The SUGAR Program Manual was designed based on an extensive literature review on bullying, adolescent development, resilience and protective factors, and anti-bullying programs. Literature on anti-bullying programs showed a deficit for older adolescents, particularly high school students. A whole-school approach is proposed by incorporating…

This study examined the effectiveness of caregiver consultations in caregiver's child's play therapy process through a program evaluation lens. Archival data was used from a counseling clinic located in the central southwestern United States. Quantitative data was collected from caregiver who filled out assessments (PSI-4 and CBCL) about their…

The objective of this doctoral capstone was to create and conduct a five-part online educational series for caregivers of children ages 0-5 about the impact sensory processing differences (SPD) has on occupational participation and performance, as well as how to navigate sensory-related responses (SRRs) on a daily basis. SPD and SRRs are complex…

Society often holds strongly biased and stigmatized opinions when it comes to what is deemed appropriate or inappropriate for the sexual behavior of individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) or developmental disabilities (DD). This is typically due to the beliefs that the ID/DD population are either only capable of having child-like…

This generic qualitative study aimed to explore the experiences of African American caregivers supporting their children to graduate from high school. In this study, there was a gap in the literature regarding parental support of African American children graduating from high school. Addressing this dearth of literature entailed answering the…

The presence of independent and functional living skills increases autonomy and predicts better outcomes for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Teaching caregivers to successfully teach functional living skills is an indirect way to positively impact the lives of adults with IDD. Behavior skills training (BST) is an…

The COVID-19 pandemic presented unprecedented challenges particularly among group homes for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) given the close interactions and living arrangements of residents. Thus, the purpose of this project was to determine if an educational intervention focused on COVID-19 and COVID-19…

The prevalence of late language emergence (LLE) in young children is high, comprising 10 to 20% of toddlers. Late language emergence refers to children who do not use at least 50 single words and 2-word phrases at the age of two. Current best practices for the under-three population with or at risk of having disabilities include the use of…

The purpose of this phenomenological study is to better understand the experiences of engagement of African American caregivers of children with emotional impairments who attend a non-traditional alternative education setting within an urban New England area. The findings of this study answered the research question, "How do African American…

The turnover among direct care workers in the United States has steadily increased since 2013. This study's direct care workers were behavioral technicians, counselors, behavioral aides, and community care workers. The program statement addressed in this applied research study was the relationship between the initial training and direct service…

The problem addressed in this qualitative case study was the ineffective use of book distribution program materials due to low self-efficacy of caregivers hinders the implementation of early literacy skills at home. The purpose of this qualitative exploratory case study was to explore caregivers' self-efficacy while implementing book distribution…

Family training, in which providers coach parents to use intervention strategies with their child, is considered evidence-based and best practice for families of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Parents generally value family training, but this service is underutilized in community-settings and many parents report it as an unmet need.…

The lack of validated autism spectrum disorder (ASD) screening instruments hampers rehabilitation efforts for children with ASD in Africa. In the present study, the psychometric properties of two ASD screening instruments, that have been well-validated in the United States (US) context, were examined in the Ugandan context. These instruments were…

There is limited evidence on the imperative role that caregivers play in social-emotional learning development for effective social-emotional learning program implementation despite their crucial influence on childhood development. This doctoral project explored the effects of parent education for two school-based, social-emotional learning…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to provide rich descriptive answers from caregivers in a rural Title I school district in regards to their participation in their children's education as well as any perceived barriers that potentially would prevent participation. Using Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler's (2010) Model of Parental Involvement, the…