Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities

The Project LIVE curriculum series is intended to facilitate the transition for handicapped learners from school to community. Distinctive curricular features include the: (a) focus on Life Enhancement Skills as content-domains; (b) utilization of multiple teaching strategies as the crux of the instructional design; and (c) simulation of life-events through interactive video technology. The series is constructed to reinforce the amount of teacher guidance and curricular flexibility that are necessary to meet the diverse needs of exceptional students.

Subjects classified as educably mentally retarded (64) and their nonretarded mental age comparison group (64) heard two stories. After each story, performance was assessed on comprehension. All subjects were randomly assigned to one of four treatments: (1) knowledge (subjects were told concepts critical to processing each story); (2) purpose statements (subjects were told to listen for specific characters and events); (3) knowledge plus purpose statements; and (4) control (no information). Through various types of advance organizers, information was provided to subjects in treatments 1-3 before one story and during the other. The order of information presentation (before story vs. during story) was counterbalanced so that half of the subjects in each treatment group received the before condition first, and the other half received the during condition first. The comprehension measures included comprehension of central, noncentral, and implied story content. For the comprehension measures, a 2×4×2×2×3 analysis of variance was performed. Factors were: (1) population (retarded us. nonretarded); (2) treatment (knowledge, purpose statements, knowledge plus purpose statements, control); (3) placement of information (before vs. during); (4) order of placement (before first vs. during first); and (5) question type (central, noncentral and implied). Results indicated that subjects who were not retarded performed better than subjects who were retarded. Comprehension of central questions was significantly better than comprehension of noncentral questions, which was significantly higher than comprehension of implied questions. Results indicated that among all subjects comprehension scores were significantly higher in the knowledge plus purpose statement condition than in any of the other experimental conditions.

Use of a constant delay procedure by students classified as moderately mentally retarded peers was demonstrated to be an effective and parsimonious procedure to teach sight words. Peer tutors were first taught the sight words with the time delay procedure and then taught to use the delay procedure to teach the words to younger peers who were also classified moderately mentally retarded. Younger peers learned all 5 sight words in one to four sessions.

This study examined procedures by which self-initiated and sustained leisure skill participation might be facilitated. A multiple probe design across three students with moderate | severe handicaps demonstrated the effectiveness of the choice training method suggested by Wuerch and Voeltz (1982). Post test data indicated that the improvements in leisure skill sustaining maintained from one week to four months following program completion.

This study evaluated a simulation training program to teach bank depositing skills to a person characterized as moderately mentally retarded. Based on a task analysis of specific skills, the subject was instructed to operate an automated banking machine. The skills of accessing the machine, conducting the transaction, and terminating the transaction were sequentially taught using a simulated mock-up of the automated bankmachine. Generalization probes in the natural environment were conducted before, during, and after training. Results of a multiple-probe design across target behaviors indicated that up to six months after training, the subject maintained appropriate banking skills using an actual automated banking machine. These findings further support the utility of carefully designed simulated training programs to teach community survival skills to individuals who are mentally retarded.

This study investigated the effects of a self-instructional training package on the job-task sequencing of four students who were mentally retarded. Also, the effects of training on the students’ task completion and task repetition were examined. The findings indicated that the training increased job-task sequencing for all students. Further, the data revealed increases in task completion for three of the four students and decreases in task repetition for all students. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Current literature emphasizes that persons with mental retardation are able to acquire basic recreation and community mobility skills. Unfortunately, efforts to train specific skills are seldom integrated into broader programs that foster independent recreational functioning. The present paper describes the Rec Club approach to community based recreational development. The Rec Club approach is intended to integrate specific skill training activities within a broader effort to enhance independent recreational activities. Essential elements of Rec Club discussed in this paper include the following: (a) all activities are conducted in the community so that the long-term access of the Club is not limited by the availability of specialized facilities or funding, (b) training focuses only on the specific skills necessary for successful participation in community setting, (c) the training approach emphasizes that the minimal amount of assistance necessary to insure the participants’ success is provided, and (d) assistance provided Rec Club participants is reduced as the participants’ skills increase.

This study examined what basic counting competencies, difficulties, skill progressions, and variation could be expected in school children classified as mentally handicapped. A total of 13 elementary and 23 intermediate children classified as moderately mentally handicapped and 37 elementary and 27 intermediate children classified as mildly mentally handicapped were individually administered structured interviews. Quantitative and qualitative analyses indicated deficiencies in basic counting competencies and systematic oral- and object-counting errors. Moreover, object-counting competence preceded automatic pattern recognition. Finally, there were striking individual differences in ability, even within “homogeneous” groups of children. Basic counting knowledge, which is acquired by most typical children before formal schooling, cannot be taken for granted in mentally handicapped children of school age. Error analyses provide clues to oral- and object-counting difficulties and direction for remedial efforts. Accurate and ample object-counting experience is essential for the development of more advanced skills, such as automatic pattern recognition. Instructional planning should be based on diagnoses of specific strengths and weaknesses, not generic labels.