Team Member: Gabrielle Young
Gabrielle Young completed the concurrent education program at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario in 2005, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in Child and Youth Studies and a Bachelor of Education degree. She received her Master of Education degree from Western in the spring of 2007. Gabrielle is now pursuing a Doctoral degree in the Faculty of Education at Western with a focus on Educational Psychology and Special Education to fulfill her desire to ultimately work with school administration overseas.
Research Interests
Gabrielle speaks English and Mandarin Chinese, and this ability has given her the opportunity to teach and work in administrative positions overseas. Growing up and traveling in numerous developing countries, Gabrielle witnessed countless social injustices. She spent most of her childhood in a society where individuals with exceptionalities were viewed as a disgrace – people who were to be hidden from society. Her experience has inspired Gabrielle to reach out and work with this underserved population.
Current Projects
At the Centre for Inclusive Education, Gabrielle has been involved in a research project focusing on the transition to secondary school for students using assistive technology to accommodate their special learning needs. This sparked her interest in the use of assistive technology, and as a result, she conducted research for her Master’s thesis on the effect of assistive technology on students’ perceptions of achievement and self-esteem. Members of our research team continue to mentor Gabrielle, confident that her research findings will one day be of benefit to those who work with school-aged children with exceptionalities.
Selected Publications
Young, G. & Specht, J. (submitted). The effect of assistive technology on perceptions of academic achievement and self-esteem.
Presentations at Scholarly Gatherings (*refereed)
*Young, G., Specht, J., & Nowicki, E. (2007, November). Assistive Technology: One school’s success story. Presentation to the Educational Computing Organization of Ontario conference, Mississauga, ON.
*Howell, G., Specht, J., McIssac, S., & Young, G (2006, May). Effects of school transitions on adolescents with learning disabilities: Barriers and facilitators for students using assistive technology accommodations. Presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Society for Studies in Education (CSSE), Toronto, ON.