General education teachers' experiences successfully including students with developmental disabilities who engage in challenging behaviors in general education settings using positive practices.

@mastersthesis{lohrmann2004,
  title = {General education teachers' experiences successfully including students with developmental disabilities who engage in challenging behaviors in general education settings using positive practices.},
  author = {Lohrmann, Sharon},
  year = {2004},
  abstract = {The overall purpose of this dissertation study was to understand teachers' attitudes and beliefs about essential supports needed to successfully include students with developmental disabilities who engaged in challenging behavior using positive behavior intervention strategies in general education settings. To this end, 14 general education teachers who had the experience of including a student with developmental disabilities who engaged in challenging behaviors in their classroom were identified for participation in the study. To gather data, participants were asked to engage in a series of three separate in depth interviews spaced at approximately one-week intervals and respond to a series of member checks.;Teachers developed initial impressions about including their focus student that could be characterized as either apprehensive or confident. Three predispositions appear pertinent to the type of initial impression teachers formed and included a school vision toward inclusion, their general beliefs about classroom management, and the extent that they had direct or indirect prior experiences with students similar to their focus students. The teachers described two levels of essential supports they needed to be successful with their student. The first level was described as a school wide context of social support. This level of support can be conceptualized as a culture within the building where professional staff took care of and supported one another. As might be expected, even within a context of social support teachers experienced struggles and frustrations related to including their focus student. Among the struggles encountered included conflicts with parents and professionals, and student centered struggles regarding challenging behavior. In response to struggles and frustrations the second level of support became evident. When experiencing a struggle or frustration, members of the school community provided a number of situation specific supports to the teachers. Situation specific supports that teachers found most helpful included interpersonal supports, collaboration with others, and awareness building activities.;Despite not having any training in positive behavior support, the teachers used combinations of intervention practices with their student that were comprehensive and grounded in core beliefs that guided their development. Among the intervention practices used included strategies that were proactive, helped build relationships, reinforced appropriate behaviors, effectively responded to unwanted behaviors, and taught skills to make their students more socially competent.;Upon reflection, teachers credited their experience as helping to change or validate their perspectives about including challenging students and helped them to grow as professionals. Despite positive experiences, teachers nonetheless held beliefs about parameters for when inclusion might not be appropriate. Implications for practices and future directions for research are discussed.},
  language = {English},
}