Helen McCabe

Research, Spring 2008

Brief outline

 

2 Projects:

 

1)Adults with Developmental Disabilities in Nanjing

I will conduct research about adults with autism and other developmental disabilities (such as Down Syndrome, mental retardation). Questions that I want to address are:

 

What are the lives of adults with developmental disabilities in Nanjing like? What opportunities do they have? What challenges do they have?

 

What do adults with developmental disabilities in Nanjing want? What do their families want, for themselves, and for their family member with a disability?

 

What services are provided to adults with developmental disabilities in Nanjing, including from government offices, from private organizations, schools, etc.? 

 

The research will be largely qualitative, including interviews and some participant observation.

 

2) Instruction, Services, and Teacher Training: A Comparative Study

I am interested in autism organizations, including their instruction and teacher training. I seek to understand the nature of the training provided, who provides it, and why such models are developed at a wide variety of organizations and schools. I also have a growing interest in understanding the overall development of private organizations that are founded and run by parents specifically, as these grassroots efforts have led to an explosion in the number of autism organizations in the past decade. My dissertation research led me to question the type of services, including teacher training, that is provided at private versus state-run organizations. Since that time, I have been interested in exploring a larger number of organizations to understand the following questions:

 

What are the differences (and similarities) between state-run and private organizations in terms of instruction provided to children with autism? What are the differences between state-run and private organizations in terms of teacher training?

 

What are the differences (and similarities) between parent-run private organizations and professional-run private organizations in terms of: motivation and overall organizational goals; and training provided to teachers and parents/students?

 

This research is also qualitative, including observations and interviews.  I will visit approximately 8-10 organizations to conduct observations of instruction and teacher training (where available), as well as interviews with staff, including the directors/founders where possible.