Research that Benefits Children and Families—Uplifting Stories

Much of the study and discussion this week focused on the benefit that research has to children and society as well as the level of risk that children should be exposed to in the research process. Many of us did agree that exposing children to a greater than minimal amount of risk could be a benefit to society as long as it is did harm or cause long-term damage to the child or the family. Although I do not have any personal experience on the subject matter, I did locate an article that discusses the benefits that research can provide to children, professionals in early childhood, and society in general. The article is titled “The Effects of Divorce on Children” by Hughes (2009). It can be accessed at http://parenting247.org/article.cfm?ContentID=646.

In order to reach his conclusions, Hughes (2009) conducted a meta-analysis and a literature review on over 92 studies that involved pre-school children to young adults. Ultimately, Hughes (2009) determined that there were several factors that cause differences or negative effects on children that come from divorces families. These include: parental loss, economic loss, additional life stress, poor parental adjustment, lack of parental competence, and increased exposure to conflict between parents (Hughes, 2009). All of these factors increase the likelihood of psychological and behavioral problems in children of all ages (Hughes, 2009). With this knowledge and data families, society, and those working in the field of early childhood can better create strategies to promote healthy growth and development in children that have experienced a divorce situation. These parties can also better explain psychological and behavioral problems in divorced children and take preventative measures to avoid these problems.

References

Hughes, R. (2009). The Effects of Divorce on Children. Retrieved from http://parenting247.org/article.cfm?ContentID=646.

Your Personal Research Journey: Social Stories

The general topic that I have selected to further explore through the research simulation is social stories. Social stories are commonly used to help correct and teach behaviors with children suffering from Autism. They are also commonly used with children that suffer from behavioral disorders and young children that have experienced traumatic situations. Thus far, there has been a limited amount of research that has been conducted on the general topic and its effectiveness. There are a couple different reasons as to why I selected this topic. One reason is that social stories and their effectiveness and something that impact me directly on a professional level. Part of the work that I do for children in the field of early childhood is to create general personalized stories for children that suffer from Autism or behavioral disorders. A second reason why this topic has been selected is that if impacts me on a personal level. Several of children that are close to me have been diagnosed with Autism and/or behavioral disorders. By understanding more about this general topic, it will reinforce my professional mission and provide all children that I come into contact with on a personal and professional level with additional benefits in the growth and developmental process.

So far, my journey through the research simulation process has been easy and enlightening. By participating in the exercises in the course and by constructing the research chart, I have become more educated on the research process and have been able to select a specific sub-topic for further exploration. I have also been amazed with the amount of resources that are available to me in order to discover more about the effectiveness of social stories and the research process. Although I am finding a sufficient amount of information of the effectiveness of social stories in the field of early childhood, I kindly ask any classmate to make me aware of, send me a copy of, or send me a link to a credible source or journal article pertaining to the topic that I have selected for the research simulation. Again, that topic is the effectiveness of social stories in the field of early childhood.