Behavioral changes occurring among seven adolescents with severe handicaps after moving to a more normalized environment were compared with changes occurring among a matched group of subjects who remained in an institutional setting. After 6 months, experimental group subjects made significantly greater gains in the category Group Maintenance and in the Nongoal-Oriented Behavior subcategory Sitting. However, greater change occurred in the area of Gestural Communication for comparison group members. These results are discussed in relation to the relative importance of programmatic and environmental factors in promoting habilitation of persons with severe handicaps.
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