Individuals with disabilities live in higher rates of poverty and are not always able to fully integrate into their communities. Postsecondary education has traditionally been a means to enhance employment opportunities. Currently, students with disabilities are attending community colleges as their primary choice for higher education. Having an…

Inclusive postsecondary education (IPSE) programs, specifically aimed at helping students with intellectual disabilities (ID) transition into adulthood, have rapidly expanded across the United States. Increasing access to IPSE is an important step in creating community-based employment opportunities, but questions remain whether the advancement in…

This study examines federal law IDEIA and its four purposes. This research aims to understand better this federal law's purpose and what it is supposed to do. The researcher examined her own experiences with special education and other families' experiences across the United States. Within these personal stories are both negative and positive…

Gifted students with high functioning autism (gifted-HFA) are being excluded from gifted programs in one public school setting in the Southeastern United States designed for gifted and high-achieving students. Although the literature indicates teacher self-efficacy in working with this group can contribute to this problem, it was unclear whether…

In special education there are disabilities and health concerns teachers have to keep at the forefront when working with autistic students. The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to gain knowledge and understanding regarding special education teachers' perceptions of the stressors they experience when interacting with students…

Autistic students often face stigmatization surrounding their autism diagnosis, especially in academia, which can cause depression, lower self-esteem, or suicidal ideation and lead to lower academic success. The problem of insufficient research-based effective practices to guide support services for autistic students in their post-secondary…

Secondary students with specific learning disabilities often have challenges with academic engagement and performance within the general education setting. Opportunity to respond strategies, such as student response systems, have shown promise in supporting academic engagement for students without disabilities. However, there are few studies…

Students in Oklahoma schools who struggle to read consistently perform low in reading, including those with dyslexia. Teachers of these students are directly linked to students' achievement in all areas of academics. This qualitative content analysis explored the perceptions that six selected Oklahoma public school educators had about dyslexia and…

This dissertation is an examination of one reading fluency intervention presented in digital form. It begins as an overview of the academic challenges faced by students classified as emotional behavioral disorder in our P-12 schools, due to challenges accessing the curriculum. Children that also have reading fluency deficits have an even more…

Assistive technology (AT) is any item, piece of equipment or product system whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized that is used to increase, maintain or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities" (21st Century Assistive Technology Act of 2019, p.9-10). Students with multiple disabilities in…

Students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often exhibit problem behaviors in the classroom. Some of these students present challenges for teachers in general classrooms that impact not only the students' own learning, but also the learning of other students. Thus, the purpose of this qualitative, transcendental phenomenological…

The problem addressed by this study was that adults with learning disabilities have difficulty achieving academic success in online education programs using 3D imaging. As a result of their difficulty, many online instructors fail to develop a deep understanding of perceptions from students with different types of disabilities. Moreover,…

Purpose: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a multifactorial disorder that has been linked to increased risk for behavioral, academic, and interpersonal problems. Developmental language disorder (DLD) has also been linked to poor outcomes in these areas. The presence of co-occurring disorders in children's profiles is generally…

Each year, the number of students with a documented disability in public schools in the U.S. has increased. However, school-based agricultural education (SBAE) teachers continue to identify a lack of confidence when teaching students with exceptionalities. This lack of confidence has been exacerbated by a lack of professional development regarding…

Caregivers can experience significant challenges following their child's autism diagnosis and often seek informational, relational and emotional support. Post-diagnostic support for caregivers has received relatively little research attention and represents a significant gap in the international evidence base. We used an iterative codesign process…