Understanding the Removal of Classroom Auditory Distractors: An Interactive Design

Authors

Gregory W. Smith, Ph.D., Audra I. Classen, Ph.D., Paul J. Riccomini, Ph.D., Robyn R. Brewer, Graduate Student (BCBA Program)
  • Gregory W. Smith, Ph.D. (Author) University of Southern Mississippi image/svg+xml
    Gregory W. Smith is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education at the University of Southern Mississippi. Dr. Smith earned his Ph.D. in Curriculum & Instruction – Special Education from Clemson University. His research interests include high-incidence disabilities, cognition, memory, and lived experiences.
  • Audra I. Classen, Ph.D. (Author) University of Southern Mississippi
    Audra I. Classen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education at the University of Southern Mississippi. Dr. Classen graduated from the Special Education program at the University of Kansas. Her research interests and expertise lie in supporting young children’s emotional literacy development, instruction design, and preparing educators to use evidence-based practices.
  • Paul J. Riccomini, Ph.D. (Author) Pennsylvania State University image/svg+xml
    Paul J. Riccomini is an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology, Counseling, and Special Education at the Pennsylvania State University. His research focus is on effective instructional approaches, strategies, and assessments for students who are low achievers and students with learning disabilities in mathematics.
  • Robyn R. Brewer, Graduate Student (BCBA Program) (Author) University of Southern Mississippi
    Robyn R. Brewer is a graduate student in the Board Certified Behavior Analysis (BCBA) program in the Department of Psychology at the University of Southern Mississippi.
https://doi.org/10.64546/jaasep.370
Students with a specific learning disability (SLD) have unique learning needs that must be met. Thus, it is imperative for teachers to incorporate flexible instructional materials, techniques, and strategies for academic progress to take place. One way teachers can be flexible is by allowing students with disabilities to take standardized (i.e. high stakes tests) in removed, quieter settings rather than the typical classroom. Therefore, this naturalistic inquiry study sought to understand what happens when noise reducing headphones were introduced to students, specifically those with SLD, in an elementary classroom. Student descriptions and perceptions of wearing headphones during a reading comprehension assessment indicated student participants seemed to enjoy the experience. Student explanations for this response focused on three principles: (a) internal (i.e. to help the individual internally), (b) external (i.e. to reduce external distraction), and (c) internal and external (i.e. to help the individual internally by reducing external distraction).

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Smith, G. W., Classen, A. I., Riccomini, P. J., & Brewer, R. R. (2018). Understanding the Removal of Classroom Auditory Distractors: An Interactive Design. Journal of the American Academy of Special Education Professionals, 13(3), 6-23. https://doi.org/10.64546/jaasep.370

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  • Article Type Articles
  • Submitted September 7, 2018
  • Published October 15, 2018
  • Issue Fall 2018
  • Section Articles
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