The transition from high school to adulthood is typically accompanied by student's prepping and planning for post-secondary education and employment following the completion of their education. Obtaining employment is a key milestone in a young adult's life and provides the opportunity for earning money, living independently, and actively…

This study examined the clinical levels of depression and stress associated with raising a child with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). A range of factors, such as aberrant and challenging behaviors, measures of severity of ASD, and increasing child care responsibilities contribute to paternal stress. In addition fathers may experience high levels…

This uniquely formatted split-page autoethnography tells my story of learning to live with disability for more than 40 years. It presents the results of my personal narrative inquiry in the form of a layered account of embodied learning. This account offers an evocative autoethnography and analyzes disability in the context of an ableist society.…

Study One Abstract, Introduction: Individuals with disabilities (IWDs) struggle to access health services that they need which ultimately leads to poorer overall health outcomes and health disparities. IWDs often rely on surrogate decision-makers, or caregivers, to help them make important health decisions. Therefore, the aims of the current study…

Since the implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, individuals with disabilities have found enhanced opportunities in various areas of living. The numbers of students with disabilities in institutions of postsecondary education have also increased in the past few decades; however, despite this increase, the degree completion…

The purpose of this dissertation is to explore what can be done to mitigate the onset of a disability for young adults aged 18-24 in order to prevent suicidal thoughts or actions. Research suggests that many factors play into suicidal ideation for this young population, including lost hope, lack of coping mechanisms, lack of financial security and…

Analyzing attribution in cases involving children with disabilities means determining what parents attribute as the cognitive explanations for their children's diagnosis of disabilities. This field of research is important as attributions and individual perceptions will, once developed, act as an underlying psychological cue to influence and even…

This study explored the perceptions of disability from the perspectives of Ethiopian immigrant parents who have children with disabilities. The study was guided by the research question: How do Ethiopian immigrant parents from the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, who have children between the ages of 7-17 identified with disabilities and…

This study utilized a quality of life framework of psychosocial adaptation to explore relationships among college stress, functional limitations, coping strategies, and perceived social suport in adjustment to college among first-year and second-year undergraduate students with disabilities, based on specific hypothesized relations. College…

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) articulates the goal that all children can learn and are expected to achieve grade level academic proficiency by 2014. Based on theories underlying models of extrinsic motivation, the fundamental assumption and theory of action is that a system of rewards and sanctions will motivate teachers to focus on…

Seventeen percent of adults in the United States suffer from some degree of hearing loss, and this impairment can pose considerable personal, professional, social, and psychological challenges, often, to people reluctant to seek help (Hearing Loss Association, 2011). Post-secondary faculty members with hearing loss are among us, and most of them…

This study used Giorgi's descriptive phenomenological method to investigate and document the lived experience of special education teachers serving one or more successful students in special education. A direct analysis of the psychological meaning of naive descriptions of personal experiences provided by these teachers was conducted. Taped…

Neoliberal ideology frames the discourse of the current political rhetoric of education as an economic investment in the preparation of students to compete in a global economy. These discourses that emanate from policymakers shape the construct of schooling and control the trajectory of education in the US. As education policy becomes centralized,…

This study examined the relationship among grandparent support, family functioning, and parental stress on families with children with and without disabilities between the ages of 2 and 12 years. Families are viewed as an ever-changing complex system with reciprocal interactions. One possible stressor on the family system is the birth of a child…

Students with disabilities face a variety of challenges that extend beyond the classroom, as they are often behind their peers in social and life skills. As they exit their secondary education programs they are often ill prepared to meet the multi-dimensional demands of the work place. According to the United States Department of Labor (2011),…