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Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1978 B75 / Master of Science

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1978 H66 / Master of Science

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Educational Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

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

The purpose of this study was to identify the attitudes of unified school district administrators regarding a merger of special and regular education as proposed by some educators who support the Regular Education Initiative (REI). The REI is a position statement generating from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, that calls for a new partnership between regular and special educators in addressing the needs of all children with learning problems, including those with handicapping conditions. The study elicited responses from 229 administrators in Arizona during the 1988-89 school year. A survey instrument was used to obtain information from the administrators regarding their opinions on items within six categories of consideration (student, instructional, funding, teacher, administrative, and current program) that have implications for a merger. Administrators were also asked to indicate their overall support for a merger and to rate its feasibility and desirability based on each of the six categories of consideration. Statistical analyses revealed significant differences among the three administrator groups regarding the responsibility, role, and directorship of special education in the education of students with learning problems; the willingness of regular education teachers to work with students with handicaps; the benefit of a merger for nonhandicapped low-achieving students; and their rationale for changes in the current special education system. Additional significant differences were found regarding administrators' perceptions of the feasibility of a merger when the analysis was based on district size. Administrators were equally divided in their support for a merger. Most administrators indicated that regular classroom teachers were ill-prepared to educate students with handicaps and would not favor a merger. Administrators expressed strong support for waivers of federal state rules and regulations to implement merged systems experimentally and indicated that no major changes should be considered until results from evaluation studies were available. Results of this study hold implications for policy makers, researchers, teacher trainers, and school administrators.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to describe the extent and quality of prior knowledge, transactional nature, and social context of literacy knowledge demonstrated by young mildly handicapped learners. The study was based on current theories of literacy which view literacy growth as part of the total language system development, and ethnographic methods were used to gather and analyze qualitative data. Language and literacy events were observed in three special education classrooms including 43 students ranging in age from 4 years 1 month to 9 years 11 months. Major findings of the study included: (a) The children in this study demonstrated prior literacy knowledge much like that of non-handicapped peers, (b) Demonstrations of oral and written language system transactions decreased after students received formal instruction in reading and writing. And (c) children's ability to interpret print depended greatly on the presence or absence of context with the print.

M.A. / Dwarfism is a medical condition of disproportionate short stature and occurs in about one in every 25 000 children born worldwide (Scott, 1996). There are more than 200 types of dwarfism (Wikipedia, 2006), of which the most common form of dwarfism is Achondroplasia occurring in about 80% of all dwarfs (Little People’s Research Fund, 2006). Dwarfism is plagued by negative stereotyping and stigmatisation. There is a paucity of existing research on dwarfism, and in particular it’s associated psychological aspects. Existing literature is largely focused on parents’ reactions towards their dwarf child but it is possible that the negative attention dwarfs receive when in public can directly affect a dwarf’s close relationships, in particular, those with their siblings. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to explore the experiences of non-dwarf siblings growing up with a dwarf sibling. A sibling relationship is an emotional bond or transaction existing between two brothers, two sisters or between a brother and a sister. This relationship can have both positive and negative aspects (Bank & Kahn, 1982) and these can be more profound with the presence of a sibling with a disability (Ferrari & Sussman, 1987). Previous studies of sibling relationships with a disability have found various negative aspects, for example, feelings of isolation, resentment, anger and guilt, as well as an increase of stress in the family (Carpenter, 1997). However, research also suggested positive aspects, including an acceptance of diversity and an appreciation for life and psychological growth (Connors & Stalker, 2003). Therefore, it was thought to be possible that these negative and positive aspects may also hold true for a sibling relationship in which one member is a dwarf.