Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Cultural beliefs and practices affect factors associated with early diagnosis of developmental disorders, parents' understanding of the disorder, beliefs about causes, and choice of treatment procedures. Currently, most research regarding autism emanates from Western cultural perspectives. However, the notion that treatment methods are universal and that they can simply be developed in the West and exported elsewhere is inherently flawed. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the experience of parents from India now living in the US or other countries outside India who have a child with an autism spectrum disorder, and explore the unique contributions of the Indian culture in parents' understanding and acceptance of a childhood disability like autism. Specific cross-cultural variables measured in the study included what symptoms the parents first recognized in their child, parents' beliefs about causes, choice of treatment procedures, roles of grandparents in the child's life, availability of community resources, parent-professional interactions, and acculturation. Twenty seven parents of children with autism (24 mothers, 3 fathers) participated in the study; all but 3 of them now lived outside India. All 27 participants and their spouses were Indian in ethnicity and were born and raised in India. Most parents endorsed the western beliefs in a combination of genetics, environmental toxins, and biological factors; a substantial number also endorsed a belief that immunizations were a direct cause. A significant minority of our parents also called upon traditional Indian beliefs in karma, destiny or fate, and parental mistakes in present or past life. Most of these parents were far from their own parents and in-laws and thus removed from the high level of grandparental involvement that would be typical if they had stayed at home; however, despite the long distance separating them, a majority of the families consider their parents and in-laws as important sources of emotional support. Although a majority of parents reported that they currently do not use any treatment that came from their Indian culture, about half reported that they would prefer to use a combination of both western and Indian medicine and educational practices, if it is made available. A majority of parents in the study appear to be well integrated with their host culture. These parents have become bicultural by maintaining characteristics of their own natal culture, while selectively acquiring those of their host culture.

Really, Really, by Paul Downs Colaizzo, is loosely based on the 2006 Duke University sexual assault scandal resulting from what proved to be a false accusation of rape made against three members of the men’s lacrosse team. After individually reading the play, Jorge Burmudez and I both arrived at differing opinions of who was the true victim, in turn inspiring this thesis, which is an exploration of two separate productions of the play demonstrating contrasting perspectives/outlooks regarding sex crimes within sports organizations in the university setting. It will describe our process from conceptualization to a post-mortem talking about particular challenges we faced along with feedback from both casts and audience members who saw the shows. Included will also be my experience with pre-production, auditions/casting, rehearsal journals and post-production documentation of my individual directorial processes. In the end, we are researching where the blame lies in the crime detailed in this play.

My paintings are linked to a thirst for exploring new landscapes and perspectives, my interest in the extremes and subtleties of geological phenomenon and a desire to create, chase after, and teeter on a brink. Here I will discuss these topics and work to unpack my interest in avoiding comfort, my relationship to control and the creation and function of my paintings. To extract myself from my tactile and visual world of process and paint and enter the world of written language presents very different challenges than the ones fostered in the studio. The goal in both is to reveal the overlaps and complexities of the issues I am researching and to embrace any contradictions not as ambiguity, but as migrating, nutritious sediment; ever changing particles that can be examined again and again as their intersection with a historical and contemporary discourse evolves.

This project utilized a form of arts based educational research described as analog hypertext to develop interpretative material representing multiple critical, theoretical, and disciplinary perspectives on objects in a university art museum’s object study gallery. Drawing on scholars’ recommendations for postcolonial interpretation of non-Western art, the project created a web of information, which simultaneously revealed and critiqued the underlying ideologies and power structures shaping the museum’s display in an effort to change existing interpretive practice. The project developed five color-coded thematic self-guided tours—art as commodity, spiritual practice, technology and cultural evolutionism, mortuary rituals, and postcolonial perspectives—presented to the public as an interpretive exhibition invited visitors’ contributions. This paper explores how the analog hypertext functions as both a research tool and a content delivery device for the representation of multiple critical perspectives, fostering interdisciplinary perspectives and visitor meaning-making in the process.

1 Summary Children come into the establishment for institutional education from families that did not fulfill their function or did not meet the basic needs of the child. The parents of these children often perpetrated criminal acts, were under the influence of alcohol, neglected the children or in some cases even mistreated or abused them. The family was for these children often a negative image. The children spent part of their lives in a non-stimulating environment. These families influenced the personality of the child in a extremely negative way. Children from children's homes show handicaps already at a biological level. These children tend to have lower body measurements values, they suffer from different health handicaps, psychiatric disorders, their mental capacities are under average, they have attention disorders, heightened affectivity, heightened aggressiveness, etc. Children come into children's homes from dysfunctional families usually in their later school days, consequently, the family has had great influence during their early childhood and in some cases also during school age or adolescence. Some children visit their families even after they have been placed in children's homes, and are therefore still influenced by their parents. All these factors, among others, influence their...

L'objectif central de cette thèse est d'étudier le comportement de fraude fiscale des contribuables quand ils ne déclarent qu'une partie de leur revenu. Le premier chapitre complète la littérature existante en étudiant le niveau de déclaration du revenu et les effets de changements des taux de taxe, de pénalité et de probabilité de contrôle, en considérant des fonctions d'imposition et de pénalité non linéaire, dans le cadre de la théorie de l'espérance de l'utilité.Le cadre fourni par la théorie des perspectives cumulatives est ensuite utilisé dans le second chapitre. L'accent est mis sur la dépendance des décisions du contribuable vis-à-vis du revenu de référence introduit par cette théorie. Le troisième chapitre caractérise le barème optimal d'imposition du revenu et la stratégie de contrôle et de pénalité que doit mettre en place l'État quand le comportement de fraude des contribuables vérifie les propriétés de la théorie des perspectives. / This dissertation analyzes the tax evasion behavior of taxpayers when they do not declare their entire income. The first chapter studies the declaration of the taxpayer and the effects of changes in the tax rate, the penalty rate and the probability of audit. The tax and the penalty functions are assumed to be non linear. The setting is provided by expected utility theory. The setting provided by cumulative prospect theory is used in the second chapter. Reference dependence, which is a central point in this theory, is particularly studied. The third chapter characterizes the optimal income tax and audit schemes under taxe evasion behavior, when of tax payers behave as predicted by prospect theory.

Beginning in September 2010, seismic events shook the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, resulting in significant losses for the tourism sector, most notably the devastated Central Business District. Tourism had to adjust especially following two major earthquakes, with visitors able to partake in disaster-themed tourist attractions or viewing the destruction as part of a self-guided tour of the city. Such activities fall into the realm of ‘dark tourism’, or travel to sites of death, disaster or destruction. Following a major disaster with significant media coverage, tourism organizations often scramble to alter the outsider’s perception of the disaster-struck destination. Using a qualitative case study, this thesis explores two dominant themes associated with post-disaster tourism. First, it gathers perspectives of disaster tourism experiences and tourism industry recovery from multiple stakeholders to explore how tourism following a major disaster is a complex and multi-dimensional phenomenon. Second, it investigates how tourism advertising campaigns represented Christchurch, New Zealand and its inhabitants following the earthquakes. / Graduate / 0366

According to the UNICEF report, up to ten percent of children in the world have affected specific learning disabilities (SLD) and the majority of these children are educated in general education classrooms. An important resource for children with learning disabilities to flourish in the classroom is access to assistive technology. To prepare children on how to utilize assistive technology in the learning environment is important for teachers. This systematic review focused on teacher perspectives on assistive technology regarding children with SLD. Six scholarly articles were used for this study. The information drawn from the articles showed that teachers are receptive to assistive technology in their classrooms. They perceived assistive technology as an important supportive device for improving the vital skills of reading and writing comprehension. However, it is clear from their perspectives that the teachers needed more support than they were able to access in order to feel comfortable to implement and use assistive technology in the classroom. Therefore the need for professional development and training and the integration of appropriate technical devices are vital to enhance the development of children with SLD. Future research will be focus on how pre-service teachers are being prepared for AT use as a part of their pre-service training program and professional development.

Student Number: 0111229X. PhD Thesis. Faculty of Science. School of Education / This study is part of a larger national study, the Learners’ Perspectives Study. The main focus of this particular study is to explore, describe and explain learners’ perspectives regarding the incorporation of the everyday in mathematics. Two Grade 8 mathematics classrooms in two different schools, Umhlanga and Settlers are used as sites for empirical data. Learners’ perspectives are sought through a series of post-lesson interviews with different groups of learners for lessons in which the everyday was summoned for a mathematics lesson. During these interviews, learners whether 1. They welcomed or appreciated the use of the everyday in class or not and 2. The everyday inhibited or enabled easy access to mathematics content. In order to understand the background against which these perspectives are held, mathematics lessons wherein the everyday was incorporated were observed, recorded and transcribed. In addition, teachers’ views about these lessons were explored through interviews and activities which incorporated the everyday were analysed. I used Bernstein’s notions of classification and framing as a theoretical lens through which to account for my observations. It became necessary though, to supplement these through Dowling’s domains of text analysis (esoteric, expressive, public and descriptive). I also introduced the notion of authentic/inauthentic and close/far descriptions. It is a combination of these three broad theoretical frameworks which assisted in the provision of a comprehensive theoretical account. The significance of mathematics-everyday aspect in mathematics education is highlighted by the number of studies, as discussed in the study, and different orientations from which this aspect is engaged. What can be teased out of these studies is that mathematics education debates are seldom informed by the learners’ perspectives. The study suggests that most of the learners who participated in the interviews welcomed and appreciated the use of the everyday in mathematics. However, most learners (particularly from Umhlanga) viewed mathematics as a platform to raise genuine concerns about the everyday used. In contrast, some learners (particularly from Settlers) viewed the everyday as vehicles or see-throughs towards the mathematics content. What this study viii suggests is that, firstly, the everyday is multifaceted and the nature of the context summoned tends to influence views learners hold about the role of the everyday in mathematics. Secondly, the study suggests that learners’ perspectives about the everyday cannot be divorced from the classroom context in which they encounter these everyday contexts.