This research project explores the interconnections between three constructs: joy, play, and learning. The research specifically focuses on children's ideas and experiences of joy, play, and learning at a public Montessori School in the United States of America and in the context of engaging with selected math games. The games used are…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how parents of children with ADHD described their feelings and perceptions about school disciplinary measures regarding their child. While there was research that showed that the increase in discipline among scholars with disorders like ADHD could have been attributable to the overuse of the…

Hope has a powerful influence on individuals, especially those battling critical illness. The problem is the Make-A-Wish wish-granting experience was never designed to improve the health care of children being granted a wish; thus, hope was a mere by-product of the wish experience. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to…

Many children with autism struggle with emotion processing, which affects their ability to respond in a social situation appropriately. Interventions for emotion recognition typically require the individual to tact or match photos of static facial expressions without teaching the emotion's facial or body language stimulus characteristics.…

Society today has vastly integrated technology into every industry, and this is no different for psychotherapy and education. Increasing research supports utilizing technology to deliver Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) principles. Specifically, current literature supports the use of CBT for students experiencing anger regulation difficulties…

Awareness of autism is rising, yet social determinants of health continue to impact rates, ages of diagnosis, and diagnostic load. Different psychiatric labels carry stigmas; unequal rates of diagnoses may indicate biases in the healthcare system. This study investigates six prior diagnoses (ADHD, disorders of conduct, adjustment, anxiety, mood,…

America's elementary-aged children are struggling in school. Teachers and parents report that children are demonstrating difficulty attending to and staying engaged with instructional activities in classrooms nationwide. As a result, teachers must manage children's dysregulation as it may impact their immediate learning abilities and produce…

Research literature focused on Black boys along the K-6 pathway objectifies them and results in their developmental capabilities and capacities being ignored while their acts of self-definition are impeded. This is evidenced by researchers solely focusing upon external factors and/or using adult-completed surveys and datasets as sources for data.…

Although Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) have traditionally been considered a lifelong condition, there appear to be a subset of people who make such significant improvements that they no longer meet diagnostic criteria for autism. The current study examines whether these "optimal outcome" (OO) children and adolescents, despite losing…

This qualitative study focuses upon the experiences of pre-teenage transgender (PTT) children as they negotiate their identities with their families and educational institutions. PTT children are an at risk population in U.S. public schools and frequently experience a lack of support and understanding from their families. Transgender identities…

The present study investigated the ability of young children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to identify emotion in photographs as well as their response to a distress event. Since communication is a core aspect of the disability, alternate methods of assessment were employed in order to investigate emotion understanding and…

With the rapid increase in the rate of children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), there has been a surge in treatment interventions and outcome measures. Treatment interventions consist of evidence-based practices and programs that lack scientific validation. Parents' selection of a treatment or multiple treatments is often based on…

Students exhibiting speech deficits may not have the appropriate skills or support structures necessary to obtain adequate or acceptable literacy development as mixed results from past research have indicated that some students with speech impairments have the capacity to gain appropriate literacy skills. The purpose of the qualitative holistic…

This dissertation explores the relational worlds of a single child with a significant disability. Previous research on relationships for individuals with significant disabilities has heavily relied on the perceptions of and information from others, rather than the individual with a disability him or herself. This research is an ethnographic…

Experiencing the death of a family member at a young age is a confusing time for many children. Some clinicians have reported that parental death is the most stressful life event for children, and some studies have traced adults' mental health difficulties to unresolved childhood grief (Balk, 1983; Krahnstoever, 2006). Despite the hardships…