|
Parental Concerns about Communication Needs of
their Children |
A paper presented
at the Poster Session of the annual meeting of the Midwest
Symposium for Leadership in Behavior Disorders.
February 22, 2008
Joan E. Aitken
Abstract: A content analysis was
conducted of 1718 emails parents sent to each other during the
summer in an online discussion support group. The parents of children who have been diagnosed as eligible for
special education services. The findings suggest that these
parents were most concerned about understanding the diagnosis
and testing process, communication with the school, and
IEPs. Although parents talked most about their children's
reading, social skills, and writing, there was relatively little
discussion about listening, speech communication, and
nonverbal communication. Additional concerns included diagnosis,
parenting stresses, and communication with professionals.
Joan E. Aitken (Ed.D., University of
Arkansas), is a Professor of Communication Arts at Park
University, 229 Copley, 8700 NW River Park Drive, Parkville, MO
64152, phone 816-584-6785,
Joan.aitken@park.edu
and Professor Emerita, University of
Missouri – Kansas City.
The author
expresses appreciation to Gabriela SaTeles of Park University
for her research assistance and Dr. Sandra Clutter of the
University of Missouri-Kansas
City for her review of this
manuscript.
Parental Concerns about Communication Needs of
their Children
Access to private opinions about children is a difficult area to
research. With the advent of online discussion groups, however,
many parents are willing to disclose information about their
ideas and feelings about their children. This online phenomenon
provides research information in multiple ways. First, one can
analyze the overall functions of the online discussion support
group. Second, one can analyze what individual group members
have to say about their communication with educators about their
children with special needs.
The purpose of this article is to examine the nature of parental
concerns about communication skill development of their
school-age children who qualify for special education services.
A student’s communication ability is the single best predictor
of school success because of the correlation between
communication skills and positive peer relationships and
academic achievement (Sage, 2001, p. 423). Although effective
communication can be a challenge for any child, students with
disabilities often have additional communication problems that
interfere with their successes (Meadan, Ostrosky, & Halle, 2006;
Rinaldi, 2003). Mack and Warr-Leeper (1992) found that boys with
behavior disorders often have poor or inconsistent language
skills. Sanger, Maag, and Spilker (2006) suggested that for
girls classified as “juvenile delinquents,” interpersonal
communication skills are particularly problematic. Ritzman and
Mitzo (2007) found that students who had been violent improved
social adjustment, academic performance, and
behavior when they receive speech and language services. The
difficulty of some children is exemplified by this parent’s
words: “Socially, he was teased and was more or less an
outcast.”
Assuming that communication skills are a factor in student
success, the author sought to determine parental perceptions
about the communication of their children, although research
included, but was not restricted to, children with behavior and
emotional disorders. This parent’s words gives insight into the
challenges of children with behavior disorders: “The child is
so discouraged that he doesn't believe that he is able to
control his behavior.” So, how can one gain insight through the
study of an online parental support group? First, by examining
the group’s communication functions, the educator can better
understand the needs of parents who have children with behavior
and emotional disorders. Second, teachers may gain insights into
more effective instruction for children with behavior and
emotional disorders. For the purpose of this research, a content
analysis was used to consider parental concerns in communicating
with and about their children with educators. Two areas of
expressed concern were those of family talk and family conflict
related to their children with disabilities.
Creating Narratives
Story-telling is a crucial communication skill, which requires
cognitive, knowledge, and language skills (Soto & Harmann,
2006). Communication scholars, educators, and psychologists have
examined the purpose and effects of story-telling in many
contexts. For example, story-telling helps people to make sense
of their experiences through interpretative processing,
particularly when using reflection about difficult experiences (Bochner,
Ellis, & Tillmann-Healy, 1997; Koenig Kellas & Trees,
2006). Self-disclosure about difficult situations can have
positive effects on an individual’s well-being (Clark,
1993; Pennebaker, 2003). Thus, story-telling can be
viewed as important for personal and therapeutic reasons in
multiple contexts. Genereaux and McKeough (2007) contended that
narratives are crucial in meaning-making and
social-psychological understanding.
Black (2008) suggested that people in groups mediate differences
based on their dialogic interactions, which can be particularly
important in an online group.
Koenig Kellas and
Trees (2006) observed that families used joint-narratives to
make collaborative sense of experiences. Kyratzis (2005)
suggested that story-telling is a primary way that families
convey values and culture to their children. Family stories tend
to be highly personal (Sherman,
1990) To some extent, the online discussion support group
provides the same possibility of making sense of difficulties
with children, schools, family members, and professionals
through shared story-telling.
The Nature of
Online Support Groups
With the advent of electronic listservs and the Internet,
opportunities for support and information-sharing have increased
through the use of online communities (Shedletsky & Aitken,
2004). These groups are available on a range of topics, which
can bring together people from diverse locations. Online support
groups have provided a new area of research interest. Royal
(2005), for example, analyzed research about the Internet and
women. There seemed to be equal access, but less comfortable
participation by women and a less welcoming context for women.
Ye (2006) found that international students in an online support
group received more information and felt less stress. Kuster
(2007) also found information value in online groups, including
the fact that support groups can provide information through
Internet links. There is some question about the reasons people
select an online discussion group instead of a face-to-face
group. These reasons may include frequency of interaction,
availability, a sense of anonymity, convenience, and the lack of
pressure to talk in a group. Mesch (2006), for example,
suggested that people with low self-esteem were more likely to
be frequent Internet users.
These groups provide opportunities for learning and empathy for
people who share interests or concerns. There are numerous
online groups specifically for people with interests in or
concerns about children with disabilities. An updated version of
the ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education list
includes 55 different online discussion groups on the topic of
learning disabilities and special education
(
http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/eric/ld-sped.html ). The value of
online support groups can be as important to the members as a
face-to-face support groups are to their members (Turner, Grube,
& Meyers, 2001). Further, the sense of anonymity in the nature
of online interaction may actually increase the quality and
depth of member responses through personal disclosure,
reciprocity, and personal acceptance (VanLear, Sheehan, Withers
& Walker, 2005).
Peer Communication and Social Interaction.
These discussions included how the child interacts with peers,
table manners, and other social skills. Parents discussed
story-telling as a way of teaching social skills. Parents
discussed situations where their children are isolated or
ostracized. As Polloway, Miller, and Smith wrote:
“Conversational competence takes on greater importance as
students strive to fit in with their peers participate in social
peer groups, and move toward greater independence from parents”
(p. 222). One parent sought information on helping her child:
“It was suggested that my child also might need social
interaction facilitation by an adult in unstructured settings
and a peer buddy to help with peer interactions (how do we find
these?).” Parents can often figure out contextual cues, which
may be helpful information for teachers, such as indicated by
this parent: “I was thinking about his social problems and
realized the problems usually occur in situations when he is
excited, like a party or the theme park. If he is with a friend
one-on-one, whom he finds interesting, he is usually well
behaved.”
Method
This research analyzed public archives of an online support
group for parents of children with behavior and emotional
disorders. The online discussion group was selected for study
because of the support group’s focus, the large number of active
parent participants, and diverse concerns. A content analysis
was conducted on 1718 emails from this online discussion group
of parents of children diagnosed with disabilities. Their
children included young children through adults.
The group is an open forum for parents to discuss their children
who have exceptionalities. The discussion includes conversation
about school services, working with teachers, seeking correct
diagnoses, interventions that work, parenting methods, sources
of information and support, and health and nutrition concerns.
The discussion group is open to anyone who has a connection to a
child with disabilities, such as a parent or teacher. Among
those who post, there are parents, teachers, and professionals,
females and males, adult through retirement age, and members who
live in the United States and other English-speaking countries.
Nearly all the people who post to the discussion are
mothers—many single mothers--of children with disabilities who
live in the United States. As one mother wrote: “I remember that
somebody on this list once remarked on how many of us mothers
were single moms. So I'm sure you're not alone.” Given the
societal trend of the mother having major responsibility for
parenting, the predominance of women in the group appears
appropriate. More than 70 people posted during the period
studied. Nearly all parents reside in the United States. In some
situations the child has undiagnosed behavior and emotional
disorders.
The postings were categorized according to parental comments
about communication. Concern for a topic was analyzed according
to the nature of the content and the number of words posted
about the subject. Postings with a large number of words
suggested high concern, with the interpretation that the more
parents discussed the topic, the most concern they felt toward
the topic. Non-duplicated content revealed more than 300,000
words in the emails analyzed. The content was then categorized
so that the number of words could be used to determine the
percentage of discussion about each communication topics.
Word
Frequency, Intensity, and Clustering
In cluster criticism (Burke, 1966), the analyst actually counts
individual words used in communication. The analyst can examine
the frequency, intensity, and clustering of certain
words. By looking at the frequency of word use, the communicator
gives a clue to what is most important. If you look at the
manuscript of a speech for example, you can easily count words
and determine the important concepts based on the sheer number
of times certain words are uttered. While that analysis may be
more difficult when listening in a normal conversation, the
strategy can be adapted to help one figure out what is going
on in the communication event? In one sense the counting of
words gears us into the literal meaning. By discovering the most
important words, we can focus so that the myriad of other words
does not confuse the literal meaning and we can understand the
content.
Here are questions you can ask yourself while listening and
interpreting a communication event.
Frequency. “What words are used most often?” When
one identifies some high frequency words, they can give insight
into what the person thinks is most important. For example, the
frequency of these words suggest they are the types of
communication about which group members had the most concern:
writing (520), reading (481), and oral expressive language
(222).
Intensity. “What words are used that suggest an intense
emotional reaction?”
This analysis may help us discover parental concerns. Here is an
example of language intensity as one woman complains about her
lack of parental understanding regarding her child with
disabilities: “My folks have yelled things at me like, ‘the only
thing wrong with your kids is their parents.’"
When a parent listens to a teacher’s feedback, for example,
perhaps the teacher uses the word “stupid,” when referring to
“stupid mistakes.” The word “stupid” is clearly an intense word.
The parent may think about the teacher thinks the child is
stupid or wonder how any mistake because of a learning problem
could be stupid. While this strong word may prompt a defensive
reaction from the parent, if the parent can approach the
interaction as an objective analyst—certainly difficult in an
emotion-laden situation—the parent may gain meaning by asking
about the intense word. For example, “I’m sorry you’re upset
about my son’s work, and I’m trying to understand the problem.
What did you say was ‘stupid?’” The teacher might respond: “I
don’t know, these spelling errors are ridiculous.” Although a
different word is used, “ridiculous” is intense and suggests
that the teacher is upset about the student’s spelling errors.
“What seems easy for some children can be extremely complex for
children with developmental delays. Instead of traditional
instructional methods for learning spelling, my son may do
better when taught through multi-sensory approaches.”
Clustering. “What words cluster around frequent and intense
words?” Perhaps, for example, a parent said about a teacher
that she: “ignored important details,” “submitted an IEP with
terrible errors,” “needs to stop being so lazy about
accommodations.” The intense words of important, terrible, and
lazy suggest that nearby words are also important: details, IEP,
and accommodations. This kind of analysis may be difficult or
even impossible at the time of the communication event, but an
analysis of emails can add insights into determining parental
concerns.
Findings
The findings suggest that the communication skill about which
parents are most concerned is reading (49% of content). Parents
also expressed concern about their children’s social
communication (19%) and written communication (13%). Less
discussion took place regarding listening, speech communication,
and nonverbal communication. For many parents, their children’s
behaviors were an important discussion point, including behavior
triggers.
Word frequency implies the following topics were of interest to
the parents in the discussion group: How to deal with
professionals (e.g., teachers, physicians), testing and
diagnosis of disability, communicating with educators and the
school context, Individualized Education Program (IEP) team
meetings and reports, and family dynamics. In addition, parents
often discussed student motivation, specific instructional
strategies, physical activities, finding positive leisure and
recreation experiences, advocacy for children with special
needs, and communication strategies for working with educators.
. Parents often discussed communication related to
professionals, schools, and advocacy.
Dealing with professionals. A word count showed
the term was used 1464 times. Participants discussed advocacy
and how to work with professionals to achieve the best for their
children. This subject area was a major concern to participants
and included ideas about advocacy and law. Parents talk about
working with professionals, for example, and how to find
professional who can provide diagnosis and treatment help. The
professionals of most concern to parents—based on frequency of
discussion--include teachers--964, physicians--168, and
psychologists—187.
Testing. A word count showed the term was used 1403.
Participants discussed testing, test meaning, and statistical
interpretation, which were important to parents because of the
influence on diagnosis, treatment, and intervention.
School interactions.
A word count showed the term was used 911 times. Although
participants discussed home and other context, they seemed most
concerned about interactions with the school and school
professionals (e.g., teacher, principals, superintendents,
school counselor). Considerable negative discussion suggested
opinions that school is often in a low-trust or adversarial
role, and the child is often experiencing anxiety over the
educational process. Some parents talk about going to home
schooling or transferring schools in hopes of finding better
solutions for their children. Some parents feel like educators
are failing their children, and the parents are responsible for
educating their children: “NONE of us should have to do the
school's job for them. But sadly, we all have to. And some
schools require more work than others.” Clearly, school
interactions create high stress for many parents and their
children.
Individualized Education Program (IEP). A word count
showed the term was used 425 times. The participants discussed
how to obtain an IEP meeting, approach the IEP team, and
communicate in the IEP team meeting, for example.
Anxiety. A
word count showed the term was used 371 times. Participants
discussed their child’s anxiety in home, school, and other
contexts. This discussion was considered only when it included a
discussion of communication skills or strategies. Group members
also discussed the family stresses of families who have children
with disabilities. Explanations for the high stress levels
included having premature children, divorce, single parenting,
an extended family that lacked tolerance regarding the child’s
disability, the complication of one of the parents having a
disability, and health and social problems associated with the
child diagnosed with disability.
Medication. A word count showed the term was used 302
times. Participants exchanged opinions and information about
medications and their effects. Understandably, there were
extensive discussions about medication, but the discussion is
outside the scope of this study.
Diagnosis. A word count showed the term diagnosis
was used 225 times. Mroz and Letts (2008) suggested that
families with children who qualify for special education
services face complex challenges, which include difficulties in
diagnosis and variations on the kinds of services and supports
received. Participant discussion supported that finding. Parents
frequently expressed concern about the definition of diagnosis
of various disabilities, for example. Many parents discussed an
array of frustrations, misdiagnosis, conflicting diagnosis, and
other struggles during the process of obtaining a diagnosis for
their child. As one mother explained, “Well, at the beginning my
husband was part of the chorus that told me that our daughter
was ‘fine.’ Yes, I think that he was in denial. Yes, this
difference of opinion put LOTS of stress in our marriage.”
One parent told a story about
receiving an extensive diagnosis report from a psychologist.
After spending thousands of dollars, the report was full of
typing errors which showed that they had just received a report
design for another child, with their child's name substituted.
The name was not even substituted in all places. While it may be
true that their child was similar to some other child
psychologist had diagnosed, clearly there must have been key
differences between the children, which warranted a different
kind of report.
Accommodation. A word count showed the term was used 228
times. Participants discussed accommodations, supports,
interventions, and strategies for helping their children learn
and adapt. The participants discussed rules and routines, for
example, which help their children learn and adapt to social
environments. An area of parental frustration seemed to be the
lack of individualized accommodations that genuinely help the
child.
Stress.
A word count showed the term stress was used 180 times.
Participants discussed stress factors in home, recreational, and
school contexts. This included stress on the child and stress
caused by the child. One mother explained that her faith enabled
her to get through the challenges of have a child with special
needs: “These last years were so miserable and faith helped
lots.” Particularly important seemed to be pressure on the child
from the school context, which most often stress prompted by the
behavior of the child’s teacher. This element was considered
regarding how the nature of communication affected child or
family stress. Parental struggles are evident: “And we all make
heart-breaking choices each and every day regarding the balance
of work, family, home life, and relationships. Each choice has
repercussions. Baxter, Cummins, and Yiolitis (2000) suggested,
for example, that stress caused by the presence of a child with
an intellectual disability can create a general stress affecting
the family.
As one
might expect with any online support group, the emails seemed to
serve an array of purposes. The online discussion seemed
consistent with research on other support groups.
Babinski, Jones, and DeWert (2001),
for example, analyzed emails in an online support group for new
teachers and found that the content reflected 5
categories, including fostering a sense of community (34.8%) or
providing advice (21.3%), sharing knowledge (20.1%), relating a
personal experience with the issue (16.0%), and encouraging
reflection (7.9%). Respondents posted several types of emails:
·
Seeking or offering validation or encouragement. Parents often
give supporting comments to each other. “And you are doing a
fabulous job.” “Hugs, and wishes for a good resolution to this
extremely painful episode.
-
Seeking or
providing information.
-
Seeking or
suggesting resources, such as the Internet, a book, or
qualified professional.
-
Sharing
celebrations and telling success stories for hope.
General topics of discussion included an array of subjects.
Participants discussed personal and academic topics. When
talking about academics, for example, parent most frequently
talked about reading, writing, and mathematics. In looking for
discussion of research-based interventions to improve
communication skills, relatively little discussion took place.
Content
The content analyzed for this study included
three general subject areas: Family, school, and IEP.
Family. These postings talked about the
effect of the child on family dynamics, denial by family
members, the problems of having family members with the same
exceptionalities as the child. Many of these family members have
significant stress caused by dealing with their children’s
behavior and emotional disorders. As one parent explained: “I do
want to mention that divorce rates *are* higher amongst families
of children with disabilities, and everyone acknowledges the
additional stress that these diagnoses place on family
relationships.” There were discussion of various parenting
skills and strategies. Parents talked about the importance of
shaping child behavior while being respectful. There appeared to
be many concerns about communicating in a way that does not add
pressure to the child.
School. These postings focused on the family
and child communication with educators, including school
administrators and teachers. As one parent explained: “I want to
pull him. But all the "specialist" say that sends a bad message.
But what about the message he is getting that school is a scary
place.” Many parents expressed doubts about school, “If my heart
says one thing and all the specialists say another, I follow my
heart. Or, to be honest, I learned to follow my heart. For a
couple of years I followed the advice of child's teachers, but I
have come to regret it. The specialists just don't know my kid
as well as I do.”
Individualized Education Plan (IEP). These
postings focused on how to approach the IEP team meetings for
the best results for the child. Postings strictly about test
results and diagnosis were excluded from analysis.
The frequency of words suggests the order of
importance of discussion topics. Word frequency suggests the
following topics were of interest to the parents in the
discussion group: how to deal with professionals (e.g.,
teachers, physicians), testing and diagnosis of disability,
communicating with educators and the school context,
Individualized Education Program (IEP) team meetings and
reports, and family dynamics. These meetings determine the
nature of services the child will receive and report on yearly
progress toward goals. In addition, parents often discussed
student motivation, specific instructional strategies, physical
activities, finding positive leisure and recreation experiences,
advocacy for children with special needs, and communication
strategies for working with educators.
The findings suggest that parents are concerned about
communication with educators focused on the Individualized
Education Plan (IEP) and classroom learning and accommodations.
Of particular importance is effective communication in an IEP
team meeting. A major portion of the discussion group dealt with
effective communication between the parent and the professional,
particularly the educator. In this case, 23% of the postings
about communication were about how to communicate more
effectively with educators about the Individualized Education
Program (IEP). This discussion focused on the Individualized
Education Plan meeting, ensuring appropriate accommodations for
student learning, and the contents of the resulting report. An
additional 15% of the postings about communication were about
communicating with the classroom teacher. In some cases the
parents talk about wonderful and caring teachers who have a
major positive influence on their children. In other cases, the
educators fail to meet the children’s needs or the parent’s
expectations. Disheartening talk about having an excellent
teacher followed by a child’s regression under a problem teacher
show the delicate needs of some children who qualify for special
education services.
Discussion
As educators seek to
understand student needs, there is much to be learned from
parental perceptions. A content analysis was conducted of 1718
emails from an online discussion support group for parents of
children who have been diagnosed as eligible for special
education services. The findings suggest that the communication
skill about which parents are most concerned is reading (49% of
the communication discussion). Parents also expressed concern
about their children’s written and social communication. Less
emphasis was placed on discussion regarding their children’s
listening, speech communication, and nonverbal communication.
The nature of the interactions suggests the
online support group provides important roles for many community
members. Problems and conflicts seem to be discussed more than
solutions and successes. Both ends of the spectrum are
discussed, but the frequency of problems and conflicts is
understandable. On the positive side, parents often posted
comments of this kind: “Our school was very accommodating. Their
solution was. . . “ or “His teacher was excellent. He made
progress through. . .”
Expressive Story-Telling. Story-telling is a
way of conveying values, while allowing the story-teller to
expressive thoughts and feelings. Story-telling is common in
support groups because it allows the story-teller to make sense
out of experiences. The parents also discussed the importance
of story-telling for their children: “I love the concept of
social stories but wonder if you could direct me to a book,
article, or website that would help me to construct stories to
fit situations we find ourselves in?”
Seeking and Giving Advice. One area of conflict appears to
be denial over the child’s diagnosis. While the mother struggles
with figuring out how to adapt to the child’s behavior and
emotional disorders, the father, family members, and friends
often deny that anything is wrong. Postings suggest that the
mother is often blamed for being an alarmist or the cause of the
problem with the child. Parents talked about motivation and pros
and cons of using rewards. Other topics including seeing
financial aid for their children’s education.
Seeking or Offering Validation or Encouragement. In one
subject line, for example, a mother wrote “Need validation
here.” Being evicted from her apartment and immersed in family
conflict, she reached out to group member to tell her she is a
good parent.
Seeking or Suggesting Information or Resources,
Such As The Internet, A Book, Or Qualified Professional.
Participants talked about their personal knowledge, books,
websites, and other sources of information. By way of example of
the explicit type of information, one parent wrote this about
the process of accepting that a child has a disability: “"Four
tasks that the parents must master in the situation are
griefwork, acknowledgement of their failure to deliver a
"normal" child, the resumption and continuation of the parental
attachment after hope is given for the infant's survival, and
development of an understanding and acceptance of the infant's
difference from other children. The father's needs have not
received as much attention as those of the mother, but are no
less important. Fathers generally have fewer opportunities to
help their child directly or to actively participate in the care
of the child. As a result, fathers have fewer opportunities to
deal with the loss and may have some difficulty appreciating the
time and energy involved in the care of the child (Whaley &
Wong, 1982)."
Sharing Celebrations and Telling Success Stories For Hope.
These parents are often seeking new information from other
members, particularly regarding medication, treatment, and
strategies that will help their children. One parent told her
child’s psychologist about a treatment, to which he inquired if
she knew anyone who had used the treatment. The mother said he
did know people online who had used the treatment. Through this
group, members were able to receive help for parenting with
child, and at the same time, they revealed something about their
concerns about their child’s communication.
References
Babinski, L., Jones,
B., & DeWert, M. (2001). The roles of facilitators and peers in
an online support community for first-year teachers. Journal
of Educational & Psychological Consultation, 12(2),
151-169.
Baxter, C. C., &
Yiolitis, L. Parental stress attributed to family members with
and without intellectual disability: A longitudinal study.
Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability, 25(2),
105-118.
Black, L. (2008,
February). Deliberation, storytelling, and dialogic moments.
Communication Theory (10503293), 18(1), 93-116.
Bochner, A. P., Ellis, C., & Tillmann-Healy, L. M. (1997).
Relationships as stories. In S. W. Duck (Ed.),
Handbook of personal relationships:
Theory, research, and
interventions (2nd ed., pp. 107–124). Chichester, England:
Wiley.
Burke, Kenneth. Language as Symbolic Action. Berkley:
University of California Press, 1966.
Clark, L.
F. (1993). Stress and the cognitive-conversational benefits of
social interaction.
Journal
of Social
and Clinical
Psychology, 12, 25–55.
Pennebaker, J. W. (2003). Writing about emotional experiences as
a therapeutic process. In P. Salovey
& A. J. Rothman (Eds.), Social psychology of health (pp.
362–368). New York: Psychology Press.
Kyratzis, A. (2005,
May). Language and Culture: Socialization through Personal
Story-Telling Practice. Human Development (0018716X),
48(3), 146-150.
Koenig Kellas, J., & Trees, A. (2006, January). Finding Meaning
in Difficult Family Experiences: Sense-Making and Interaction
Processes During Joint Family Storytelling. Journal of Family
Communication, 6(1), 49-76.
Kuster, J. (2007, May
29). Facilitating Group Therapy and Support Meetings. ASHA
Leader, 12(7), 30-31.
Genereux, R., &
McKeough, A. (2007). Developing narrative interpretation:
Structural and content analyses. British Journal of
Educational Psychology, 77(4), 849-872.
Mack, A. E., & Warr-Leeper, G. A. (1992). Language abilities in boys with
chronic behavior disorders. Language, Speech, and Hearing
Services in Schools;23 (3), 214-223.
Meadan, H., Ostrosky, M. M., &
Halle, J. W. (2006). "What?"; "I don't understand"; and
"pardon?": Using communication breakdowns to encourage
communication. Young Exceptional Children, 9(3), 2-9.
Rinaldi, C. (2003). Language competence and social
behavior
of students with emotional or
behavioral
disorders.
Behavioral Disorders, 29(1), 34-42.
Ritzman, M. J., Sanger, D. (2007). Principals'
opinions on the role of speech-language
pathologists serving
students with communication
disorders
involved in violence. Language,
Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 38(4),
365-377.
Sage, R. (2001). Supporting primary
and secondary pupils with communication and behavior problems.
International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders,
36, 423-428.
Sanger, D., Maag, J. W., Spilker, A. (2006).
Communication and behavioral
considerations in planning programs for female juvenile
delinquents. Journal of Correctional Education, 57(2),
108-125.
Shedletsky, L. J., & Aitken, J. E. (2004). Human communication on the
Internet. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Longman.
Soto, G., Harmann, E. (2006).
Analysis of
narratives produced by
four children who use augmentative and alternative
communication. Journal of Communication Disorders, 39(6),
456-480.
Ye, J. (2006, April).
Traditional and Online Support Networks in the Cross-Cultural
Adaptation of Chinese International Students in the United
States. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11(3),
863-876.
 |
