College environments can pose both academic and social challenges for students with disabilities. For teachers and parents of children with Aspergerâ??s syndrome (AS) and high functioning autism (HFA), these challenges include communication, behavioral, and social difficulties that can hinder their attainment of educational objectives. Limited research has been conducted regarding postsecondary outcomes of elementary and secondary public school interventions provided to these students. This case study gathered information from postsecondary students with AS and HFA regarding their experiences of public school social skills interventions and their perceived impact on current social and academic outcomes. Findings were interpreted using critical theory (CT) and critical disability theory (CDT) approaches, which suggested an advocacy perspective and provided the participants a â??voiceâ?? to express their lived experiences, offering an opportunity for others to learn from these experiences. Participants included a sample of 12 young adults with HFA and AS currently enrolled in postsecondary educational settings who were recruited through college/university disability services offices, school districts, and support groups. Interview data were examined in order to glean descriptions of the participantsâ?? social experiences and determine emergent social and academic themes among cases. Study findings indicated a need for improved guidance and education in the area of social skills for students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and proposed avenues for positive social change by providing educators, parents, and advocates information to support the development of improved social supports and more effective outcomes for students with ASD.

There has been a growing amount of research on play therapy skills training both with parents and teachers. These studies revealed promising results on the effectiveness of play therapy skills training; however, a majority of the studies were quantitative in nature. The current study implemented a qualitative approach to exploring teachers’ beliefs about children’s play and play therapy by investigating the perceptions and experiences of a group of teacher participants who received play therapy skills training. Individual interviews were conducted and data analysis generated category themes to answer research questions. Findings suggested that the play therapy skills training had an impact on teachers, the child of focus, and the teacher-child relationships. The training led to changes in teacher participants’ perceptions of play, play therapy, and children, and a pattern seemed to emerge in the influence the training had on teachers. Teachers perceived changes in themselves in terms of awareness, attitudes, skills, and emotions. Teachers’ views of play appeared to be changed and shaped to be more consistent with the ideas of play therapy. Two of the four teachers reported observing positive changes in behaviors of the child of focus. Three of the teacher participants indicated changes in teacher-child relationships with the child of focus. Teachers seemed to generalize play therapy skills from the playroom to the classroom. Teachers perceived that using play therapy skills helped them build better relationships with children, interact with children more positively, manage the class more effectively, and ultimately reduce their stress and frustration. Overall, the play therapy skills training suggested positive results with teacher participants, the child of focus, and teacher-child relationships. However, there were also challenges, disadvantages, and constraints observed and perceived by the teachers. Challenging issues in applying play therapy skills in the classroom included the perceived difficulty of being both a teacher and a therapeutic agent to the child of focus, and finding an appropriate classroom balance between permissiveness and structure. Three of the four teacher participants expressed their desire and excitement to continue applying play therapy skills with other students in a new school year. Implications and limitations of the study, and recommendations for further research are discussed. / text

Prelinguistic Milieu Teaching (PMT) is an intervention designed to teach young children to initiate nonverbal communication using vocalizations, gestures, and eye-gaze. Children are taught through social routines in their natural environment. Techniques include contriving an environment in which the children will be motivated to communicate and using a hierarchy of prompting and modeling to evoke the desired communicative behaviors, such as requesting and commenting. PMT has been previously studied in young children (ages 1-5) with developmental delays. In this study, it is implemented with six school-age children with Autism (ages 5-8). A multiple baseline design across participants was used to evaluate the effects of the intervention on the variables of frequency, clarity, and maintenance of the participants’ communication. All six participants showed increases in the targeted prelinguistic communication skills during treatment and maintained the increases during follow-up. Analysis of individual behavioral profiles was helpful for disambiguating individual differences in response to intervention across the three variables. Future research should target generalization of learned behaviors across implementers and settings. / text

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is pervasive neurodevelopment disorder characterized by a broad range of social abnormalities and deficit in motor skills, many times referred to as clumsiness. These abnormal social characteristics result in a restricted repertoire of activity and interests that also may affect the motor learning process. Therefore, fewer opportunities to practice motor skills can lead to a delay in achieving motor proficiency. It is well known that physical activity and motor proficiency are positively correlated and the amount of time spent in a physical activity is directly related to the level of expertise in neurotypical children. Hence, the specific aim of this study is to quantify the amount of physical activity in children with ASD and compare this value to that of non-diagnosed siblings (ASD siblings) and neurotypical controls (NT), as well as to compare the amount of physical activity between neurotypical controls and ASD siblings. In this study, it was hypothesized that: 1) children with ASD would have lower scores than their non-diagnosed sibling and also than the NT controls in the amount of physical activity; 2) non-diagnosed siblings and neurotypical children would not be different in the amount of physical activity; 3) children with ASD's general score on the motor skills assessments would be lower than the non-diagnosed siblings and lower than NT controls; 4) There would not be a difference in the general score on motor skills assessments between non-diagnosed siblings and neurotypical children and 5) the motor assessments scores would be positively correlated (p < 0.05) to the amount of physical activity. There were differences between ASD and NT groups regarding to the amount of physical activity and also regarding to the motor proficiency scores. Although those differences were not statistically significant, they definitely are clinically relevant as showed that the children on the autism spectrum presented a clear motor delay. Likewise, the correlation between amount of physical activity and motor proficiency was showed not to be significant. These results can be explained by the small sample size. Further studies with a larger sample size would be crucial to verify these hypotheses proposed in the present study. / text

The research is based within higher education, focusing on four undergraduate modules in a university in the north of England, United Kingdom. The research explores the relationships between authentic learning activities and the development of different 'types' of learner autonomy. Assessment for Learning provides a pedagogic framework for the research and positions and defines authenticity and autonomy within this perspective on learning and assessment. The research aimed to explore the (potential) relationships between authentic (formative and summative) assessment practices and the types of autonomy, learner behaviour or development which emerged from this type of approach. The research examined authentic learning activities developed within academic modules which were non-vocational in nature (curriculum which was not linked to any professional awarding body). The 'authentic' learning activities were placed within a situated paradigm of learning and a constructivist view of knowledge. An interpretive, qualitative research design was employed, with twenty student and four tutor respondents. The research identified tutor and student constructions of authenticity and outlined the different types of learning autonomy which emerged from these constructions. Factors which inhibited and promoted development are discussed. When authentic learning activities were seen as relevant and meaningful by learners' and were framed and conceptualised within a pedagogic structure which supported student learning, a range of autonomous learning behaviours were observed. These behaviours were seen to develop in a complex 'layering' process, dependent for development on the presence of other 'types' of autonomy, to enable the 'building' of an overall autonomous learning capacity. The thesis presents two theoretical models which offer a contribution to the understanding of the ways in which authentic learning activities may contribute to the development of learner autonomy.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of visual stimuli on music listening skills in pre-service elementary teachers. Visual Stimuli in this study refers to the presentation of arts elements in selected visually projected images of paintings. Music listening skills are defined as those skills needed to identify and interpret musical excerpts. A Pretest-Posttest Control-group Design was used in this study. Subjects were pre-service elementary general educators enrolled in a large southern university (N=93). Students from intact classes were randomly placed into either the experimental group or the control group. The treatment consisted of six music listening lessons over a two-week period with each group receiving the identical teaching protocol with the exception of the use of paintings with the experimental group. Listening instruction emphasized the identification of melodic contour, instrumentation, texture, rhythm and expressive elements of the compositions. The Teacher Music Listening Skills Test (TMLST) was constructed by the investigator and administered before and after the treatment. The TMLST was designed to assess music listening skills in adult non-musicians. Results indicate that the group receiving visual stimuli in the form of paintings scored significantly higher on listening skills (pandlt;.01) than the control group which received no visual stimuli in the form of visually projected images of paintings. There was an instruction effect on both preference and familiarity of the musical pieces for both the control group and the experimental group.

Impairments in social interactions are considered core symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Given recent findings demonstrating a relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and social outcomes, this research examined the EI of adolescents with ASD to generate novel information for addressing their social deficits. Twenty-five adolescents with ASD and 25 typical adolescents (13 -17 years) completed a battery of tests examining their intellect, EI, and social skills. Their parents also provided information regarding their social skills. The findings revealed that aspects of both trait and ability EI were significantly weaker in adolescents with ASD. In addition, while the ability EI model did not predict the social outcomes of this group, the trait EI model was able to predict 32% of self-reported interpersonal skills and 30% of parent-reported social skills. Implications for the development of social skill interventions for this group and future research are discussed. / October 2015

<p>The trend that more and more recently graduated (business) students are having trouble entering the Swedish labor market, and the fact that many of Sweden’s small firms are perfect absorbers of labor − putting aside the larger firms − how well do these two supply and demand sides match. The recurring theme of this thesis was to analyze the perceptions that small firm managers in Jönköping area, in the business-related sectors, had of business graduates and business graduate skills and competences. It was the skills approach that was the main focus of this thesis. Here we restrict ourselves to the small firms that employ less than fifty people and more than ten.</p><p>To supplement the reflections of small firm managers on graduates, soon-to-become business graduates in Jönköping area (undergraduates or postgraduates) were asked for their own opinion on small firm recruitment possibilities, and which ‘basket of skills’ they acquired and thus found to be important for small business firms. It is because of these two complementing perceptions that the authors had a chance to underline interesting graduate recruitment results, and perception on skills gaps.</p><p>The research design was of mostly qualitative nature coupled with additional integrated quantitative data serving as a supplement to the former. The empirical work was conducted through four interviews with small businesses and three focus groups with graduates.</p><p>Two of the companies had a basic aversion towards employing graduates, while one was indifferent and another welcomed graduates into the company. Graduates were seen as a ‘fresh applicant’, with new ideas and good social competence. However, lack of work experience and practicality, risks of hiring and over qualification brings the employability down.</p><p>The authors cannot identify a clear indication of a skills gap or skills match, but when taking into account the categorization of skills between practical and non-practical ones, there is a very positive skills match between graduates and small firms. In this way recommendation for designing educational business programs on the basis of practical skills seems to be appropriate for having business students well equipped for the small business labor market. In addition to that, other interesting results point out to that the skills preferences/demand by small firms varies when taking into account whether they recruit graduates to specific job posts or just for general work.</p>

The purpose of this study is to investigate what active leaders think is important in a good leadership, with a focus on work with groups of children and youth. A qualitative interview study with four interviewees was used to answer these questions: What do active leaders think characterize a good leadership? Which different leadership styles do active leaders prefer? How consistent are the interviewees’ responses with previous literature? All the interviewees had 20 years of experience or more in leadership, among these 2 worked as recreation instructors, while the other 2 had worked with leadership in a number of different and varied areas. In the results responses were compiled from the interviews. In the discussion there is a comparison with literature and the results of the study are discussed. The results show that the preferred leadership style of all who were interviewed was the democratic, whereas a situational leadership style was also something that all interviewees appear to exhibit examples of in different degrees. One conclusion seems to be that the interviewees are not purely using any one particular style, but that different stylistic features from a number of leadership styles can be identified from the responses. The leadership skills that those who were interviewed bring up are many, but a few that were mentioned by several interviewees were to be positive, clear, fair, open to criticism, and to be relationship-oriented. A comparison of interview responses in the study's results with previous literature suggests that large parts of the interview responses are also consistent with previous literature and research. / Syftet med den här studien är att undersöka vad verksamma ledare anser är viktigt i ett bra ledarskap, med fokus på arbete med grupper av barn och ungdomar. En kvalitativ intervjustudie med fyra intervjupersoner användes för att besvara dessa frågeställningar: Vad anser verksamma ledare kännetecknar ett bra ledarskap? Vad föredrar verksamma ledare för olika ledarstilar? Hur stämmer de intervjuades svar överens med tidigare litteratur? Samtliga intervjupersoner hade 20 års eller mer erfarenhet av ledarskap, bland dessa arbetade 2 st som fritidspedagoger, medan de övriga 2 hade arbetat med ledarskap inom ett antal olika och varierande områden. I resultatet sammanställdes svaren från intervjuerna. I diskussionen görs en jämförelse med litteraturen och studiens resultat diskuteras. Resultatet visade att den ledarstil som samtliga intervjuade föredrog var den demokratiska, medan även en situationsanpassad ledarstil var något som samtliga intervjuade tycks uppvisa exempel på i olika hög grad. En slutsats tycks vara att de intervjuade inte renodlat använder sig utav någon viss stil, utan olika stildrag från ett flertal ledarstilar kunde identifieras utifrån svaren. De ledaregenskaper som de intervjuade tar upp är många, men några som nämndes utav flera intervjuade var bland annat att vara positiv, tydlig, rättvis, öppen för kritik, samt att vara relationsinriktad. En jämförelse av intervjusvaren i studiens resultat med tidigare litteratur pekar på att stora delar av intervjusvaren även överensstämmer med tidigare litteratur och forskning.

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