Dr. Mee-Ryoung Shon to present research at IAFOR conference

Dr. Mee-Ryoung Shon, professor of education at Morehead State, will be a presenter for the International Academic Forum (IAFOR) International Conference on Education, scheduled for January 2024.

The presentation, "Trilateral Approach for the Families of Preschool Children with Special Needs." represents two years of Shon's research involving preschool-aged children with special needs. Shon explored the importance of collaboration between parents, teachers, and others involved in shaping the child's development to ensure positive learning outcomes. The volunteering preschool teachers engaged in Shon's research trained the families of preschool students with special needs with selected target learning materials over a year.

At home, each family played with those guided materials with their child and shared/ reported their playtime experiences with the teachers. Shon provided needed feedback and teacher training as she monitored the project.

"Young preschool children with special needs have limited capacity to communicate and connect to the real world. The surrounding adults play a critical role in the development of these preschoolers," Shon said. "The families indicated they had a better understanding about the quality of playtime, early educational goals for their children, and positive change of the family's playtime at home setting, impacting other siblings.”

“The teachers stated they shaped a better understating of family dynamics through multiple trainings and built strong bonds and supports to those families as they both witnessed the progress of the preschool children."

To learn more about Shon's research, email her at m.shon@moreheadstate.edu or call 606-783-2856.

Learn more about MSU's Department of Early Childhood, Elementary, and Special Education programs by emailing ecese@moreheadstate.edu or calling 606-783-2598.