Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities

The purpose of this article is to support and give background to a position statement approved by the Board of Directors of CEC-MR in June, 1988. The position statement endorses the right of children with mental retardation to medical care and treatment to sustain their lives. This article provides an overview of the issue of pediatric euthanasia and mental retardation. It also discusses the importance of special educators providing their informed and unique perspective to this issue.

Recent research reports have indicated that significant changes have occurred in the 1970s and 1980s within the population of students identified as mildly mentally retarded. The current study provides descriptive data on both the characteristics of a subset of students with mild retardation relative to demo- graphic, health-related, motivational, and behavioral characteristics, as well as on the types of services provided to the students. Data derived from individual education programs (IEPs) are presented on a total population of 107 students relative to race, presence of secondary handicaps, health-related and sensory problems, family status, specific behavioral problems, motivational traits, and types of educational and community services provided. The findings are discussed in terms of the evaluation of current educational practice and possible implications for future programming efforts.

This paper describes the results of a two-year federally funded research project which examined both the comparative impact and classroom utility of four different curricular formats for teaching employment-related interpersonal skills to secondary students with mild retardation. Four instructional formats were used to compare and contrast the instructional effects of teacher or videotape modeling, behavior rehearsal, and problem-solving. The content taught was identical across the four formats and was derived from previous research by the authors (Cheney & Foss, 1984). The training consisted of teaching appropriate social interaction behaviors with co-workers and supervisors to 122 special education students with mild retardation from two urban school districts in one Rocky Mountain state. Twenty-four additional students served as controls. The primary outcome measure for the study was the Test of Interpersonal Competence for Employment. Additionally, lesson time information, and teacher and student satisfaction with each instructional format were obtained. The results of the study led us to four major conclusions. First, it appears that all of the methods are, to some extent, effective in increasing student knowledge of the content. Second, the problem-solving approach is most effective in increasing student knowledge. Third, it is clear that the combination of teacher modeling and behavior rehearsal was the least successful instructional format. Finally, time spent in teaching a lesson is not positively related to student knowledge gain. In fact, the most effective instructional methods required the least class time.

The IQ scores of 26 adolescents certified as educable mentally handicapped were examined to investigate the comparability over time of the WISC-R and WAIS-R Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale. Results indicated that the WAIS-R, while strongly correlated with the WISC-R, provided significantly higher IQ scores in all three. Surprisingly, several WISC-R subtests were only minimally correlated with their WAIS-R counterparts. The most likely hypothesis for these differences rests in the normative data for the WAIS-R, particularly the Verbal scale. Until more conclusive research is available, school psychologists and other assessment specialists are recommended to use the WISC-R during the time frame in which the WISC-R and WAIS-R overlap.

After an initial and somewhat overwhelming entrance of computer technology into the fields of special education and communication disorders, the dust is beginning to settle. The time is opportune to take stock of what has been learned and where computer applications in these fields are or should be going. The present paper aims to review the potential of computer technology for training communication skills of individuals with mental retardation. Meeting this aim necessitates drawing on information from the wider fields of computer-assisted-instruction in education in general and in special education, as much of the information is relevant, but not always specific to mental retardation. The present paper reviews the literature on the effectiveness of various forms of computer-assisted-instruction (CAI), discusses the usefulness of computers in light of specific characteristics and special needs of learners who are retarded and reviews research into computer applications with individuals with mental retardation. Finally, the potential uses of computers in communication intervention with individuals with mental retardation is discussed in terms of amalgamating the states-of-the-art in CAI and communication disorders.

Two instructional prompt fading procedures, increasing assistance and graduated guidance, were investigated to compare the efficacy and efficiency of both procedures in teaching leisure skills to adults with severe handicaps. These procedures were evaluated using a combination of multiple probe and alternating treatments designs. The results indicated that both procedures were effective in the acquisition, maintenance, and generalization of the skills. The efficiency data are mixed in that while the two procedures were equivalent in terms of instructional time to criterion, increasing assistance required fewer trials to criterion than graduated guidance. Increasing assistance resulted in a larger percentage of errors to criterion than graduated guidance.

The present study investigated the effectiveness of fundamental social skills training for three adolescents who are developmentally disabled with severe behavior problems. The training was conducted in a community-based residential treatment facility. A multiple-baseline design across the two primary social settings within the facility was used to evaluate the intervention. The results demonstrated that the intervention produced significant increases in positive eye contact across both settings. Additionally, these increases were validated by staff reports of increased social interactions and a decrease in disruptive behavior.

Research on language intervention in the natural environment was reviewed in relation to the variables of context, analysis of communicative behaviors, and intervention strategies. Two processes—ecological inventory and analysis of communicative behaviors—are described as desirable methods to determine instructional objectives and teaching conditions. Training in the natural environment was advocated along with the complimentary use of skill clustering, natural environment teaching approaches, and reinforcer specificity was advocated. Implications for future research in communication also were delineated.

The purpose of this paper is to describe efforts to promote the integration of students with severe disabilities into a regular middle school, through curricular infusion. Curricular infusion involves the inclusion of information and experiences concerning students with severe disabilities at natural points throughout the general education curriculum. The curricular infusion process employed in middle school science and social studies classes is discussed. Specific examples of infused activities are included and outcomes of the efforts are discussed in a case study format. Suggestions for implementing curricular infusion across other grade levels and curricular areas are provided. Finally, future research and policy directions with respect to curricular infusion are suggested.

If the ability to generalize is the goal of training, should training include extensive practice with one example or practice with a variety of examples? In this study, the number of examples used during training generated two treatment groups: Single (one example) and Multiple (four examples). Eight students with moderate retardation were trained and tested under each treatment condition. The results of the study demonstrated that for students with moderate retardation, greater generalization resulted when multiple exemplars were used during training.