Filial Therapy with Teachers of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Preschool
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FILIAL THERAPY WITH TEA CHERS OF DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING PRESCHOOL CHILDREN David Michael Smith, B.A., M.Div. Dissertation Prepared for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS May 2002 APPROVED: Garry Landreth, Major Professor Kenneth Sewell, Minor Professor Sue Bratton, Committee Member Janice Holden, Program Coordinator Michael Altedruse, Chair of the Department of Counseling, Development, and Higher Education C. Neal Tate, Dean of the Robert B. Toulouse School of Graduate Studies Smith, David Michael, Filial Therapy with Teachers of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Preschool Children, Doctor of Philosophy (Counseling, Development, and Higher Education), May 2002, 189 pages, 28 tables, 259 references, 39 titles. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of Filial Therapy training in increasing teachers of deaf and hard of hearing preschool students’: 1) empathic responsiveness with their students; 2) communication of acceptance to their students; 3) allowance of self- direction by their students. A second purpose was to determine the effectiveness of Filial Therapy training in reducing experimental group students’: 1) overall behavior problems; 2) internalizing behaviors; and 3) externalizing behavior problems. Filial Therapy is a didactic/dynamic modality used by play therapists to train parents and teachers to be therapeutic agents with their children and students. Teachers are taught primary child-centered play therapy skills for use with their own students in weekly play sessions with their students. Teachers learn to create a special environment that enhances and strengthens the teacher-student emotional bond by means of which both teacher and child are assisted in personal growth and change. The experimental group (N=24) consisted of 12 teachers, who participated in 11 weekly Filial Therapy training sessions (22 total instructional hours) during the fall semester at the preschool of a center for communications disorders, and 12 students chosen by the teachers as their student of focus. Teachers and students met once a week during the training for 30 minute teacher student play sessions in a room specified for this purpose. The non-treatment comparison group received no training during the 11 weeks. Teacher participants completed two written instruments: the Child Behavior Checklist/Caregiver-Teacher Report Form and the Meadow-Kendall Social- Emotional Assessment Inventory for Deaf and Hearing Impaired Students. Teachers who received Filial Therapy training were videotaped during student teacher play sessions. The videotaped sessions were used for pretest and posttest evaluation for the Measurement of Empathy in Adult-Child Interaction. Analysis of covariance revealed the children in the experimental group significantly decreased overall behavior problems. Teachers in the experimental group increased communication of empathy with their students of focus, significantly increased their attitude of acceptance with their students, and significantly increased in their ability to allow the students appropriate self-direction. This study supports Filial Therapy as an effective method of training teachers of deaf and hard of hearing preschool children to be therapeutic agents of change with their students. Copyright 2002 by David Michael Smith ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express heartfelt gratitude to the University of Texas at Dallas Callier Center for Communication Disorders Preschool for their permission, willingness, and support for this research project to be conducted in their facility. Especially, I gratefully acknowledge Karen Clark and Gail Wilson, the Director and Associate Directors of Education of the Callier Preschool, for their ongoing encouragement and excitement to see this project to its completion. In addition, I thankfully acknowledge the teachers of both the experimental and non-treatment comparison groups and the parents who gave permission for their children, students at the Callier Preschool, to participate in the study. I also thankfully acknowledge professors Garry Landreth and Sue Bratton for their commitment to learning and the healing of children, and for their unfailing excitement over and encouragement during this research study and its possible implications for the future healing of children. Thanks as well to professor Kenneth Sewell of the UNT psychology department for his commitment to academic excellence and service on my dissertation committee. Finally, I am grateful to my wife, Dr. Nancy R. Smith, for her commitment to excellence in the healing of children, for her understanding and support during this research project, for our past and future work together, and for our marriage. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................. iii LIST OF TABLES......................................................................................................................... vi Chapter I. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................1 Purpose of the Study .........................................................................................10 Literature Review..............................................................................................10 Demographics of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Adults and Children...................10 Emotional, Social, and Behavioral Challenges of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children.............................................................................................................12 The Question of Deafness and Limited Hearing as Physical Disability or Cultural Distinction...........................................................................................21 Physiological Processes of Hearing and Hearing Loss.....................................24 Evaluation of Play Behaviors as Means of Understanding a Deaf of Hearing Impaired Child’s Cognitive, Emotional, and Social Functioning.....................26 Play Therapy Intervention with Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children...............29 Use of Play Therapy in the Training and Education of Teachers of Deaf Children.............................................................................................................34 Filial Therapy....................................................................................................37 Use of the Term Filial in Filial Therapy...........................................................39 Filial Therapy with Various Child Presenting Difficulties and Diagnoses.......42 Evaluating Parents as Therapeutic Agents of Change.......................................43 Effectiveness of Methodology; Efficacy of Strengthening the Parent-Child Relationship: Effectiveness of Parents Versus Professionals and Paraprofessionals as Therapeutic Agents of Change ........................................46 Filial Therapy with At Risk Families.................................................................51 Teachers as Therapeutic Agents of Change......................................................56 Kinder Therapy .................................................................................................58 Summary ...........................................................................................................59 iv II. METHODS AND PROCEDURES ............................................................................62 Definition of Terms...........................................................................................62 Hypotheses ........................................................................................................68 Limitations ........................................................................................................70 Instruments........................................................................................................70 Measurement of Empathy in Adult-Child Interaction ......................................71 Child Behavior Checklist/Caregiver-Teacher Report Form .............................74 Meadow-Kendall Social-Emotional Assessment Inventories for Deaf and Hearing Impaired Students................................................................................75 Selection of Subjects: Description of the Preschool at the Callier Center for Communication Disorders ................................................................................79 Selection of Teachers: Enrollment of Volunteer Participants—Teachers and Students of Focus .............................................................................................83 Collection of Data .............................................................................................88 Treatment ..........................................................................................................92 Modification of the Filial Therapy Model for Use with Teachers of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Preschool Children.................................................................96 Session-by-Session Outline and Modifications of the Landreth (1991) Filial Therapy Model ................................................................................................110 Facilitator ........................................................................................................110 Analysis of Data..............................................................................................112 III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION...............................................................................115