With unemployment rates for adults with autism as high as 85%, it is important for young adults to learn necessary prevocational skills (e.g., interviewing) to help them succeed in their search for employment. There is little research showing that individuals with autism can be taught to respond appropriately during an interview to secure future…

This qualitative study utilized narrative case study research to investigate teachers', paraprofessionals', and administrators' perceptions of the effectiveness of community-based programs (CBP) on the transition to employment for students with an intellectual disability. This study also evaluated activities teachers, and paraprofessionals use in…

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…

External organizations offer schools projects with different content, so-called external school projects. This type of external projects is mainly implemented by people or an organization outside of the school. The projects may be within the framework of a nation's political aspirations. The educational goals of the projects are often…

The purpose of this paper was to conduct a scan of the current state of the evidence regarding what works in helping disconnected young people, defined as the population of young people ages 16 to 24 who are not connected to work or school. The following four main research questions were investigated: (1) What local, state, and federal policies…

Youth participation in meaningful and purposive civic organizations and activities not only impacts the participants' development, but also influences their involvement in their communities both today and in the future. The combination of the two studies included in this dissertation examine just that. Both studies were conducted utilizing…

The purpose of this study is to measure the effects of fostering resilience through art education for students with severe physical disabilities ages 7-21. Recent trends of fostering resilience through art education were explored. Current attitudes towards art education for severely disables individuals were also explored. Of particular interest…

Assisting every student with special needs to give scope to their talents and to possess healthy personality and mature social skill that advance their careers at their working places is far from being easy. Within the domains of special education, students are placed in relative disadvantage when they bear cultural differences, and mental or…

Melanoma is the most common cancer among 15- to 29-year-olds in Australia, with rates increasing with age. The "Dark Side of Tanning" (DSOT) mass media campaign was developed in 2007 to influence attitudes related to tanning. This study aimed to assess recall and impact of the DSOT campaign. Data were collected using online surveys of…

This study examines the feasibility of recruiting and retaining adolescents and young adults with frequent cannabis use for a 2-week momentary sampling study of cannabis use. Participants responded to random signals on a handheld computer with reports of their use. Participants also initiated reports pre- and post-cannabis use. Participants had…

Out of 38.9 million Americans who fall into the 16-24 age range, approximately 6.7 million are Opportunity Youth--youth neither in school nor working--who face more pronounced barriers to success. This report shows how programs and policies in two states, Connecticut and Michigan, are responding to the need for postsecondary pathways, especially…

"Dance for individuals with Down syndrome has many benefits; however, there is little research on this topic." Down syndrome is the most common "genetic condition," resulting in psychological, physical, and social impairments. There is research to suggest that dance may be a beneficial activity for people with Down syndrome;…

Background: The authors and 2 Chinese parents established 2 support groups in China. One group was for parents of children with autism, and the other was for young adults with either mental health issues or intellectual disability, and their parents. The purpose of this study was to examine the meaning and effectiveness of these groups from the…

This review provides a qualitative overview of school-based smoking cessation programs for adolescents, with a focus on motivationally based programs. Project-Ex and Not-On-Tobacco are two heavily studied interventions with substantial empirical support. Other programs such as use of Motivational Interviewing with the stage of change model have…

Although there is a common result in recent research and practice that digital skills are important for every educated citizen, little is known of how these skills are evolving over a long period of time. Our study looks into the development and use of digital skills in former middle school students who had an individual access to the laptops a…