Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

2024

Document Type

Dissertation - NSU Access Only

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice

Advisor

Khrystyna Bednarchyk

Committee Member

Judith B. Galician

Keywords

sensory processing disorder, autism, neuroplasticity, fine motor skill, multisensory integration

Abstract

This applied dissertation was designed to assess the HOPE model and its application for children and adolescents with sensory processing disorder. The need for a multifaceted intervention is not always considered, especially for children diagnosed with SPD and ASD. An evidenced-based intervention that is research and practice based and offers environmental support, parent involvement, and child-focused approach is the most desirable approach to treatment of children and adolescents with the deficits in fine motor abilities. With the proper training and materials, as well as with the active involvement of the school-based occupational therapists, parents, and other practitioners, the HOPE model intervention is designed to improve fine motor abilities and potentially lead to improvements in academic performance of school age children.

This applied research study utilized an ex-post facto quasi-experimental pre-post test design (one-group). Relying on the archived data of the participants who completed the HOPE model’s 6-week intensive treatment, the researcher analyzed the participants’ BOT-2 fine motor precision subtest results, compared them across the three age groups of participants with SPD, and against the BOT-2 norm table based on age equivalent, subtest point score, and median point scores for fine motor precision.

The researcher organized data according to the three age groups that were based on the BOT-2 recommended clinical groups. Using the BOT-2 norm tables for each age group, the raw scores from the BOT-2 fine motor precision subtest were converted to standard scores and then the total score.

The fine motor skill gains for participants of the three age groups were statistically significant. The overall results of the study support positive effects of the HOPE model on development of fine motor skill of children with SPD.

Download
To access this thesis/dissertation you must have a valid nova.edu OR mynsu.nova.edu email address and create an account for NSUWorks.

Free My Thesis

If you are the author of this work and would like to grant permission to make it openly accessible to all, please click the Free My Thesis button.

Share

COinS