Kudos to Ji Young for passing the comprehensive project!

Congratulations Ji Young!
The comprehensive project is the second major milestone for PhD candidates; it serves to demonstrate the breadth and depth of her scholarly knowledge in the area chosen, and includes not just evaluation by faculty within the candidate’s area of study but also requires at least one member from “outside” the field.
Ji Young examined systematic and expected variability in parents’ reports on children’s development of emotional competencies and mother-child communication about emotions using a structured parent interview tool, the Early Development of Emotional Competencies (EDEC) tool.  This research project was the very first experimental study conducted with the EDEC tool, which is designed to raise awareness about the relation of language (including AAC) and emotional competence in children with complex communication needs and ultimately ensure a child’s communication intervention includes language to discuss emotions. Ji Young interviewed 10 American and 10 Korean mothers who have children typically developing, age ranged from 4 months to 8 years, using the EDEC tool.  The results revealed that the EDEC tool generated a range of parents’ reports on a child’s communication about emotions influenced by various factors such as child’s age, child’s gender, mother’s cultural background, family religion, etc., which were expected by evidence in literature. The results indicated the sensitivity of the EDEC tool as an assessment tool to various contributing factors.
Ji Young will present the results at the ASHA convention on November 21st, 2014.
Additional information:
Multiculturalism and Emotion and the Implications for AAC Design — Presentation
“Talking about Emotions Using Culturally Sensitive AAC” — Publication