We examine the effectiveness of communication books in increasing the integration of workers with severe disabilities in supported employment settings. Results demonstrate that use of the communication books increased the social interactions of the workers with severe disabilities. Integration data were collected using direct observation, social validation, and global measures. Generalization was assessed to other persons, settings, and situations. Maintenance was also assessed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BreenC., HaringT., Pitts-ConwayV., & Gaylord-RossR. (1985). The training and generalization of social interaction during breaktime at two job sites in the natural environment. Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 10, 41–50.
2.
CalculatorS., & DollaghanC. (1982). The use of communication boards in a residential setting: An evaluation. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 47, 281–287.
3.
Chadsey-RuschJ. (1992). Toward defining and measuring social skills in employment settings. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 96, 405–418.
4.
Chadsey-RuschJ., KarlanG. R., RivaM., & RuschF. R. (1984). Competitive employment: Teaching conversation skills to adults who are mentally retarded. Mental Retardation, 22, 218–225.
5.
HaringT. G., RogerB., LeeM., BreenC., & Gaylord-RossR. (1986). Teaching social language to moderately handicapped students. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 19, 159–171.
6.
HoughtonJ., BronickiG. J. B., & GuessD. (1987). Opportunities to express preferences and make choices among students with severe disabilities in classroom settings. Journal of The Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 12, 18–27.
7.
HuntP., AlwellM., & GoetzL. (1991a). Interacting with peers through conversation turntaking with a communication book adaptation. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 7, 117–126.
8.
HuntP., AlwellM., & GoetzL. (1991b). Establishing conversational exchanges with family and friends: Moving from training to meaningful communication. Journal of Special Education, 25, 305–319.
9.
HuntP., AlwellM., GoetzL., & SailorW. (1990). Generalized effects of conversation skill training. Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 15, 250–260.
10.
KaczmarekL. A. (1990). Teaching spontaneous language to individuals with severe handicaps: A matrix model. Journal of The Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 15, 160–169.
11.
KazdinA. E. (1982). Single-case research designs: Methods for clinical and applied settings. New York: Oxford University Press.
12.
MusselwhiteC., & St. LouisK. (1988). Communication programming for persons with severe handicaps: Vocal and augmentative strategies (2nd ed.). Boston: College-Hill.
13.
ParentW., KregelJ., WehmanP., & MetzlerH. (1991). Measuring the social integration of supported employment workers. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 1, 35–49.
14.
StoreyK. (1993). A proposal for assessing integration. Education and Training in Mental Retardation, 28, 279–287.
15.
StoreyK., EzellH., & LengyelL. (1995). Communication strategies for increasing the integration of persons in supported employment: A review. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 4, 45–54.
16.
StoreyK., & LengyelL. (1992). Strategies for increasing interactions in supported employment settings: A review. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 2, 46–57.
17.
StoreyK., LengyelL., & PruszynskiB. (in press). Assessing the effectiveness and measuring the complexity of two conversational instructional procedures in supported employment contexts. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation.