Parental Satisfaction and Teacher Perspectives on Inclusive Education of Students with Asperger Syndrome: An Educational Tool

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate parental satisfaction and anxiety regarding the high school educational experiences of their child with a previous diagnosis of Asperger syndrome (AS), as well as educators\u27 understanding of the diagnosis and what information they deemed important to know about the student. The goal of this study was to develop an educational tool that would aid in initiating communication between parents of a student with AS, or with a new diagnosis of high-functioning autism (HFA), and their teachers. This would be an additional resource of use to pediatric genetic counselors that frequently see families regarding a diagnosis of ASD, as genetic etiologies for autism continue to be discovered. Methods: Parent participants were reached through local and national autism support groups, in addition to support groups based in social media. The parental survey included an adaptation of the State Trait Anxiety Inventory, Likert scale questions regarding satisfaction, and demographic questions. Teacher participants were recruited from high schools in South Carolina by receiving the invitation letter via email from their respective school principals and also through an educational conference in Columbia, SC. Questions on the teacher survey focused on past experiences teaching students with AS, desired parental involvement, and desired knowledge regarding the student. Results: Of the total respondents (N = 172), 101 parent participants met the inclusion criteria. Their baseline anxiety was significantly lower than their anxiety regarding their child\u27s school experiences. Overall, parents tended to be satisfied with teacher qualities, but less satisfied with the education experience as a whole. 10 teacher participants were interviewed and had a good overall understanding of the well-known characteristics of AS, and they desired knowing strategies for handling different situations that may occur in the classroom, as well as certain triggers that may upset the student. Conclusions: Teachers expressed interest in parent contact, yet a noticeable subset of parent respondents (37%) found it difficult to communicate with their child\u27s teachers. Based on the findings of this study, the educational tool incorporates information teachers desired to know, and can assist initiating communication between parents of a child with AS or HFA and their child\u27s teachers

A Retrospective Chart Review to Profile Appalachian Fall Risk

This study was designed to create a high-risk fall profile for a specific Appalachian community. Data were obtained from 1,598 individuals with fall-related injuries who had been had been evaluated at a Level 1 Trauma center in Northeast Tennessee throughout 2011 and 2012, ages of individuals were 18 to 85 years. Data collected included: age, gender, county of fall, site of fall, type of fall, number of co-morbidities, season of fall, and time of day of fall. Results showed differences in criteria for categorizing individuals at high risk of falls, as well as data that had not appeared in the literature such as high-risk counties, a new high-risk age range, and the specific type of fall occurring. Tailored interventions should be created to fit the needs of this at risk community

Medusa Magazine

Medusa Magazine is a student-run campus publication, co-founded by the author of this project and Samantha Lifson, a 2011 graduate of Syracuse University. The idea for the magazine came together over the summer and fall of 2009, with Medusa gaining official status as a Recognized Student Organization in the spring of 2010. The first issue was printed in April of 2010, and we have published two issues per semester since. The process of Medusa’s creation involved the drafting of our constitution as a student organization, numerous meetings with Bethany Piraino, our consultant within the Office of Student Activities, to ensure we met all the criteria to become a student organization, and application to the Student Association for the funding necessary to print. To create the format, which we have perpetuated in each subsequent issue, Samantha and this author worked very closely with Chloe O’Connor, our first design editor. We established coherent sections to the book, and set examples for things like the sex column, writing style for the features section, profile writing format, and photo/art spreads. We held numerous general interest meetings, and constantly recruited writers. We set an editorial process, which the staff follows consistently twice a semester to ensure the issues are printed on time and distributed to the student body efficiently. We also developed a style guide of general style rules for the publication, as well as a feminist style sheet, dictating the kind of politically correct language that should be used to discuss feminist issues in the publication. Medusa was founded to promote a feminist discussion on campus, and to bring into the public eye the outstanding achievements of women in their chosen career field. We feature art, poetry and opinions by female writers, and we allow column space to anyone with arguments to express. The publication was also founded to act as a critique of cultural norms, and to view and analyze current events and trends through a feminist lens

Reducing Uncertainty: A Student Perspective on an Introductory Communication Course

This assessment examines the Cal Poly Communication Studies (COMS) Department’s organizational needs and obstacles to effectively educating students in the major. We also propose a research question and method in order to provide the COMS department with insight into their organizational needs. Specifically, we have identified issues in overall educational effectiveness in correspondence with the needs and perspectives of their students. We will look into this issue through interviews, surveying, and analyzing the current COMS curriculum

Development of a Young Parents' Guide for Income, Education, Employment, and Health Resources in Southcentral Alaska

A Project Report Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH in Public Health PracticeThe issue of pregnancy at a younger age is a global problem that affects the socioeconomic status of people living in our community. The goal of this project was to compile a working, comprehensive, accurate and easy to read resource guide. The primary users of the guide are to be youth who may be planning to be pregnant, pregnant, engaging in risky sexual behaviors which may or may not lead to pregnancy, and/or parenting. Other intended users of the guide are to be workers in the social services and public health field. The resource guide created was assessed by the investigator to be the first of its kind specific to the target population within the Southcentral Alaska region. This study recommends that when working amongst this population that public health practices be used in conjunction with social services, keeping in mind the importance of preventative as well as intervention methods. Mainly, it is suggested that social services sites provide a brief and accurate list of useful links to other resources they recommend for further assistance. Utilizing the Health Belief Model, the intent of this project was to empower young people in this situation to have the knowledge and resources necessary to make informed decisions regarding their health and future

Situated meanings: understanding gender work in Ghanaian NGOs

This thesis investigates the ways in which ‘gender issues’ are incorporated into, and understood within, two Ghanaian NGOs. It contributes to an extensive body of literature which examines the take up and implementation of gender issues by development institutions. It argues that much of this literature tends to evaluate the gender work of development institutions against normative criteria; assessing whether ‘gender issues’ and/or a ‘gendered approach’ are ‘successfully’ and ‘correctly’ understood, incorporated into, and implemented by such institutions. This often concludes there is a disjuncture between what should and what does take place. I focus instead on providing an emic account of the gender work of these two organisations. Based on 10 months of ethnographic fieldwork, and focusing specifically on the theme of gender violence, I explore the particular ways in which staff understand, and therefore implement, their ‘gender work’. What emerges might be viewed by some, specifically from an outside (‘Western’) perspective as at odds with a perceived ‘correct’ meaning and intent of ‘transnational’ and ‘feminist’ gender goals. However, I argue that, when viewed from an emic perspective, what takes place in this particular instance, is not a ‘conscious’ translation of transnational gender ideas into ‘something else’, or a rejection of such ideas. Nor is it necessarily a ‘mediation’ between two sets of conflicting ideas – the ‘local’ and ‘transnational’. Rather, what occurs is a specific understanding of ‘gender’ ideas and concepts in ways that make sense to those involved; in relation to the broader context in which they live and work, the ideas that they hold, and their ways of seeing the world. I suggest that this is fundamentally shaped by, and must be understood in relation to, the normative assumptions and hegemonic discourses which pertain within a particular context, and the everyday lived gendered experiences of the staff involved. In this case, particular ideas and practices regarding marriage and the everyday usage of certain words are of central importance