My Research Statement in 2021
My research interest and publications are inspired by the growth and development stages of my child with a diagnosis with autism and are relevant to autism across the lifespan and across the breadth of the autism spectrum; for examples, brain research and autism (sensory processing, executive function, long-term memory and psychological self-awareness, social competence, and sensory processing), inclusive education, inclusion for students with disability, comparison of special education in different countries, program evaluation of sensory-friendly education concerts, self-regulated learning strategies for reading comprehension of middle school students with high functioning autism, socio-emotional behavior, social skills intervention, transition to post-secondary education, and employment and independent living.
Through many years of challenges, disappointments, and a few successes in advocating for my child with autism and other families of children with autism from culturally diverse backgrounds, I conducted a research project for my dissertation titled “Advocacy of Chinese-Speaking Families for the Education of Their Children with Autism.” The study employed a qualitative descriptive research to answer the research questions: What are Chinese-speaking families’ perceptions of their experiences in advocating for the education of children with autism? What are families’ current roles in advocating for the education of their children with autism?; and How do those roles influence their children’s education and the professionals who are involved with their children in providing special education programs and services to their children with autism? The study used a conceptual framework model to demonstrate the concepts which are embedded in advocacy environment of special education. The center of focus was students’ academic achievement.
The conceptual framework attempted to explain the interrelationships among the legal mandates and policies in special education, advocacy in special education, collaboration among stakeholders, multicultural-system perspectives, and advocacy education. The findings indicated that most parents lacked knowledge in navigating educational systems and resources to support their children. They also had negative experiences concerning teacher attitudes, expectations for their child, teacher competency, exclusion over inclusion, and trust that influenced the education of their children. Barriers affecting their advocacy roles and communication with the school included knowledge in special education, advocacy and educational school system, English proficiency, challenges in life, cultural beliefs and their involvement in decision making with the Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) teams. Participants indicated their reluctance to attend the parent workshops due to language barriers.
According to Hauwadhanasuk (2018), the findings of this dissertation study suggested schools and teachers perform their roles as a source of support and resource that provide consultation to families to get access to programs and services that will benefit children with disabilities. In addition, the families’ expectations of their advocacy roles would influence the outcomes of their children’s education upon their cultural perceptions and communication competence in the macro culture. The researcher of this study suggested school districts, and local and state educational agencies implement advocacy education programs and training for families of children with disabilities to gain knowledge of special education, special education law and advocacy and collaborate with educational stakeholders. These training programs will help families improve knowledge and advocacy skills to secure appropriate educational services for their children with disabilities (Burke & Goldman, 2015). In addition, the findings addressed the needs for effective collaboration of multidisciplinary team teachers to improve the educational outcomes and eliminating discriminatory practices, as well as the needs to provide a teacher preparation program that equip future educators with knowledge of special education.
In response to the needs for inclusion and community-based learning of students with disability in St. Louis and the needs for funding, my recent research project was a program evaluation on the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra Sensory-Friendly Education Concerts (SFECs). This music education program provided a venue for enjoyment of music, created equal access to the fine arts, served as a platform for self-advocacy, promoted social acceptance and social justice for a typically marginalized population, and developed inclusive culture and community for individuals with ASD and their friends and their loved ones (Shiloh & Lagasse, 2014). The purposes of this program evaluation research study were firstly to serve an initial exploration of the perception of SFECs, which was used to inform the future program adjustment and research; and secondly, to gather initial information about the participants’ perception of their experience in attending the SFECs and the extent to which they felt the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra provided a quality of educational program and the support for their participants. This study employed a sequential explanatory mixed method design to explore the perception and experience of teachers, practitioners, staff and volunteers, and musicians, in attending in the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) Sensory-Friendly Concerts (SFECs) towards the quality of the program preparation and support provided by the SLSO. This approach contained two phases in which the quantitative phase began first through a data collection by online surveys, and the qualitative phase through a data collection by individual interviews and focus-group discussion. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the modes of data collection were changed from face-to-face to virtual. This study utilized both quantitative data analysis techniques with the SPSS statistical analysis software and qualitative data analysis techniques with the ATLAS qualitative analysis software. The collected data were analyzed and interpreted both quantitatively and qualitatively. The interpretation and connection between the survey data and the qualitative descriptive data collected in the qualitative phase produced the most meaning and allow transferability and implications for further research on perceptions of experience in attending the sensory-friendly education concerts (Leedy & Ormrod, 2016). Findings showed positive experience in attending and in performing their roles to serve students with sensory processing disorder and other disabilities. The areas of improvements and recommendations for future programming and implications for practices were addressed.
My current research project has been conducted in response to the challenges in virtual teaching and learning of students with high functioning autism (HFA) during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Midwest region of the U.S.A. Certain groups of students are more vulnerable to extra challenges than others. Unfortunately, students with autism spectrum disorder are part of those who faced additional challenges. This study employed the collaborative autoethnographic research method to examine the differential impacts of virtual learning of a young adult with HFA during the pandemic through autoethnographic perspectives of a parent from culturally diverse background, an educational practitioner, and an educational policy researcher. Data were collected from primary sources that included personal narratives, interactive interviews, many rounds of reflective discussions among autoethnographic-participants via Zoom meeting sessions and informal conversations with young adult with high functioning autism. The researchers conducted data analysis with Microsoft Word comments to code data on shared Google Docs and Word documents using the cross-team-responses approach. Three major themes emerged that informed several promising practices: factors of vulnerability, school supports for diverse learners, and impacts on social and emotional learning states. These promising practices are useful for future researchers with the lenses of more time and data.
There are two major future research projects on my agenda: The first future research project has been created to apply for funding with a purpose to explore the factors that promote and provide an employment opportunity and independent living for college students with autism. A research project is titled, Telecoaching Autism Work Experience Pilot Program for College Students with Autism. The study will employ an experimental mixed-method triangulation design. The data collection process consists of five stages with online survey, virtual interviews and focus-group discussion sessions, pre-/post tests, interventions, and program assessments. There are five groups of participants: 1) parents/guardians, 2) faculty/administrators of student disability services center, 3) instructors and/or special education teachers/trainers for job coaching assistance, 4) business/organization partners, and 4) college students with a diagnosis of autism.
The below Telecoaching Model for Pre-Employment Trainings is adapted from Family System Framwork and Cultural Identity by Turnbull, Turnbull, Erwin, Soodak, and Shogren (2011).
The second future research project is planned to create an inclusive post-secondary education program for students with autism. The development of research proposal for this project is on a process of literature review as well as exploring the existing programs in different higher education institutions in the U.S.A. and Canada that support participation in postsecondary education of college students with autism after their high school graduation. The initial findings from the review on literature for this future research project are described below:
The identification and presentation of issues of post-secondary education showed that higher education is the route to reducing inequalities and enhancing societal inclusion for individuals with disabilities (Bliksvar, 2018). Policies are made on value of democrat society that one believes in social equality (D. Campbell, personal communication, December 4, 2012). Democracy demands that each person has equal access to opportunities available within its society. This includes individuals with disabilities who are led by others’ opinions and reflections on who they are (“Alberta Association for Community Living,” n.d.). According to National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), the importance of postsecondary education has increased significantly in the last decade. A high school diploma is no longer sufficient in the 21st century. In order to be successful in the current global economy, a person must receive some form of postsecondary education. The economic stability of the state is tied to citizens who are employed and productive (Gilmore, Bose, & Hart, 2001). The literature revealed that post-secondary education leads to greater employment opportunity, future earnings, job satisfaction, and healthier lifestyles (Baum, Ma, & Payea, 2010; Carnevale & Derochers, 2003; Marcotte, Bailey, Borkoski, & Kienzl, 2005). Several studies also identified post-secondary education provided the opportunities of individuals with disabilities to secure gainful employment and financial independence (Flannery, Yovanoff, Benz, & McGrath-Kato, 2008; Grigal, Hart, & Migliore, 2011; Hart & Zafft, n.d.).
Students with disabilities who have received college or university training earned income above federal poverty standards. Those who received postsecondary education services were less likely to receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) income. Standards of disabilities face a problem of being qualified enough in their training to work at jobs barely above the "poverty level." This means they will earn enough not to qualify for social security for disable as well as not earn enough to meet cost of living needs. The negative implication is that individuals with disabilities seem to be caught in a "Catch-22" situation (C. Cooper, personal communication, December 12, 2012) or a “no win-no win” situation (D. Campbell, personal communication, December 12, 2012). Students with disabilities, on the one hand, need postsecondary education to be able to provide for themselves, yet on the other hand, if they earn wages above the "poverty level," which will then lose their benefits from Social Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). The solution seems quite obvious to raise the income ceiling rates for these individuals. They will be able to work and earn enough money to support themselves and not lose their social security benefits. The problem is, they also lose access to health insurance (Medicaid). Few companies that pay low wages, near poverty level, provide health insurance.
In addition, several parties who are apparently responsible for establishing the direction of education, setting goals, and proposing and implementing policy include federal government, state government, school district, superintendent and board of education. The policies are on the district and state levels. As an educator and a resident in the State of Missouri, Missouri School Improvement Plan (MSIC) is a new direction of how to report the achievement of those students who fall in a “Achievement Gap Group” including African Americans, Spanish Hispanic or Latino, Free Lunch Program students, students with IEP, and ELL students. Contemporarily, “inclusion” is an emerging issue influencing the post-secondary education in special education. It is important and of personal interest to investigate two significant issues of post-secondary education: First, few programs are publicly available to persons with disabilities who are older than twenty-one years of age and have no longer receive the Individualized Educational Plans (IEPs). Second, post-secondary education is a critical step toward competitive employment for individual with disabilities. These are the two predominant issues underlying transition plan and post-secondary education.
There is an urgent need for the post-secondary education research study for students with disabilities. It behooves the researcher to seek ways of addressing these issues. As post-secondary education is important, there are the impacts on stakeholders including students with disabilities, families, teachers, educational professionals, school district administrators, community organizations, employers and business interests, politicians, and state and federal policy makers. The supportive and collaborative environment among stakeholders must be promoted in order to create a high quality of special education for secondary and post-secondary education in terms of key elements in special education including competitive employment, public program availability, disability service delivery, preventive barriers, early transition planning, funding, monitoring systems, direction and goal settings, and policy implementation.
References
Alberta Association for Community Living. (n.d.). Living the Dream-Inclusive Post-Secondary Education [Video file]. Retrieved November 8, 2012 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD5-oXszf30
Baum, S., Ma, J., & Payea, K. (2010). Education Pays, 2010: The benefits of higher education for individuals and society. College Board Advocacy & Policy Center. Retrieved from http://advocacy.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/Education Pays 2010.pdf
Bliksvaer, T. (2018). Disability, labour market participation and the effect of educational level compared to what? Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research, (1), 6. Tttps://doi.org/10.16993/sjdr.3
Burke, M. & Goldman, S. (2015). Identifying the associated factors of mediation and due process in families of students with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders, 45(5), 1345–1353.
Carnevale, A. P., & Desrochers, D. M. (2003). Preparing students for the knowledge economy: What school counselors need to know. Professional School Counseling, 6(4), 228–236.
Flannery, K. B., Yovanoff, P., Benz, M. R., & Kato, M. M. (2008). Improving employment outcomes of individuals with disabilities through short-term postsecondary training. Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals, 31(1), 26–36. doi:10.1177/0885728807313779
Gilmore D.S., Bose J., & Hart, D. (2001). Post Secondary Education as a Critical Step Toward Meaningful Employment: Vocational Rehabilitation’s Roles. Retrieved November 8, 2012 from www.communityinclusion.org/article.php?article_id=44
Grigal, M., Hart, D.,&Migliore, A. (2011). Comparing the transition planning, postsecondary education, and employment outcomes of students with intellectual and other disabilities. Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals, 34(1), 4–17. doi:10.1177/0885728811399091
Hart, D.,&Zafft, C. (n.d.). Follow-up study of the postsecondary educational experiences of twenty youth with cognitive disabilities. Phase II Findings Brief #9(MS#024b(1)-H01). Retrieved from http://www.rrtc.hawaii.edu/documents/products/phase2/pdf/024b(1)-H01.pdf
Hauwadhanasuk (2018). Advocacy of Chinese-Speaking Families for the Education of Their Children with Autism. Unpublished Dissertation. Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO.
Leedy, P. & Ormrod, J. (2016). Practical research: Planning and design. (11th ed). New Jersey: Pearson Education.
Marcotte, D. E., Bailey, T., Borkoski, C., & Kienzl, G. S. (2005). The returns of a community college education: Evidence from the national education longitudinal survey. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 27(2), 157–175. doi:10.3102/01623737027002157