After Skilled Therapy: A Curriculum for Functional Social Interactions

A curriculum was created for individuals with developmental disabilities who no longer qualify for skilled speech-language services at the Ecklemann-Taylor Speech & Hearing Clinic. The first portion of the paper includes the terms of eligibility within the clinic, reasons for dismissal, and the population that can potentially benefit from this curriculum. The second part of the paper includes an extensive literature review and the empirical base of the components for the curriculum which provide extra support. Finally, the guide to the curriculum itself is attached

American Indian Professionals: Educational Decision-Making and Persistence

American Indian graduate students are experiencing a higher matriculation rate in higher education today; however, those rates are still lower than other underrepresented minority groups’ rates. The purpose of this study is to conduct exploratory research to investigate the decision-making process of American Indian/Alaskan Native professionals who persisted to graduation from their graduate programs. This study explores the participants’ graduate school experiences relating to education, tribal values, decisions, their social support, and perseverance. The theoretical framework of decisionmaking theory, i.e. Prospect Theory, was used to evaluate the educational decisions of the participants. Decision-making theorists include corporate culture in their discussions; however, those discussions are silent regarding ethnic cultures, specifically, American Indian culture. This study will encourage new threads in the decision-making theory discussions. The themes identified in this study are as follows: education and graduate school experiences, culture and tribal values, decisions, social support, and perseverance. From the data obtained from the interviews, two assertions were formulated. The data from this study can be used to inform educators, administrators, and staff about American Indian tribal values and their place in higher education

Early Home Literacy Practices of the Prairie Band Potawatomi People

Home experiential differences theory suggest Native American (NA) students face unfamiliar customs when attempting to navigate U.S. public schools, which places them at a disadvantage for academic success compared to their peers. Such disadvantages are evident through their overrepresentation in special education programs, their low performance on grade-level achievement tests, and their considerable high school drop out rates. The theory further suggest if the mismatch between school and home cultures could be alleviated, NA students might then be able to demonstrate their true academic abilities at school. To accomplish this, though, significantly more information needs to be collected on the specific home practices of NA students. As experiences with early literacy have been found to have positive effects on later academic outcomes, it was believed that a look into such practices would be most informative. The purpose of this study, then, was to investigate potential home environmental differences in the area of early literacy for a single tribe of NA students, the Prairie Band Potawatomi. A survey was developed and distributed to primary caretakers of the children that attend Prairie Band Potawatomi’s early childhood center inquiring about the frequency they engage in certain early literacy practices and the cultural relevance of such practices for their families. As mainstream emphasis in early literacy often involves dialogic shared book reading and NA culture historically supports oral storytelling traditions, questions about the significance of these practices were especially emphasized. The results of the study suggest that not only did most respondents report participating in shared book reading and oral storytelling frequently with their children but also supported that characteristics of mainstream book reading were viewed as culturally appropriate. Clinical implications for educators working with this specific tribe are discussed, as well as general directions for future research in this area

An Evaluation of Mand and Tact Assessment Procedures

There are many empirically validated interventions to establish vocal mands and tacts for children (e.g., Miguel, Carr, & Michael, 2002; Wallace, Iwata, & Hanley, 2006); however, the method for determining the most appropriate intervention for each individual is unclear. An assessment is one way to identify an effective intervention for a given individual. The purpose of the current study was to replicate and extend Bourret, Vollmer, & Rapp (2004) who evaluated an assessment to inform effective mand interventions for three boys with vocal mand deficits. In the first study, we replicated the full mand assessment as described by Bourret et al. and compared the full assessment to a brief mand assessment with similar procedures. Results showed that the full mand assessment and the brief mand assessment identified similar patterns of responding for all three participants. In addition, there was increased efficiency of the brief mand assessment when compared to the full mand assessment. In the second study, we extended the brief assessment from the mand to the tact to evaluate the identification of training strategies for the tact. Results of the brief tact assessment identified similar patterns of responding to the brief mand assessment for two of the three participants and a dissimilar outcome for one participant, suggesting that vocal verbal deficits may differ across verbal operants

Navigating mainstream higher education: examining the experiences of Native students using Tinto's interactionalist's model

Postsecondary degree attainment for American Indian college students at predominantly White institutions has consistently been the lowest among any ethnic and/or racial group for the past three decades. A plethora of studies have been conducted to examine the experiences of Native students at mainstream institutions within the conceptual framework of Vincent Tinto's interactionalist's theory whether in segments or in its entirety. Tinto's model considers, among other variables, prematriculation characteristics and dispositions of students including the influence of family, postsecondary aspirations, components of informal and formal academic integration, and the phenomenon of transient transition of students through institutional assimilation. Today, the retention and graduation of college students is the bedrock of conversations on quality and accountability in the field of higher education and Tinto's model has served as one of the catalysts for policy and program development in this area of study. In keeping with this model, this study examines the experiences of American Indian college students at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke (UNCP) to determine the applicability of this particular model and its Western paradigm to an examination of Indigenous students

Modern Day Warriors: An Exploration of Indigenous Male Graduates

Abstract This study explores successful experiences of Indigenous males who earned a master’s or professional degree from non-native institutions. Research on this population in relation to persistence and success is limited. The literature is guided primarily on Indigenous undergraduate programs and the barriers Indigenous students face in higher education. However, the literature is limited on the Indigenous graduate student experience. To provide insight into the perspectives and experiences of Indigenous males, Charmaz’ constructivist grounded theory approach and the Indigenous methodology of Story were used. Through in-depth interviews of 11 Indigenous males from across the United States, the graduate school experience of the males was analyzed. The major themes included Tribal Nation Building, Reliance on Support Networks, Warrior Mentality, and Reclaiming of Indigenous Masculinities. Recommendations for future study are to explore Indigenous fatherhood, gay Indigenous men, Indigenous men at different levels of higher education programs, establishment of graduate support programs, and reclaiming Indigenous masculinities. Keywords: Indigenous males, Indigenous masculinities, Indigenous graduate student success, Tribal Nation Building, Support Networks, Native American males, American Indian mal

From archaeology to unceded territories: urban indigenous art and the politics of place in Vancouver

The project sets out to engage Indigenous connections to land and culture in the settler colonial city of Vancouver Canada, and examine the ways urban Native art expresses these relationships in forms that trouble, resist and complicate western aesthetics, definitions of land and property, and understandings of Indigenous identity and community as bounded, bordered and reservation based. It considers how ancient, contact era, and contemporary practices and conditions for Indigenous communities in the province of British Columbia's Lower Mainland area converge to create a particular context for Indigenous public art in the city. The works engaged in the project, function on a number of levels that simultaneously draw on, and subvert the western gaze and history of connoisseurship on the Northwest Coast. By working to re-inscribe/reveal Aboriginal presences in various ways in the city, they contribute to and reflect on, the entanglements of Indigenous /settler relations and place making in Vancouver and can be read as particular manifestations of Indigenous sovereignty in settler colonial public space

Washed Away: Native American Representation in Oklahoma Museums and High Schools, 2000 – 2020

Each state in our union has a unique history and story as it plays into the formation of the United States; one of the unique and historically relevant narratives to United States is that of Oklahoma. The state of Oklahoma has gone through a multitude of changes over the last several centuries. Unfortunately a significant part of the history that has made Oklahoma so singular continues to be overlooked by the public and through education. Native Americans were forced off their ancestral lands and moved to Oklahoma. The state was then developed through a series of federal acts and invasive Euro-American settlement, but the dominant historical narrative taught in public education across the state, and in public history venues, rarely reflects the harsher realities of the 19th century as they impact Native peoples in Oklahoma. This thesis builds on the works of scholars working at the intersections of history, Native American Studies, and public history, such as Jean O’Brien, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, and Amy Lonetree, in order to shed light on the limitations and active erasures pervasive in the presentation of Oklahoma history. Through the study of Oklahoma museums, high school textbooks, and state standards, this research shows there is a severe lack of representation of Native American histories and peoples in Oklahoma history, and it argues that this lack of representation can lead to an increase in high school dropout rates, continuing cultural genocide, and perpetuation of colonial mentalities

A Study of Indigenous Boys and Men

The authors highlight community programs that promote the education and well-being of Native men and boys. The findings and recommendations capture the breadth and depth of educational experiences among Indigenous men and boys. In addition, the authors identify guiding principles that might not otherwise be included in archival data or as educational tactics, such as cultural practices (i.e., spirituality) in intervention(s), personal, and emotional influences, and other individualized details regarding educational access, persistence, and attainment