The Effectiveness Of Child-Centered Play Therapy On The Challenging Behaviors Of Early Elementary School Students

With the high prevalence of mental health disorders among children, there is a growing need for effective mental health interventions that will enhance overall wellness and functioning while meeting the developmental needs of children (Stagman & Cooper, 2010). In addition, there are increasing demands from policymakers, managed-care organizations, and educators to implement evidence-based interventions (EBIs), or treatments that are supported by strong research (Kratochwill & Shernoff, 2004). One treatment that shows promise as an effective, developmentally-appropriate intervention that meets the mental health needs of children is play therapy (Bratton, Ray, Rhine, & Jones, 2005; Landreth, 2002; Ray, 2011). Although results of play therapy studies have shown some significance in improving a variety of issues for children, the body of research has been criticized, primarily due to inconsistent or inconclusive results across studies or compromised research designs and methods (Phillips, 1985; 2010; Read, Hunter, & McMillan, 1999). In addition, the field also lacks differentiation among various theoretical play therapy approaches across the research base (Phillips, 2010). To address these gaps in the literature, this study utilized a strong research design to examine the effectiveness of child-centered play therapy (CCPT) on the challenging behaviors of three kindergarten students. A single-case multiple baseline design was used to maintain a high level of control with rigorous data collection methods (Kennedy, 2005; Ray and Schottelkorb, 2010). Research methods were designed to meet the What Works Clearinghouse pilot standards for single-case designs, which use stringent criteria in evaluating quality of research (U.S. Department of Education, 2014). The integrity of the CCPT intervention was assessed to ensure accurate implementation. Results from direct observational data suggested a relationship between CCPT and the improvement of classroom behaviors. In contrast to direct observational data, teacher ratings did not indicate improvements in behavior. Ratings by parents yielded significant results for improving behaviors at home. This study made valuable contributions to the literature by utilizing a strong research design and demonstrating promising findings for CCPT. Practical implications include using as few as eight sessions of CCPT as a behavioral intervention at school and engaging in ongoing teacher consultation to supplement CCPT

A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF USING WEIGHTED VESTS WITH INDIVIDUALS WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the current literature on the use of weighted vests with individuals with autism spectrum disorder. A literature review using the What Works Clearinghouse Standards was conducted. The results of the review show that the use of weighed vests with individuals with autism spectrum disorder is not an evidence-based practice

Complicating Homelessness: A Workshop for Students and Volunteers

Homelessness effects 17 out of every 10,000 people in the United States, and approximately 22 out of every 10,000 people in the city of Asheville, NC. Homeward Bound of Western North Carolina (HBWNC) is a nonprofit organization working to prevent and end homelessness in Asheville through low-barrier services and Housing First practices. HBWNC relies on volunteers from the community and higher education institutions for support in running its programs. While most volunteer training focuses on the day-to-day tasks, boundaries, and procedures related to volunteering with HBWNC, this project focuses on the importance of giving volunteers a solid understanding of homelessness as a social justice issue, and how volunteer positionality, experience, and implicit bias may impact their interactions with the clients they serve. This project focuses on training prospective volunteers through a workshop facilitated at two different higher education institutions in the Asheville area. The goal of the workshop was to introduce the concepts of complex personhood, intersectionality, and desire-centered frameworks with the goal of laying the groundwork for critical service-learning experiences that move participants beyond simple volunteerism by encouraging them to think deeply about their work, its value, and how this work holds importance in a social justice context

Effects of a Mindfulness-based Program on Children’s Social Skills, Problem Behavior, and Emotion Regulation

This quasi-experimental wait-list control study examined the effects of a mindfulness-based program on students in two open-enrollment public charter schools located in a mid-sized urban city. Participants (n=176) were 3rd through 6th grade students. Students were identified as 54% Hispanic/Latino, 39% African American, and 7% other (e.g., White, Asian, American Indian). Three classrooms at each school served as the treatment group, and three classrooms at each school served as the control group, for a total of 12 participating classrooms. Students and teachers reported on students’ social skills, problem behavior, emotion regulation, and mindfulness before and after the program. The mindfulness program was taught twice a week for 10-weeks. Each session lasted approximately 20 minutes and was implemented in all six treatment classrooms by a trained mindfulness instructor. Multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) were the primary methods of analyses. After controlling for pre-treatment levels of each variable, gender, and age, results indicated no significant differences in student-reported social skills, problem behavior, or mindfulness between the treatment and control groups. Teachers reported no significant differences between the control and treatment groups’ emotion regulation, empathy, engagement, self-control, externalizing, and internalizing at post-test. However, teachers did report significantly higher cooperation and significantly lower hyperactivity/inattention for children in the treatment group at post-test. Interaction effects of gender by treatment group indicated males in the treatment group appeared to benefit significantly more than females in the treatment group in terms of hyperactivity/inattention. In addition, the effects of problem type were analyzed in an exploratory manner. Implications of this study suggest mindfulness may have particular utility to improve children’s cooperation and reduce hyperactive and inattentive symptoms specifically for males. Although more research is needed, results also indicated that mindfulness may have particular utility as a universal intervention. After the implementation of the mindfulness program, children with externalizing and internalizing problems appeared to have levels of emotion regulation that were not significantly different from their typical peers

App-Based Academic Interventions for Children With Autism

Technology, such as tablet/phone apps, robots, video games, and virtual reality, can be used to teach skills to autistic children. Research on technology supports for autistic youth often focus on social skills, a main part of an autism diagnosis. However, autistic children may also have academic challenges, and fewer studies have looked at how technology can teach academic skills to children with autism. We created three studies to look at how academic apps may benefit autistic children. In the first study, we reviewed studies that looked at how academic apps can increase the academic skills of children with autism. We only reviewed studies that included a single subject design (i.e., looks at a single case, such as a person or family, in-depth over time) because they are practical for disabilities that are uncommon and are often used in academic settings. Generally, treatments that used academic apps with autistic children increased their academic skills. In the second study, we tested an academic app for learning numbers and letters. We used a single subject design with five preschool children with either autism or a developmental delay. Most children who used the academic app in our study did not show gains in either numbers or letters. In the final study, we interviewed parents of autistic children and asked them about their experiences with academic apps. Parents talked about the pros, cons, and useful features of academic apps. They added ideas about how academic apps could be improved for their children with autism. Overall, academic apps generally appear to be useful for teaching academic skills to autistic children, and these studies helped us discover what may be missing in the current research along with future directions for new studies

An Exploration of Educational Underachievement from the Perspectives of Teachers and White British Working-Class Pupils in an Urban Pupil Referral Unit

This small-scale qualitative study aims to explore the factors that contribute to the educational underachievement of white British working-class boys and girls. This exploration is informed by the perspectives of ten white British working-class pupils and five teachers based in an urban Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) in England. The PRU is based in a Local Authority where the educational performance of white British working-class (WBWC) pupils is of significant concern. All the pupils that participate in this study are in key stage 4 (ages 14 – 16), recorded on the school information management system as white British and in receipt of free school meals. Based on their levels of attendance and attainment all pupil-participants are categorised as unlikely to achieve five or more A*-C grades (including English and mathematics) at GCSE level or to progress on to any form of post-compulsory education. This study is informed by Bourdieu’s (1984) theories of field, habitus and cultural capital, which consider educational underachievement in working-class pupils as an outcome of class inequalities within the education system. Within this study, Bourdieu’s (1984) concepts prove useful in teasing out and explaining the factors that contribute to the educational underachievement of many WBWC pupils. However, the findings (based on semi-structured one-to-one interviews with a group of WBWC pupils and their teachers) from this study challenge the notion of conflict free mediation when the institutional habitus of a school aligns with the habitus of white British working-class pupils. Following a discussion of the principal findings, this study suggests the reasons for the educational underachievement of many WBWC pupils cannot be attributed to a single factor. Rather, it concludes that the educational underachievement of many WBWC pupils is influenced by a complex amalgamation of a hidden curriculum, misrecognised aspirations, parental influences and negative perceptions of schooling and prospects which are all induced and shaped by social stratification

Dumb Hillbillies? Media Portrayal in the Age of Trump A Critical Discourse Analysis

Appalachia is a place of mystery rarely examined with a systematic methodological lens (Van Leeuwen; 2008; Carbó et al. 2016). The term “Appalachian” has remained a synonym for “backward” or “ignorant” or “hillbillies” for much of modern history. Do media outlet framings of Appalachians, who primarily supported Donald Trump over two U.S. election periods (2015-2021) reinforce the national understanding of Appalachians as uneducated whites? To answer the question, I used Critical Discourse Analysis to interpret 51 news articles from The New York Times, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Charleston Gazette-Mail, The Daily Yonder, and The Roanoke Times from the announcement of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in July 2015 to the inauguration of Joe Biden in January 2021. A comparison of articles written in responses posted by Appalachian sources reveals themes from reporting within and outside the region during this timeframe. In my analysis, I found five major themes demonstrating that media framings do indeed support the status quo understandings of white Appalachians as ignorant hillbillies. The stereotypes of Appalachians are like the caricatures of many other marginalized groups -- criminalized and demonized. Stereotypes lead to implicit bias, impacting services, policies, and individual interactions