Families with individuals with special needs face many different struggles such as identifying needs and/or appropriate supports, accessing those supports, and then locating providers to help implement those supports (Boehm & Carter, 2016). These individuals may need continuous support to live meaningful and productive lives outside of the…

Self-regulation is a significant predictor of student academic performance, over those traditional measures of intelligence and socioeconomic status. The failure to develop these skills may produce students who are at a four-times greater risk of behavioral issues, school dropout, and poor academic performance. This multiple qualitative case study…

Despite state mandated early childhood education (ECE) teacher competencies, many children are removed from preschool settings for behaviors related to socioemotional problems. This study's rationale was the propensity of expulsions among children exhibiting challenging behaviors in preschool programs. Guided by Bronfenbrenner's ecological model…

The purpose of this grounded theory qualitative study was to identify teacher perceptions within the classroom of preschool violence and what, if any were the perceived associations between teacher perceptions and the problem of school violence up to and including incarceration in later years. The study included open interview questions for data…

This study focused on the experience of parents concerned with child social behavior and the perception of bibliotherapy as an intervention. Using a qualitative phenomenological approach, four families raising children between the ages of 4-12 participated in a series of interviews. The children's social needs varied, but parent concerns were…

In this study factors preschool teachers perceive as influencing their referral decisions for young children with severe behavior problems were investigated. Research questions focused on 1) teacher factors such as teachers' knowledge, beliefs and concerns; 2) program-system factors such as availability of services and inter and intra-agency…

Teenage Internet users are the fastest growing segment in the Internet user population. These teenagers are at risk of sexual assault from Internet predators. This phenomenological study explored teacher and counselors' perceptions of how to prevent this sexual assault. Twenty-five teacher and counselor participants were interviewed. A…

A review of the literature revealed that mothers with children with fragile X syndrome (FXS) face many challenges, including managing their child's behavior which is a defining characteristic of children with FXS (Epstein, Riley, & Sobesky, 2002). Parents and professionals have become increasingly aware through research and everyday experiences…

This qualitative study examines perspectives of parents of children with autism related to engagement in the home environment. Increased engagement decreases the likelihood of less productive behaviors. Investigation of engagement in the home setting may provide insights into the development of interventions. Collaboration between parents and…

The purposes of this research were to determine the rate at which school psychologists engage in parent training/education with the parents of children with chronic behavior problems and to determine the relationships between school psychologists' demographic variables, professional practice, training, and perception of barriers and their…

Raising a child with disruptive behaviors is taxing. It is trying. It is exhausting. Due to this, parents may begin to doubt their own effectiveness, or begin to think of their child as being defective in either personality or character (Whitman & Smith, 1991). Coping with such behaviors can precipitate a number of reactions in the family,…

This dissertation describes how the medical categories of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Reading Disability (RD) have become commonsense ways to understand educational problems. I explore historical precursors of ADD and RD followed by a report on fieldwork I conducted in a first grade classroom of mostly Latino and low-income children. I…