Special Education 475

Fulfilled: Honors Course-Enhancement

This course provided an in-depth look at how language develops under normal circumstances and how certain disabilities affect/involve language development. In order to more fully research and understand this relationship, I dove deeper into any possible correlation between Emotional Behavioral Disorders and pragmatic Language. I performed research in the field with a classmate and then presented our findings at the school showcase.

More than the actual experience, I found myself enjoying the journey. It had been years since I conducted an experiment and collected my own data to discover new and interesting incites. In high school, I took two years of research classes all about statistical analysis and sound research design. Through this experience, I got to refresh my memory while passing on my expertise to my partner. We traversed new ground in empirical research as undergraduates who worked with the community to create a more clear picture of how different areas of strength and weakness interact with students with disabilities. I had nearly forgotten the thrill and excitement of discovery that came from a well-design and executed research project, the kind that seeks to add additional data to the metanalyses and credits greater validity to the field. The research in this class was not quite on this level; however, it did renew my passion and gave me a whole new set of skills that I will apply with my students and in graduate school.

The paper above was last edited on November 24th, 2019. It is the culmination of a research project exploring the relationship between Emotional Behavioral Disorders and Pragmatic Language. The end result only contained data from two participants and therefore does not have the sample size to be counted as a pilot study. However if given the opportunity, I would be more than willing to continue and complete what my partner and I started.