Open Letter from a Doctoral Student Who Needs Some Help with her Study

Hi, my name is Christina and I am a doctoral candidate at Grand Canyon University. The title of my dissertation is “Examining the Potential of Using Technology to Improve Academic Performance: The Experience of Autistic Children with E-Readers.” As a former special education teacher, I chose this topic after seeing the difference technology can make for these student. My research is focused on grades 3-6 due to the limited research at this academic level. This information coupled with the recent influx in the diagnosis of autism among young students drove me to examine the effect of one of the most recent technological tools to enter the classroom. My goal is to be able to provide one more tool that is both portable as well as inexpensive with the idea that this tool may be utilized by both teachers and parents at many socio-economic levels. I have an approved prospectus and participants for my study. The one thing I am missing is the e-reader. For my study to be completed, I need 30 e-readers (Nook, Kindles, Kobo, etc.) to be donated to classrooms so that students with autism that meet the criteria for the study can have access to them in order to determine exactly how effective they are. Unfortunately, because of the nature of this study many classrooms do not currently have access to e-readers which has really put a damper on my research project. If you have an interest in donating a used e-reader for the study please feel free to get in touch with me. It is my hope that we can put e-readers into the hands of students so that we can find out what works best in delivering 21st century education to students with autism. If you can help, please send an e-mail to christina.khan@hotmail.com

Thank You, Christina