Interactions among parents of children with disabilities using email and a new discussion board in a literacy tutoring Web site

This dissertation describes demographic data about the participants. It also analyzes the content and process of parent communications among parents of children with disabilities as they use email and a new online discussion board in learning to use a Web site that was designed to provide them with just-in-time tutoring techniques for developing literacy skills with their children. This study found that participants varied by level of participation from national averages for gender of child; more girls were tutored by active participants. This study also found evidence that levels of participation in the new online discussion group correlated with Borkman's victim, survivor, thrivor theory; victims participated the least while thrivors participated the most. While previous mutual help studies identified pain as the primary motivator in joining an existing mutual aid group, this study found that bonding was an important precursor to participating in the new discussion board. A grounded theory is proposed that expands existing mutual aid theory by including email as an important one-to-one communication tool that promotes bonding prior to using a new online discussion board.