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Through quantitative and qualitative methods this study examined the transition planning process in Virginia's Henrico County Public School Division for secondary students with learning disabilities in an effort to determine the extent to which postsecondary outcomes identified in their transition plans were achieved. Specific objectives of the study were (a) to determine the congruence between written objectives in exiting students' transition plans and identified recommended practices in the literature, (b) to determine the congruence between the transition plans developed for students with learning disabilities and their postsecondary outcomes, (c) to determine the extent to which identified recommended practices in students' transition plans were implemented, and (d) to identify facilitating and inhibiting factors to the transition planning process from the students' perspectives. Findings showed congruence greater than 50% between only three of the eight identified recommended practices in the literature and students' transition plans: parent/family involvement, development of self-advocacy/self-understanding skills, and participation in academic skills training. Considerably less congruence was evident for each of the remaining five practices. Interagency collaboration was not identified in any of the transition plans. Information gathered to determine the congruence between the transition plans developed for students with learning disabilities and their postsecondary outcomes showed the employment outcome area as having the greatest degree of congruence and the education outcome area as being less than 50%. Data collected to determine the extent to which recommended practices were implemented revealed vocational training, parent/family involvement, and paid work experience had been implemented 100% while the remaining practices were found to be implemented to a much lesser degree. Facilitating and inhibiting factors to the transition process as reported by participants revealed practices found in the literature as well as those not identified in the literature. Academic skills training emerged as a dominant facilitating factor. The lack of this training was cited most frequently as an inhibiting factor. In addition, teacher attitude was reported frequently as an inhibiting factor.

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often require additional support, compared to their neurotypical peers. Caregivers of individuals with ASD frequently report mental health impacts including high stress, as well as the need for familial support. While literature exists around grandparents raising children with ASD, the researcher was unable to identify studies regarding the complex care relationship between mothers and maternal grandmothers as co-caregivers for an elementary-aged child with ASD. Therefore, the researcher conducted a phenomenological study to contribute to the literature on the experiences of mothers and maternal grandmothers as co-caregivers for an elementary-aged child with ASD. The researcher recruited eight mother and maternal grandmother dyads (n=16) and conducted a series of semi-structured interviews with the participants. The first interview with the mother, the second interview with the maternal grandmother, and the final interview with the mother and maternal grandmother, together. The overall phenomenon of co-caregiving originated from themes from interviews with mothers, maternal grandmothers, dyads, and photo-elicitation methods. The overall phenomenon of the lived experiences of mothers and MGMs emerged as a dynamic yet supportive relationship of mutual respect in their roles as co-caregivers of an elementary-aged child with ASD. Implications for practice and recommendations are provided, based upon the research of these eight dyads, for consideration of further supports for other mothers and maternal grandmothers of children with ASD.

Deficits in joint attention, imitation, and pretense are believed to contribute to subsequent difficulty in the development of a theory of mind in children with autism (Baron-Cohen, 1991; Mundy, 1995). Joint attention and other early social skills of children with autism (34 male, 4 female; ages 4 to 18 years) were correlated with measures of nonverbal cognitive ability (Leiter International Performance Scale), receptive and expressive language skills (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised and Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised), and the severity of autism (Childhood Autism Rating Scale) to gain a better understanding of these developmental relationships. Joint attention and other early social skills were measured with the Social Interest Inventory (SII), a questionnaire developed for this study and completed by Parents and Teachers, Subjects with autism at all levels of cognitive and language ability were found to have deficits in joint attention, imitation, and pretense. Joint attention deficits were not correlated to the acquisition of language or to the cognitive ability of the Subjects. This is a deviance from the typical course of development. However, deficits in joint attention imitation, and pretense showed significant correlations with the overall severity of autism, Students with autism reportedly engage in significantly higher levels of instrumental than social communication and parents tend to rate their children somewhat higher than teachers on several SII measures, Joint attention deficits may have a more profound effect on how language and cognitive skills are used by children with autism than on how they are acquired. Interventions which focus primarily on the cognitive and language abilities of children with autism may overlook more basic social skills such as joint attention which may warrant more direct intervention.

This study is an exploration of the aspects related to the disproportionate representation of minority students in special education. The investigation specifically focused on the relationship between teacher perceptions of Response to Intervention (RTI), teacher racial attitudes, and teacher self-efficacy with respect to their special education referral decisions. Teachers assigned to grades K-5 (n=51), from three Florida public school districts, completed an online survey. The survey included reading four vignettes each describing a fictitious 3rd grade, male, Black/African American student and rating the severity of the academic concern, the severity of the behavior concern, and the likelihood that they would refer the student for a special education evaluation. Participants also completed a revised RTI Survey, the Color-Blind Racial Attitudes Scale (CoBRAS), and the Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES). Spearman's correlation coefficients were calculated as well as an ordinal logistic regression. A statistically significant relationship was found between the Unawareness of Institutional Discrimination subscale score of the CoBRAS and the behavior concern for a student described as having mild behavior and academic concerns. A statistically significant relationship was found between the rating of the behavior concern and the Efficacy in Student Engagement and Efficacy in Classroom Management subscale scores on the TSES for the vignette describing a student with a severe reading concern and a mild behavior concern. The teachers' perceptions of RTI, racial attitudes, and sense of efficacy did not appear to have a statistically significant impact on their rating of the likelihood of referral for any of the students described in the vignettes.

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No description available.

No description available.