The intent of this dissertation was to move toward a constructive grounded theory that portrayed the ways in which parents of preschool children with disabilities make meaning of their childrens social relationships. The rationale for this inquiry emerged from the confluence of four complex discourses: typical child development discourses with particular attention paid to the importance of social development; family discourses with particular attention paid to the role of the family in a childs social development; disability discourses with particular attention paid to the unique challenges families face in supporting the social development of their children with disabilities; and early childhood special education discourses related to family-centered approaches to educational intervention.
Narrative vignettes were used to present the ground of the study. These vignettes were generated from conversational interviews with parents of preschool children with disabilities. Emerging meanings were constructed using a number of conventions of grounded theory analysis and include four conceptual categories: choosing your own reality, holding onto hope, striving to make connections, and struggling for recognition. Additionally, the core concept of living with shifting pictures in a kaleidoscopic world is discussed. This kaleidoscope metaphor is utilized as parents seem to struggle to find a place of belonging for their children represented by symmetry, while simultaneously struggling to avoid social isolation represented by asymmetry.
However, as the research process moved toward culmination a variety of issues began to surface including a narrative shift from the more specific understanding of social relationships to an understanding of the myriad of concerns families face when parenting a preschool child with a disability. These concerns are discussed along with a critique of my use of interpretative grounded theory methods. Implications for practice include the reframing of normal, and the use of empathetic witnessing and reflection as core concepts of early intervention pre-service training and practice. Possible directions for future study may be the effects of HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) and FERPA (The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) on the social relationships of children with disabilities, and an exploration of what sense of belonging parents may or may not have for their children with disabilities.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-04042008-180021 |
| Date | 30 June 2008 |
| Creators | Parker, Susan Wuchenich |
| Contributors | Dr. Maria Piantanida, Dr. Charlene Trovato, Dr. Naomi Zigmond, Dr. Louise Kacmzarek, Dr. Noreen Garman, Dr. Robin E. Grubs |
| Publisher | University of Pittsburgh |
| Source Sets | University of Pittsburgh |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-04042008-180021/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Pittsburgh or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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