Shy children often have difficulty communicating; however, it is not clear whether these difficulties stem from a skills deficit or from an anxiety-driven performance deficit. Therefore, the present study examined how shy children’s communication skills differed from those of average, non-shy children, using the Internet as a medium for social communication. It was hypothesized that shy children may be more reticent than average children to initiate conversation in a novel situation. However, over time shy children were expected to become more comfortable in discussions with their on-line partner and to become less anxious as they acknowledge the anonymity of chat groups. This study also investigated potential changes in negative effects associated with shyness over time. Fifteen shy children (Mean shyness score=72.3; SD=6.43) and 15 average children (Mean shyness score=53.7; SD=5.6) participated in the 10 MSN conversation groups. Children were also given a series of questionnaires prior to and after the 10 sessions. Results from this study suggest that shy children communicate in a similar manner to their average partners when online. Results also suggest that shy children had higher levels of social anxiety than average children before beginning an online conversation with an unknown partner. However, by the end of the 10 sessions, their anxiety had been significantly reduced. No other changes or differences in psychological functioning were noted between shy and average children.

This thesis explores how creating and performing digital numeracy texts, affords students learning opportunities in Mathematics that demonstrate their numerical social practice. In an environment that celebrates performance before competence, students explore how to design and engineer their digital understanding of social justice issues, such that they begin to connect their numeracy to socio-­‐cultural issues in both local and global communities. / UOIT

The primary purpose of this study was to implement and evaluate two instructional programs designed to enhance early literacy skills of pre-kindergarten 4-year-olds enrolled in Head Start. A second goal was to compare literacy task assessment measures of three instructional groups, (1) explicit literacy instruction (ELI; N= 26), (2) shared book reading (SBR; N = 25), and (c) no specialized treatment (NST; N = 29), prior to the onset of treatment and again 15 weeks later. Pre-treatment group differences on measures of early literacy and receptive vocabulary were not significant. Intervention for the ELI group focused on providing explicit, systematic, developmentally appropriate instruction to enhance phonological awareness skills and increase alphabet knowledge. The SBR intervention, which focused on enhancing oral language, involved scaffolding strategies. Children in the two intervention groups received instruction two times per week for 15 weeks. Post-treatment outcome measures obtained for these two groups were compared with each other and also with scores of children in the NST group who received Head Start standard curriculum instruction only. ANOVA results indicated that post-treatment scores for the ELI group were significantly better than those of the other two groups on overall primary literacy measures and for the phonological awareness component, but not for alphabet knowledge. Differences between the SBR and NST groups were not significant for any measures. These results indicate that explicit, systematic early literacy instruction can improve Head Start children's literacy scores. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Wichita State University, College of Health Professions, Dept. of Communication Sciences and Disorders. / "December 2006." / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-90)

This paper presents the results of a study conducted at a domestic violence safehouse for an undergraduate Honors Thesis. Twenty-three children ages 4-16 from African American and immigrant communities were interviewed while residing at a safehouse for victims of domestic violence regarding their beliefs and attitudes about perceptions of self, conflict resolution skills, and feelings of anger and coping strategies. The study found a strong relation between length of stay & positive coping strategies. Age & gender were also related to conflict resolution skills. Qualitative data provided interesting & potentially important insights into children’s internal experiences of being witnesses of domestic violence. The study did not support past research in terms of child witnesses exhibiting low self-esteem, poor conflict strategies, and high rates of aggression. This study concludes that more research needs to be conducted on protective factors and resiliency to the effects of domestic violence to explain this study’s results.

There is limited research support for the use of Social Stories with elementary and secondary-aged students. However, there is even less research support for the effectiveness of Social Stories with preschool-aged children. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of Social Stories with three preschool-aged children diagnosed with autism. Using a multiple baseline design across subjects, Social Stories were implemented in the home setting. The children’s parents were responsible for daily implementation of the Social Story, as well as recording data daily. Direct observations were conducted once a week during the identified times the target behavior occurred. Data from these weekly observations indicated a high level of intervention integrity by the parents. For each child, a decrease in target behaviors was recorded after implementation of the Social Story. The results of this study support the use of Social Stories with preschool children with mild levels of autism.

Although it has been argued that indoor workers in fact make up the majority of the sex industry, most of the literature on the transition out of sex work has looked at street-based workers. This interview-based qualitative research project aims to fill that gap. As such, this thesis examines the trajectories, challenges and strategies of women who transitioned or are in the process of transitioning from criminalized indoor sex work (escorting, erotic massage and domination) to the mainstream labour market. Using Ebaugh’s role exit theory and Goffman’s conceptualization of stigma, intersectional feminist analysis and labour theory, I position the transition as a re-negotiation of self, involving conflicts in identity and class location. My findings suggest that the transition out of sex work is characterized by multiple, parallel work trajectories, wherein the women were successfully able to transfer skills they had acquired in sex work to the mainstream labour market.

Shy children often have difficulty communicating; however, it is not clear whether these difficulties stem from a skills deficit or from an anxiety-driven performance deficit. Therefore, the present study examined how shy children’s communication skills differed from those of average, non-shy children, using the Internet as a medium for social communication. It was hypothesized that shy children may be more reticent than average children to initiate conversation in a novel situation. However, over time shy children were expected to become more comfortable in discussions with their on-line partner and to become less anxious as they acknowledge the anonymity of chat groups. This study also investigated potential changes in negative effects associated with shyness over time. Fifteen shy children (Mean shyness score=72.3; SD=6.43) and 15 average children (Mean shyness score=53.7; SD=5.6) participated in the 10 MSN conversation groups. Children were also given a series of questionnaires prior to and after the 10 sessions. Results from this study suggest that shy children communicate in a similar manner to their average partners when online. Results also suggest that shy children had higher levels of social anxiety than average children before beginning an online conversation with an unknown partner. However, by the end of the 10 sessions, their anxiety had been significantly reduced. No other changes or differences in psychological functioning were noted between shy and average children.

The health and fitness status of Canadian children has been declining over the past several decades. Children’s health and fitness impacts future health status as many health and fitness indicators track from youth into adulthood and are associated with serious illnesses such as cardiovascular disease (CVD). One potential determining factor of health and fitness may be the level of proficiency exhibited in performing fundamental movement skills (FMS). Failure to master FMS in childhood may decrease the physical activity options available in adulthood because FMS provide a foundation for all forms of physical activity pursuits necessary for health and fitness benefits. Todate, the relationship between health, fitness and proficiency of FMS has not been examined in Canadian children. Therefore, the purpose of the present investigation was to examine the current state of movement skill proficiency in relation to health and fitness in Canadian elementary-aged children. Boys (n = 71) and girls (n = 91 girls) ages 8 to 11 years were recruited from schools participating in the evaluation component of the Action Schools! BC program. Measures of fundamental movement skill proficiency (i.e., running, horizontal jumping, vertical jumping, jumping from a height, hopping, and skipping) and indicators of health and fitness (i.e., blood pressure, arterial compliance, weight status, musculoskeletal and cardiovascular fitness) were assessed. Results indicated low levels of FMS proficiency for both boys and girls. Analysis also revealed significant relationships between EMS and indicators of health and fitness. Correlation analyses found running and hopping to be significantly (p < .01) related to musculoskeletal and cardiorespiratory fitness tests. Significant (p < .01) relationships between vertical jumping and weight status, musculoskeletal and cardiorespiratory fitness were also found by the correlation analyses. Regression analyses were performed to determine the independent relationship between health and fitness indicators. Vertical jump was significantly (p < .01) related to blood pressure (BP) independent of confounding health and fitness variables. Finding significant relationships between FMS proficiencies and health and fitness indicators coupled with the low proficiencies demonstrated by our sample of children suggest the need for a greater emphasis on the development of FMS.

Sibling relationships in families of children with disabilities are generally positive despite difficulties that may result from the child’s disability. Many developmental disabilities have associated communication impairments that could affect how siblings interact with each other and the closeness between them. Research has rarely addressed the role of communication skills and how potential deficits in communication may impact the sibling relationship. The purpose of this study is to examine the characteristics of sibling communication interaction patterns when one sibling has a developmental disability and the unique role that communication skills play in the quality of the sibling relationship using both self-report and observational measures. Participants were 30 mixed and same-sex sibling dyads that included one typically developing sibling and their brother or sister with an identified developmental disability. Using parent report, children with disabilities were placed into three communication status groups according to their communication skills: emerging communicators, context-dependent communicators and independent communicators. Results indicated that when children with disabilities were independent communicators, they exhibited interactions with their siblings that were similar in terms of lexical complexity but that regardless of communication status, typically developing siblings dominated the interaction. All three communication groups differed significantly on measures of relative status/power with siblings of children who were independent communicators reporting highest levels of relative status/power. Additionally, receptive vocabulary was a significant predictor of relative status/power and proportion of intelligible utterances was a significant predictor of rivalry. Finally, although typical siblings acknowledged that their relationship would be different if their sibling with a disability had different communication skills, it did not lessen the importance of that sibling in their life. As a whole, these results represent a first step in understanding the unique role of communication skills in the sibling relationship for families of children with disabilities. It established that when children are grouped together according to their communication abilities, findings regarding relative status/power are different than what would be expected based on literature. Communication and language skills are important variables to add to the literature to further elucidate the sibling experience in families of children with disabilities.

This study investigated how emotion-regulation would moderate the relationship between shyness and joint engagement and how joint engagement would mediate the relationship between shyness and language skills. Fifty-three mother-child dyads were observed in the laboratory according to the Communication Play Protocol (Adamson & Bakeman, 1999) when the toddlers were 24 and 30 months of age. Mothers completed the Temperament Behavior Assessment Questionnaire-Revised (Rothbart & Goldsmith, unpublished). Toddlers also completed the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-III (PPVT-III; Dunn & Dunn, 1997) and Expressive Vocabulary Test (EVT; Williams, 1997). The relationship between shyness and the percentage of time spent in non-symbol-infused coordinated joint engagement was moderated by a toddler’s ability to self-soothe. Shyer toddlers had significantly lower receptive language scores than less shy toddlers, and this relationship was partially mediated by the percentage of time toddlers spent in symbol-infused supported and coordinated joint engagement states. INDEX WORDS: Temperament, Shyness, Emotion-regulation, Language Skills, Joint Engagement