This study investigated the effects of self-monitoring instruction delivered by peer tutors on the occurrence of academic survival skills displayed by five middle school students with severe disabilities. We employed a multiple baseline across subjects design. Instruction was provided in general education content classes. The students were taught to indicate on a self-recording sheet if they performed each of 11 skills. Data revealed an increase in the percentages of occurrence of survival skills across all students. Also, their general education teachers indicated that they observed a positive change for four of the five students. All students indicated that they believed that they were part of the class and reported an increase in their classroom participation. The implications of these findings are discussed.
Inclusive programs involving toddlers with and without disabilities are becoming increasingly common. However, little research has evaluated the effects of specific aspects of inclusive services on participating children without disabilities. Due in part to parental concerns over a potentially reductive impact of manual signing on the communicative verbalizations of children without disabilities, we evaluated effects of manual signing by a classroom teacher on verbalizations of toddlers in an inclusive classroom. Manual signing was introduced sequentially by the teacher within ongoing verbal interactions with the toddlers in three play activities. Results indicated that teacher signing was accompanied by increases in communicative interactions involving signing with the teacher by each group of toddlers with and without disabilities. No reductive effects on communicative verbalizations were observed for any toddler group. These results offer support for using signing in an inclusive classroom without detrimental effects on the verbal functioning of children without disabilities. Future research should focus on conducting similar evaluations in other types of inclusive settings.
We examined the differences between two groups of general education high school students: those who volunteered to participate in a peer buddy program designed to increase their social interactions with their peers with severe disabilities (n = 30), and those who chose not to volunteer (n = 30). Differences were examined using the Social Distance Questionnaire for Attitudes of High School Students Toward Handicapped Persons. Analyses indicated that, at pre-test, peer buddies reported significantly greater willingness to interact with people with severe disabilities and more previous contact with these individuals than did nonvolunteers. There were no differences between the scores of the groups on knowledge of disability or affect toward persons with disabilities. After one semester of enrollment in the program, social willingness, knowledge, and contact scores of peer buddies increased significantly, whereas the scores of nonvolunteers remained the same as at the pre-test. In addition, students' self-reported previous contact with individuals with disabilities positively correlated with their scores indicating their social willingness to interact with their peers with disabilities. Implications of the study are discussed with respect to benefits of and recommendations for peer interaction programs.
This review examines research studies that utilize the behavior chain interruption strategy (BCIS) to teach communication skills to individuals with severe disabilities. The BCIS is a naturalistic teaching procedure that uses an interruption to a behavior chain (i.e., a routine) as the point of instruction. The BCIS has been successfully applied to the teaching of communication skills to individuals across a wide range of ages and of levels of disability, including learners with multiple disabilities. It has been employed to teach a range of communication forms, including pictorial communication systems, natural gestures, signing, and a switch activated communication device. However, a number of questions remain regarding the BCIS. In particular, it is questioned whether the type of interruptions employed in the procedure are likely to occur outside a training context and whether communication taught with the procedure generalizes to out-of-routine contexts. Implications for practice are considered and suggestions are offered for future research.
It can be said that some of the topics and ideas that command our interest or attention are autobiographical in origin. This paper subscribes to this category. In this paper, I present a perspective on preparing professional personnel, namely, educators, practitioners, teachers, student teachers, and researchers, for cultural inclusion. This perspective is drawn from my experiences as a former postgraduate student from a culturally diverse background preparing for a career in severe disabilities and as a university educator who is interested in ways to encourage professionals in the field to be more cognizant of the influence of their cultural backgrounds and the value of becoming culturally inclusive.
The other is a way of distinguishing those who are different from us. Being the other can be based on skin color, language, culture, ethnicity, religious affiliation, class, sexual orientation, gender, and presence of disability. The nature and construction of individual and group identities inform our understanding of race, ethnicity, and disability and are inextricably linked to issues of ethics, power, privilege, and context in determining what is normative and how we become sorted into us, them, and the other. This article uses a critical approach to social analysis and knowledge construction that suggests two conjoined projects: A critique of what is and an advancement toward an ought. The first part of the article is a critique of categorical approaches to special education, overrepresentation of minority children in special education, inclusion and exclusion and White privilege. The second part of the article describes the potential of multicultural education, transformation, and participatory leadership approaches to address the issues raised in the critique.
This article presents a qualitative, interpretivist research study that documents the emergence, in the context of typed expression, of increasingly useful and reliable speech for a young person labeled with autism. The authors construct a descriptive narrative of the process of this young man's emergent speech development and organize the data around four components of this complex, dynamic, and nonlinear process: (a) echolalia or “unreliable” speech, (b) reading out loud, (c) using reliable speech, and (d) integrating speaking and typing. Additionally, the authors identify three categories of supports that this young man and his family experienced and interpreted as being supportive of his emergent speech. These categories include (a) the importance of taking risks, (b) the importance of seeing and hearing words together, and (c) the importance of an inclusive academic education including rich literacy experiences. Throughout, this inductive analysis constructs an understanding of how this young man and his family have experienced and interpreted his emergence as a reliable speaker.
Outcome indices were compared across groups of individuals who either remained in institutional settings or transferred from an institutional setting to various community living arrangements. All individuals included in the analysis had been labeled as having profound mental retardation. The community group exceeded or matched institution groups with respect to service hours, community integration, and adaptive behavior. Greater productivity, in terms of vocational activity, was noted in the two institution settings. Persons in the community had slightly greater difficulty in obtaining medical services. Nonmedical unmet needs were greater in the community programs.
Identifying work related preferences is an important aspect of supporting people with disabilities in community based jobs. However, how to accurately determine preferences among supported workers who have multiple severe disabilities and highly significant communication challenges has received little research attention. We evaluated the use of a situational assessment for identifying work task preferences among three individuals with multiple severe disabilities. Two participants worked on a yard maintenance crew and one was assigned to cleaning offices. The assessment involved systematically observing indices of happiness and unhappiness while the participants worked on different tasks. The observations revealed distinct differences regarding the tasks that the workers liked and disliked. The validity of the identified preferences was supported through observations, which indicated that work engagement of the workers was most frequent when they worked on their most preferred task and least frequent when they worked on their least preferred task. Overall, these results offer support for use of the situational assessment to identify preferred work tasks for adults with multiple severe disabilities. Results are discussed in terms of evaluating the assessment process with other aspects of work placements beyond specific job tasks to further enhance the likelihood that supported workers will work in job situations in accordance with their work preferences.
The effectiveness of job modification, natural supports, instruction on the use of a communication device, job coach social facilitation training, and co-worker support for social integration in a supported employment setting was examined. The intervention consisted of four phases: job modification; natural supports instruction to nondisabled co-workers; introduction of a communication device without instruction; communication device training; and job coach social facilitation training and eliciting co-worker support for social integration. Social interaction data were collected using direct observation. Results indicate that the use of the communication device, job coach social facilitation training, and eliciting co-worker support for social integration were necessary in order to increase the supported employee's levels of work-place social interaction; the earlier conditions did not have any impact. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
This study utilized a bilingual questionnaire to investigate perceptions relating to cultural and linguistic issues and advocacy among 100 Latino parents whose children participated in school programs for limited English proficient students with disabilities in a large urban district. The questionnaire included 56 Likert scale. items in three categories: cultural and linguistic issues, parental rights, and home-school partnership. The findings supported the concern that Latino families need the tools to guide them through the special education process and encourage their involvement. Providing culturally and linguistically appropriate collaborative services that are individualized and interactive between parents and the school system need to be enhanced.
Developmental and connectionist research describing a student's development of competent reading and writing skills commonly evokes the image of a normative ladder to literacy. Each rung of the ladder is believed to constitute certain sets of increasingly complex subskills. It is believed that cognitive mastery is required prior to the next step up the ladder. For people labeled with severe mental retardation, subskill mastery is often considered an intellectual impossibility. Hence, literacy is denied. In this research synthesis, however, we suggest that people with severe intellectual limitations can be understood as symbolic, and specific literacy skills can be supported. We use the term research synthesis to describe the textual weaving of two sources of understanding: (a) qualitative stories garnered from six students who were research participants and (b) published autobiographical and biographical stories by people with disabilities or their parents. These two sources of understanding underscore that a deeply caring relationship characterized by intimacy is of central importance when constructing as symbolic and literate a person labeled as having severe mental retardation.
On what basis do special educators working in the area of severe disabilities make decisions? This article provides an exploration of the practice of social inquiry in professional work that draws from the democratic ethics of John Dewey. Dewey emphasizes the need for knowledge to contribute to the daily challenge of fostering equality in human interactions and relationships. His philosophy supports the free development of many forms of social inquiry and the cultivation of a pluralistic dialogue valuing diverse perspectives. This article concludes with a description of advisory work within the self-advocacy movement as an example of Deweyan democracy in action.
This study extends previous research by continuing to describe the natural support process. Specifically, we focus on the roles that co-workers and job coaches assume in supporting a worker with a disability. First, we discuss research related to co-worker involvement in work settings and provide a rationale for considering various roles for co-workers and job coaches. Second, we propose a framework for a continuum of six support strategies for co-workers and job coaches and show how prior research supports these strategies. Third, we offer suggestions for selecting an appropriate support strategy in a particular work setting. Finally, we discuss research areas that are still needed to clarify the natural support process.
We write this article as parents of our 33 year old son, JT, who has significant mental and emotional disabilities, and as professionals the field of developmental and mental health disabilities. We write about self-determination, a value that we practice our own lives and a value that we want JT (and our two daughters) to practice theirs. In short, we want to take control of our lives an independent fashion. We want JT to do likewise and we applaud the way our daughters have done so. But with JT, unlike ourselves and our daughters, taking control, being self-determined, is a curiously lived value. To continue to honor his obvious choice to live in my own we have just purchased a different house for JT (he had been living another home of his own for 11 years) that would enable him to live with primary and weekend housemates who would provide support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The house has two separate living areas and is over 3,000 square feet. When we asked JT how much the house cost, he said, $1.00. When we asked him what he thinks about it , he answered, Nice. When we asked him whether he wanted to move back to our family home, he said, No. When we asked him what is necessary to maintain his house good order, he said, Work. Our probes of his meanings were no more revealing than his original answers. Because they reveal so dramatically aspects of his cognitive disability and the functional limitations that attend it, JT's responses provide a context for discussing the role of families supporting the self-determination of individuals with significant cognitive disabilities. The issues are manifold: What does self-determination mean for people whose limitations are like JT's? When, how, and how much can and should families recede quality of life decision making from their children or other members with such disabilities? These and related issues challenge us as parents and as professionals. We write
We conducted a program evaluation of a multi-component intervention using general education/special education collaborative teaming to increase the academic achievement and social participation of students with and without disabilities. A team of general, special, and bilingual educators, parents, and an outreach consultant developed Unified Plans of Support (UPS) for three students whose academic performance was substantially below grade level and whose social participation was limited. Effectiveness of the support plans was evaluated through multiple data sources including behavioral observations, team interviews, and analyses of student work samples. Evaluation outcomes suggested that consistent implementation of the plans of academic and social support by members of the UPS Team was associated with increases in academic skies, self-confidence and assertiveness, social interactions with classmates, and demonstrations of pride in academic accomplishments. The implications of across-program and across-school collaboration are discussed, as well as the need for future research on models of resource reallocation to meet the needs of all students in general education classrooms.
How teams implement and understand the process of positive behavior support provides an important source of information for improving supports for adults with developmental disabilities who engage in severe challenging behaviors in community settings. The purpose of the present study was to describe how positive behavior support was experienced and understood by team members from four residential, community-based teams who achieved positive outcomes for adults with severe challenging behaviors. In-depth, semistructured interviewing was the primary data source involving 19 participants. Data were analyzed within and across teams revealing team members' perceptions on their guiding values, struggles and barriers to implementing positive approaches, ways to support team members, the importance of staff relationships, and key elements of their direct support. Moving beyond techniques, the findings depict an overall culture of support consisting of interrelated layers of social context. Implications for practice and future research directions are discussed.
The importance of transition from school to adult life for persons with disabilities cannot be overstated. Transition and employment have been a focus of the field for several decades. However, progress continues to be slow, especially for people with severe disabilities who are more likely to enter segregated vocational settings than supported employment (Mank, 1994). Further, adult service providers are likely to consider supported employment an “add on” provision rather than the core of their service. In teacher training programs, transition often has been an add on with minimal (if any) coursework and focus. Thus, teachers often are untrained to teach employment skills and do not focus on transition to adult life. This lack of focus on transition cannot be due to a lack of quality texts in this area as there are many. The third edition of Life Beyond the Classroom continues to be an exemplary text. Eleven chapters provide an overview of the components of transition (overview of transition, self-determination, the family’s role, community transition planning, person-centered practices, secondary school restructuring, teaching for transition, finding jobs, vocational placements and careers, postsecondary education, and independent living). Most of the chapters provide brief case studies that highlight key points. As with all edited texts, the writing style and focus of the chapters vary. For example, the chapter on self-determination is a review of the literature in this area whereas the chapter on teaching for transition is focused on “how to” strategies for teachers. One of the outstanding and practical chapters focuses on finding jobs for young people. Specific strategies (networking, cold calling, job carving) are discussed in depth and useful examples are provided. Practitioners can read and put this chapter to immediate use. Several chapters cover how to balance inclusive educational practices with the need for employment and community skills outside of the school setting. Of course, there is no clear answer. For example, the chapter on mild cognitive disabilities refers to inclusion: “Perhaps the single biggest threat to improving community integration and vocational outcomes for youth with mild cognitive disabilities has been what is commonly referred to as the School Reform Movement.” However, the chapter on secondary school restructuring makes no mention of employment or community based instruction. For students with severe disablilites, leaving the school system without marketable job skills is a disservice (Brown, Farrington, Suomi, Ziegler, & Knight, 1999). An appropriate balance must be worked out on an individual basis. Is inclusive education an end to itself or must students with severe disabilities receive instruction in other inclusive environments (e.g., the community, job sites) as well? The remaining seven chapters provide a more indepth discussion of transition for people with specific disabilities (mild and significant cognitive disabilities, sensory impairments, learning disabilities, emotional and behavioral disorders, orthopedic and other health impairments, and traumatic brain injury). These seven chapters pose a “catch-22” problem. It is good to provide more in-depth discussion of the educational issues and supports related to specific disabilities. However, these discussions also reinforce the belief that supports apply only to people with a specific disability and decrease generalized understanding of support issues. For example, are not community based instruction and generalization (from chapter on sensory impairments) important for all learners? As a second example, the chapter on emotional and behavioral disorders has a section on self-management strategies that is useful for all students. I have found that preservice and inservice teachers pay minimal, if any, attention to information regarding disabilities that differ from those of their students. This is a most useful text that manages to combine an overview of issues with how to information. It is valuable for teachers in training as well as those already in applied transition and employment settings.
