Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT) is promising for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), but more methodologically robust designed studies are needed. In this randomized controlled trial, forty-four children with ASD, aged 9-15 years, were randomly allocated to PRT (n = 22) or treatment-as-usual (TAU; n = 22). Measurements were obtained…

The purpose of this systematic analysis is to discern the prevalence of culturally responsive factors in school-based social skill intervention research targeted towards Black youth, specifically K-12 settings. A systematic review method was utilized to identify culturally responsive factors, treatment outcomes, and prevalence of culturally…

Social interventions for children with disabilities are generally conducted in small groups and outside of the classroom; therefore, little is known about inclusive and classwide social interventions in early childhood educational settings. This study evaluated the effects of inclusive social skills training (ISST), a program delivered remotely to…

My dissertation examined the effect of adaptive prompts in virtual reality (VR) based social skills training on social skills of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In my dissertation, adaptive prompts refer to an instructional technique to enhance social skill performance of children with ASD considering their emotional states. Despite…

Frequent exposure to victimization by peers is related to greater psychological problems. It is often assumed that peer victimization is associated with fewer psychological problems in classrooms where defending victims of bullying is common (i.e., a norm). The few studies testing this claim have been cross-sectional and have produced mixed…

Reentry, also referred to as transition, is a critical component in preparing at-risk youth in juvenile justice facilities for successful postrelease outcomes. However, successfully preparing these youth for reentry into the community and back to traditional K-12 schools is still difficult for many justice facilities. With the continued calls for…

Diversity has long been an area of interest for music education. Interculturalism, with its emphasis on cultural competence, dialogue, and humility, has emerged as a popular concept for the negotiation of difference in music education. Based on an examination of the international non-governmental organization-sponsored intercultural music exchange…

Across Canada, provincial education mandates cite intellectual development, socialization, and vocational preparation as some of the central goals of public schooling (B.C., 1989; Ontario, 1990). Within Alberta's Guide to Education (2024) yet another objective is offered, which is that schooling ought to promote the leading of "meaningful,…

Background: An increasing number of undergraduate positive psychology courses offer students a holistic view of the broader discipline of psychology. Even short-term participation in positive psychology activities as part of a taught course may improve psychological well-being and lower stress. However, there is a dearth of qualitative evidence on…

The Pyramid Model has a strong base of implementation research with in-service teachers. However, an entire population of the future workforce has been excluded from the research: pre-service teachers. The purpose of this multi-case qualitative study was to investigate pre-service teachers' (N = 80) attitudes and beliefs, after receiving training…

Purpose: The Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS®) is a group-based social skills training program for adolescents on the autism spectrum. Although the program has been shown to be effective in improving social skills in autistic adolescents, evidence of its effectiveness from the Mandarin-speaking Chinese…

I use the term restorative wellness practices as a concept associated with life application strategies and procedures that increase or return wellness to individuals or groups, some of whom have lost or never experienced this due to a lack of opportunities and resources. At the college, where I teach dance, fitness, and health courses, it has…

This systematic review aimed to synthesize the best available research evidence regarding the effectiveness of school-based occupational therapy interventions on school skills and abilities among children with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and ASD (autism spectrum disorder). The review was conducted according to JBI (Joanna…

Autistic individuals have significant social-communication challenges that commonly persist into adulthood and impact academic, social, and vocational pursuits. More than two decades of research have established video behavior modeling as a successful, cost-effective, and time-efficient intervention tool for autistic children; however, less…

In this article, we examined young Finnish children's social relationships, characteristics of their parents' social networks and the role of parental networks in children's peer relationships. We drew on the data collected from a Finnish longitudinal study known as Steps to the Healthy Development and Well-Being of Children. The data from two…