COME UP WITH A TOPIC THAT HAS TO DO WITH A specific issue regarding their child's disability *** READ THE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY***

Assignment Aim: Parents face many challenges when a child is diagnosed with a disability, condition, or exceptionality. Parents must learn about the condition, intervention/treatment options, and determine the condition's short- and long-term educational, behavioral, and social-emotional implications. Parents may be stressed or overwhelmed as they search through information from the Internet and elsewhere, especially as the information they acquire may be saturated with "bad news" or bleak outcomes. This searching process may be especially difficult if parents are concerned about a specific issue regarding their child's disability. Although there may be an abundance of research articles on the specific issue, there is likely minimal information written for the average parent. It may be overwhelming for parents to read, interpret, and synthesize research articles, which are usually written for scholarly and professional audiences.

For your writing assignment, students will select a specific research issue and conduct a literature search. The student will read, interpret, and synthesize the literature using the information gathered. The student will then have parent information guide aimed at "translating" this research into easy-to-understand information that most parents will find informative and useful for their child's unique needs. Topics (Specific Research Issue): a research review paper that reviews the literature on one research issue in one selected group of people who share a common exceptionality covered in class this semester (e.g., ADHD, anxiety disorder, visually- impaired, etc.).

Examples of research issues could include (or any combination of these research issues and groups of people, if it makes logical sense): Gross and fine motor development in children with Down Syndrome Sexuality and romantic relationships in adolescents with ASD

Benefits of physical activity for children with ADHD The role of media on Anorexia Nervosa Teachers' racial discrimination toward children with Conduct Disorders Job training and life skills in youth with Intellectual Disabilities Dance therapy for children with visual impairments Marital stress among parents raising a young child with Reactive Attachment Disorder Sibling relationship quality among children with physical disabilities Mood and life satisfaction in children with tic disorders The role of grandparents in families with multiple children with health disabilities The effect of deaf culture participation on well-being among young adults with hearing impairments Police attitudes and encounters with adolescents with Opposition Defiant Disorder Cultural differences in stigma among children with superior intelligence (gifted) The effects of teacher stress on the adjustment and learning outcomes of children with learning disabilities