four studies, which assessed the generalization of word problem solving skills learned from the instructional technology to the standardized assessments, showed a near moderate effect (Hedges’ <em>g</em> = 0.49, 95% CI = 0.09, 0.9). Limitations of this study and directions for research are discussed.  </p>

<p dir="ltr">Children with autism may have delayed language skills. Deficits in pragmatic language can affect social interaction with adults and peers and academic performance as more complex language becomes required for reading comprehension and analysis of information (Ibrahimagic et al., 2021 p. 251) This research supports the study question, how can educators prepare children with autism during this transition program? The survey was sent to fifteen participants addressing their insights and experiences of the transition to kindergarten process and the transition strategies that were used in the classroom. The results from the survey indicated that teachers do not know about the transition to kindergarten process. For the transitional practices, 36% of teachers said they used social stories, 9% of teachers used a photo book of new people and school environments, and 27% of teachers used observations of the student in the preschool classroom. This research assisted in the production of a handbook.</p>

<div>New special education teachers beginning their career field have many job-related responsibilities and activities to adjust to and learn about. The most important success factor of special education teachers' job is collaboration.Collaboration happens constantly when teaching students with disabilities. In particular, collaboration is an important job responsibility of a special education teacher (Rapert, 2018). The purpose of the current survey study was to provide guidance and explore various collaboration strategies and areas new special educators struggle with. The ultimate purpose of this research was to aid in the development of a collaborative handbook, describing the core components collaboration and providing resources to help support new special education teachers in those identified core components.</div><div><br></div><div>This study had twenty four potential teacher participants in a Midwestern junior high school. Fourteen teachers voluntarily completed a needs assessment survey. The survey includes twelve questions about collaboration and communication in their school. Fourteen teachers provided their viewpoints of collaboration and communication in their school. Results showed that teachers see the following as core collaboration and communication components for successful collaboration: (1) an equal partnership between special education and general education teachers, (2) adequate preparation time, (3) consistent collaboration, and (4) effective communication strategies. Another interesting finding is that only three out of fourteen teachers indicated they agreed that special education teachers and general education teachers were viewed as equal partners in the classroom. Other findings are about lack of time, the existence of a regular collaboration and communication method. Twelve teachers indicated they had a lack of time in order to collaborate and plan with the special education teachers. Six out of fourteen teachers reported that regular collaboration happened between both general and special education teachers. Eleven teachers indicated e-mailing is the easiest way to communicate. </div><div><br></div><div>Based on the survey responses and receiving wide responses about teacher’s viewpoints regarding collaboration and communication in their building, a guide to help new special education teachers successfully collaborate with all teachers would be beneficial. Giving a new teacher the tools to be successful in an already challenging position, can increase their confidence and understanding of what is expected in the building. Outlining the best way to communicate, and collaborate with all teachers in the building including teachers who many not directly work with special education students daily. The handbook guides and walks through how to set up conferences and meetings with staff and parents of the student. Given a guide on who to contact, when to contact, and having a checklist prior to setting up one of the various meetings a special educator conducts can help a new teacher tremendously in feeling confident and understanding the building procedures. With the approval from the junior high schools principal this handbook was created to guide new teachers at the specific junior high school. <br></div>

<p>Children with disabilities are more than ever placed in the general education class settings. While special educators are responsible for drafting and writing the IEP, General education teachers are responsible for implementing the IEP in the general education class setting. Studies show that general education teachers lack knowledge, support, and training of the IEP, which affects their attitudes toward inclusion. The purpose of this study was to identify what teachers know about the IEP and the challenges that they face with implementing them in their classrooms. In this study, data was collected from general education teacher surveys, and the results of the data were analyzed. From the data, it was determined that teachers face many challenges with the implementation of the IEP in their classes. From the data collected a handbook was created for general education teachers to utilize as a guide to overcome these challenges that they face when implementing the IEP in their classrooms was completed.<u></u><u></u></p><div><br></div>