Christine Teeters Myers

Strategies for Supporting Transitions of Young Children with Special Needs and Their Families

Young children with special needs and their families often experience transitions across multiple environments in the early childhood years. Many transitions are identified as stressful for children and families. In the present study, a series of focus groups involving administrators, practitioners, and family members were held around the United States to identify transition practices that have been implemented effectively for children, families, staff, administrators, and communities. Two major themes emerged from the data: critical interagency variables, defined as strategies that support an interagency process involving multiple parties; and transition practices and activities, defined as practices that address child, family, staff, program, and community-specific activities. Outcomes from these focus groups included identification of transition strategies for young children with special needs that are considered valuable by parents, providers, and administrators and that are consistent with theoretical frameworks described in the transition literature.

Physical therapists' participation in early childhood transitions.

Purpose: This study was designed to explore the role of physical therapists in the transition of young children with special needs from early intervention to preschool and from preschool to kindergarten. Methods: Questionnaires were mailed to 500 pediatric physical therapists throughout the United States. Respondents reported how they participated in transition planning, if they perceived they were participating fully in the transition process, what barriers limited their participation, where they obtained information about transitions, and special training they had received on transition planning. Results: The response rate was 41.6%. Differences in type and level of participation were noted across settings. Therapists commented on specific barriers to participation and identified working with the family and performing evaluations as the top strategies for participation. Only 16.6% of respondents reported receiving training on transition. Conclusions: The survey provided preliminary data regarding physical therapists involvement in early childhood transitions and suggests that further research is needed.

Handwriting Without Tears versus Teacher-Designed Handwriting Instruction in First Grade Classrooms

Occupational therapists working in school-based practice provide handwriting interventions using a variety of approaches. A quasi-experimental pretest/posttest control group design was utilized to examine the effectiveness of the Handwriting Without Tears (HWT) program compared to standard, teacher-designed handwriting programs in eight first grade classrooms. At each of four schools, one first grade classroom participated in a standard handwriting program typically conducted by the teacher (control group, N = 54), and another first grade classroom utilized the HWT program (experimental group, N = 67). The Minnesota Handwriting Assessment was used to compare the handwriting skills of the students. The control group showed a higher average posttest scores compared to the HWT group in each subtest of the Minnesota Handwriting Assessment (p < 0.01). There were no significant differences in average posttest scores for the experimental and control groups for students receiving special education services. Though our study did not support HWT as being a more effective method of handwriting instruction than a standard method of handwriting instruction, the findings do demonstrate that handwriting skills of students in both groups improved, thus supporting the viability of using a multisensory handwriting approach, such as HWT, in the classroom.

Effect of Duration of Peer Awareness Education on Attitudes toward Students with Disabilities: A Systematic Review.

The attitudes of peers towards fellow students with disabilities impacts social participation and the development of relationships within the school context. This systematic review examined the effect of duration of a disability-awareness education program on the attitudes of peers towards students with disabilities. Sources such as the Academic Search Premier, CINAHL, Education Full Text (H.W. Wilson), ERIC, and Teacher Reference Center were searched, and yielded thirty studies with a combined sample size of 7,346 students that met the inclusion/exclusion criteria. These were critically appraised for quality using the Downs and Black Quality Index (1998). Implications for disability-awareness program development emerged, as well as an expanded role for occupational therapy practitioners to assess the social context in inclusionary settings. Future research should address other program elements to determine best practice in facilitating positive peer attitudes towards students with disabilities in order to promote social inclusion.

Teaching Interprofessional Collaboration: Using Online Education Across Institutions

ABSTRACT Interdisciplinary courses among students in occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech-language pathology are important for addressing teamwork, communication, and understanding of professional roles, especially in pre-service training for early intervention and school-based practice where collaboration is essential. Although interprofessional education (IPE) as a part of higher education in the health sciences has been strongly encouraged, IPE courses are difficult to schedule and implement. This article discusses the challenges of developing and delivering two IPE courses in an online format, specifically the innovation that addresses logistics, time factors, and social presence for the IPE courses across two institutions.

Inter-Professional Role Perception and Communication of Preservice Students and Therapists in Schools and Early Intervention

Limited research is available examining inter-professional role perception or communication specific to school and early intervention practice settings. The purpose of this two-phase qualitative study was to describe the inter-professional role perception and communication among occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech therapy graduate students in online courses and therapists working in schools or early intervention. Data were gathered via online discussions and an in-person focus group. Results demonstrated differences in therapist and student role perceptions and understanding of areas of practice overlap. Findings may help educators develop a better understanding of how inter-professional role perceptions and communication are learned.