Showing papers in "The Journal of The Association for Persons With Severe Handicaps in 1996"

Creating Socially Supportive Environments for Fully Included Students who Experience Multiple Disabilities

Abstract: This investigation analyzed the effectiveness of an intervention designed to facilitate the social inclusion of three students who experienced significant physical and intellectual challenges and, ...

Teachers' Perceptions of the Supports Critical to the Success of Inclusion Programs

Abstract: Two mail surveys, one with a follow-up, were conducted to determine if consensus existed among general and special education teachers on (a) the conditions and supports that are critical to includi...

The Relationship between Stereotypic Behavior and Peer Social Interaction for Children with Severe Disabilities

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the collateral relationship between engagement in social interaction with peers and the occurrence of stereotypic behavior for two children with severe disabilities. Peers without disabilities were taught to make social initiations to two children with autism and other severe disabilities who engaged in high rates of stereotypic behavior. When the peers made social initiations and the children with disabilities increased their engagement in social interaction, collateral decreases occurred in their stereotypic behavior. Within an ABAB design, the functional relationship between these variables was demonstrated. Implications of these findings for designing interventions for promoting social integration and their possible effects on stereotypic behavior are noted.

Interventions with Challenging Behavior of Persons with Developmental Disabilities: A Review of Current Research Practices.

Abstract: The published intervention research on the remediation of challenging behavior of persons with developmental disabilities was reviewed. A total of 179 studies over a recent 5-year period (1988 thro...

Natural Supports in the Workplace: The Jury is Still Out

Abstract: The concept of natural supports was formally introduced to the field of supported employment in 1988. Since then, natural supports have been incorporated into supported employment policy as an exte...

Treatment of sleep disorders in children with developmental disabilities.

Abstract: Sleep disorders in children with developmental disabilities are a common and frequently disruptive behavioral concern. In the present study, four children with developmental disabilities (two of the children exhibited frequent night wakings and two had bedtime disturbances) were treated using a multiple baseline across subjects design. Sleep diaries were used to monitor changes in each child's sleep throughout treatment. Establishment of a consistent bedtime routine combined with a graduated extinction procedure for nighttime behavior problems resulted in a decrease in night wakings for two children (a 7-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy) and a decrease in bedtime disturbances for two children (a 2-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy). This series of interventions highlights the heterogeneity of maintaining variables in sleep disorders and the effectiveness of relatively simple behavioral interventions for the treatment of night wakings and bedtime disturbances in children with autism and other develop...

Natural Supports in the Workplace: Defining an Agenda for Research and Practice

Abstract: Although there is a growing consensus that including natural supports in the employment process is an important goal, there is considerable debate about the definition and appropriate role of these...

How Teachers Use Peer Interactions to Include Students with Moderate and Severe Disabilities in Elementary General Education Classes

Abstract: This study investigated the way teachers in five elementary classrooms used peer interactions to facilitate the inclusion of a student with moderate or severe disabilities. Four themes describing the strategies used to encourage and shape interactions between students with and without disabilities were identified: new rules about helping, “just another student,” age appropriateness, and “backing off.” The discussion focuses on the complexity of facilitating peer helping roles without encroaching on the social reciprocity found in friendships. The development of inclusion practices based on cooperation and mutual assistance for all students, rather than only for students with identified disabilities, is recommended.

Self-Determination and Young Children:

Abstract: The development of self-determination in individuals with severe disabilities is recognized as a critical goal for special education. Although increasing attention is being paid to this subject, ef...

Using Nondisabled Peers to Support the Inclusion of Students with Disabilities at the Junior High School Level

Abstract: Qualitative research methods were used to conduct a study of an inclusion program at a junior high school in which typically developing students assisted and supported students with moderate and se...

Support Service Decision Making for Students with Multiple Service Needs: Evaluative Data

Abstract: This quasi-experimental (pretest/posttest) study explored the use of (Vermont Interdependent Services Team Approach) (VISTA) with 11 educational teams serving students with multiple disabilities. Information about VISTA, a process to facilitate consensus decision making about support services (i.e., type, mode, frequency), was obtained by 75 team members through self-study. Following self-study the teams used VISTA to make support service decisions for students with multiple service needs. The findings of this study provide data regarding: (a) changes in team and individual decision making as a result of using VISTA, (b) the extent to which team members perceived that VISTA did what it purported to do (e.g., increase parental and general education involvement, decrease gaps, overlaps, and contradictions), and (c) changes in the teams' level agreement about which support services students need. Implications for future related service decision making are discussed.

Book Review: Uncommon Fathers: Reflections on Raising a Child with a DisabilityUncommon Fathers: Reflections on Raising a Child with a Disability.MeyerD. (Ed). Bethesda, MD: Woodbine House.

Abstract: models of service provision are substantiated with related research and supplemented with a variety of examples. For example, inclusive educational practices are supported by the findings of studies that provide evidence of the mutual benefits and positive outcomes for students with and without disabilities. A good array of references in each chapter reflects the authors’ attempts to integrate research and practice at each age level throughout a person’s life. For those interested in gaining a holistic perspective of the field of severe disabilities, this book is highly recommended. The content within each chapter is well organized, thorough, and accurate. The authors include “focus questions” at strategic points throughout each chapter and a “focus review” at the end of each chapter. This material helps the reader synthesize the information that is presented. In the fall of 1995, we used this book as a required text for an introductory course on severe disabilities. The course served nearly 40 beginning graduate students and upper-division undergraduate students. On a standardized course evaluation instrument, the class, as a whole, ranked this book among the top 10% of all textbooks they had used throughout their college or graduate school careers. In written comments, students particularly noted the book’s usefulness, the clear and concise manner in which the information was presented, the special features of the book that include practical case examples and relevant newspaper reports that are enclosed in a window format, the focus review questions, and pointkounterpoint material that highlights the key issues in each chapter. Professionals in higher education should consider this book an excellent text for a foundations course for students specializing in the area of severe disabilities and as a good reference book for students in other areas of special education and for students and professionals in related disciplines. Because this book is intended as an introductory text, the authors do not provide detailed information on instructional strategies or teaching techniques. They also present very little information on recent advances in the use of assistive technology to improve the lives of people with severe disabilities. In addition, those seeking in-depth information on specific types of severe disabilities, such as dual sensory impairments or deaf-blindness, autism, or severe physical disabilities, will find that they need to look elsewhere. Finally, hardcover textbooks are fairly expensive; thus, it would be helpful to have a paperback edition that would be more affordable. Nevertheless, this book is well written and provides a wealth of information for those interested in gaining a solid understanding of the evolution of our field and its current philosophies and practices. In every respect, this book contributes to our field’s goal of building an inclusive society in which no one is disenfranchised and individuals with varying abilities are valued. Uncommon Fathers: Reflections on Raising a Child with a Disability. D. Meyer (Ed). Bethesda, MD: Woodbine House.

Self-Advocacy Preparation of Consumers with Disabilities: A National Perspective of ADA Training Efforts

Abstract: To understand efforts of Mental Health/Mental Retardation/Developmental Disabilities (MHMR/DD) agencies to prepare clients with disabilities to assert their rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), MHMR/DD personnel in 50 states responded to questions about self-advocacy needs of clients, nature of agency training in ADA self-advocacy, success of training strategies, barriers to client training, and perceived impact of the ADA. Respondents believe MHMR/DD clients need training in advocacy-related skills. They cite a number of barriers to client self-advocacy preparation. Respondents see minimal impact of the ADA on the lives of agency clients; however, they are optimistic that future impact will be significant.

Assessment and Intervention for the Problem Behaviors of an Adult at Home

Abstract: Damon, a 37-year-old man with severe retardation (IQ = 39), lived at home with his mother and, for the past 15 years, had worked in a sheltered workshop. Incidents of problem behavior had been rare both at home and at work. Two weeks before this study started, Damon's behavior changed suddenly. When asked to get up in the morning to get ready for work, he yelled, “No” and threw things at his mother. If she persisted, his behavior escalated into hitting, kicking, and swearing. This study was conducted in two phases. The first phase, which combined descriptive and experimental (analogue) methods, indicated that Damon's problem behaviors were escape motivated, but did not indicate the specific activities or conditions from which Damon wanted to escape. The second phase included additional descriptive assessment with the workshop staff, and hypothesis development and hypothesis testing and intervention within naturally occurring routines at home. These procedures identified that Damon's problem behaviors did ...

Article Commentary: “Natural Supports” on Trial: Day 2799?:

Abstract: In 1988, Nisbet and Hagner (1988) gave further shape to a proposal a year earlier by Nisbet and Callahan (1987) that “using natural supports” be viewed as one critical element in vocational services for people with severe disabilities. That 1987 chapter introduced a term that has gained a certain amount of notoriety. Conceptually what was important was not the term, but the exploration of some new territory in supported employment. This was by no means the first exploration of this territory. Karan and Knight (1986) had argued that an adequate support network in the workplace might be as important as acquisition of work and social skills for the career success of some individuals with severe disabilities. In 1981, a year that might be a candidate for a significant year, Greenspan and Schoultz (1981) published their landmark study of job loss. Based on their analysis, they recommended that, in addition to social skills training, service providers “give careful attention to the . . . ability of the co-workers and supervisors to either tolerate interpersonally inept behavior or to provide the necessary feedback to clients in a supportive and informative fashion” (p. 34). We ought, I believe, to have been disappointed in the lack of research attention to such coworker support, or whatever term one wants to use, and to the validation of strategies related to maximizing and using that support, long before 1988, let alone 1996. Test and Wood (1996) have performed a valuable service by collecting a good portion of the data-based literature on this topic since 1988 and subjecting it to a critical review. They found that much caution is warranted in the face of the relatively small amount of validation data available, and they provide specific recommendations for additional research. Caution is needed in a field sometimes too willing to substitute fads for substance. We are fortunate that a number of extremely competent re-

Introduction to the Special Section on Natural Supports

Abstract: As referred to by past editor Jim Halle, this is one of those rare occasions when the editors of JASH have deemed it appropriate to request responses to an article accepted for publication in the journal. “Natural supports in the workplace: The jury is still out,” coauthored by Test and Wood, is such an article. As suggested by Test and Wood, the topic of natural supports is both timely and controversial. The notion that work settings, in general, provide considerable social support to employees is not new or surprising (Terkel, 1972). For example, how many of you work in offices where secretaries celebrate each others’ birthdays with cakes, office managers play sofiball together on a league or attend happy hour on Friday afternoons, or janitorial staff swap stones as they have a smoke in the designated area outside a building? Within the past decade, however, the concept of natural supports has been introduced to supported employment-the movement sparked by a federal initiative to promote paid employment of persons with severe disabilities in integrated, nonsheltered workplaces. In 1988, when Nisbet and Hagner formally introduced the term “natural supports” in an issue of JASH, the assumption was that workplace support was available to supported employees who worked alongside their co-workers without disabilities, provided that employment specialists knew how to tap into, rather than suppress, this abundant and naturally occurring source of support. The 1992 Rehabilitation Act Amendments (P. L. 102-569) brought natural supports further into the spotlight by sanctioning the incorporation of natural supports into a supported employee’s ongoing service provision plan. In response to the growing national interest in natural supports and supported employment, Test and Wood attempted to document the extent to which strategies designed to promote natural supports are empirically based. One of the authors’ concerns is that public policy (e.g., P. L. 102-569) may support the use of strategies that have not been proven to result in favor-