Over the last decade, there has been ample evidence reporting the lack of high-quality and compliant Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) in the United States. This problem has many consequences, including poor student outcomes and failure to follow legal due process. Despite these consequences, research has not thoroughly examined the…

Communication deficits are one of the main characteristics of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Self-injurious behavior (SIB) in individuals with ASDs often occurs due to the individuals' lack of social-communicative abilities to express what they want (e.g., attention; access to tangible items; help). Many researchers have successfully used…

Students who have visual impairments (i.e., those who are blind or have low vision) have additional difficulties accessing educational materials as compared to their typically sighted peers. Teachers of students with visual impairments need to be prepared to teach their students assistive technology skills that are both general and…

This pilot study examined (a) the perceived barriers to creating high-quality social and emotional learning (SEL) IEP goals for autistic students without intellectual disabilities, and (b) the impact of using a data-driven SEL IEP goal builder--a key component of the Ivymount Social Cognition Instructional Package (IvySCIP)--on the quality of SEL…

Research supports the efficacy of intensive literacy instruction for children with moderate intellectual disabilities and Down syndrome (DS). However, much of the literature features measures closely aligned with evaluated interventions. Despite their increasing role in instruction, curriculum-based measures (CBM) are rarely featured in reading…

This pretest/posttest study investigated the effectiveness of an interdisciplinary program in which occupational therapists and speech-language pathologists used a combination of video modeling, scenario-based learning, guided discussion, and reflection on the development of interpersonal skills and work readiness among students with disabilities.…

This dissertation in practice centers on the problem of practice that students with disabilities are systematically excluded from mainstream health and physical education classes to the detriment of their health and well-being. This dissertation improvement project tests the effects of Partners in PE (PPE) by utilizing a 3-session peer-to-peer…

Research focused on identifying effective interventions for individuals with Down syndrome is increasingly informed by the behavioral phenotype -- a profile of performance associated with a genetic abnormality. Recent studies substantiate the efficacy of phenotypically aligned instruction in improving basic reading skills for children with Down…

Data collection procedures using adapted Curriculum-Based Assessment (CBA) and Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) were developed for deaf and hard of hearing students. Results from statistical analyses through linear regression indicated that reading fluency scores using CBA and CBM materials adapted for deaf and hard of hearing students…

Concerns for student safety are a commonly cited reason for the presence of police in schools. But as the nation grapples with the appropriate roles and responsibilities of police more broadly, the time is right to shine a light on what we know about the effects of police in schools. This brief summarizes the research related to this question.…

Many paraeducators have no formal education beyond high school and are provided with minimal training once on the job. Furthermore, as more schools turn to inclusionary practices, the impetus for highly qualified paraeducators becomes more important. However, little research has examined efficient ways to train paraeducators who work in inclusive…

AutismSpeaks.org estimated that a total of 1.1 million teens with autism will enter adulthood in the next decade (Autism Speaks, n.d.). Unfortunately, research shows many of those individuals will have bleak outcomes in life postsecondary (Lake et al., 2014; Posar & Visconti, 2018). This issue will compound without proper resources and…

To prepare high school graduates with visual impairments for college, staff members at Perkins School for the Blind developed a nine month residential program, College Success@Perkins. This article describes components of the program design and provides data on eight students who successfully completed the program in the first cohort. It concludes…

The occupational therapy department of a medium-sized eastern Pennsylvania university developed and piloted the "Greater Opportunity for Academic Learning and Living Successes" (GOALS[superscript 2]) program in collaboration with the Office of Student Accessibility. The program intended to expand the traditional accommodations offered to…

Video modeling (VM) is an intervention that may be implemented to improve the daily living skills of students with autism. A multiple probe across behaviors design was employed to examine the effects of VM and VM plus prompting and reinforcement (VM+P&R) on the daily living skills of one elementary student with autism. The percentage of…