Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities

This paper reports a detailed analysis of the substantive content of ETMR over the first twenty five years of the journal's publication. A random selection of approximately one-quarter of the articles published were examined for professional objective and topical focus, age and ability level of target population, research or theoretical approach, author's discipline and professional position, and applicable target setting. These variables were examined across four time periods defined by major historical events impacting the field of mental retardation. The results yield conclusions regarding past and current trends in the literature as well as implications for future directions.

For most persons, expressing personal belief and preferences, making choices and decisions based upon these expressions and assuming responsibility for one's life are valued aspects of life and reflections of adulthood. For individuals with mental retardation this is frequently not so. This article discusses the importance of self-determination in educating learners with mental retardation. Drawing from pertinent literature in psychology and special education, self-determination is defined and its impact on educational achievement examined. Implications for teachers and administrators in special education are discussed.

We surveyed 104 secondary special educators in six states to determine their views on planning the transition of students from school to work. The educators responded to a mailed questionnaire to ascertain (a) what activities they considered important in transition planning; (b) what age they started planning for a student's transition; (c) what skills, behaviors, and services they assessed; (d) who participated on a transition team and who was primarily responsible for coordinating the transition; and (e) what goals they commonly identified in a transition plan. Results showed that respondents considered teaching social and job skills, involving parents, and matching skills to jobs as the most important activities. Differences between the importance of activities to students with mild versus severe disabilities are discussed. Most respondents reported that their programs started planning a student's transition at or before age 16. Numerous assessment and goal areas were reported. The teacher was most frequently identified as the person responsible for transition planning, although several other professionals commonly participated on the transition team. Results are discussed in terms of improving transition planning for students with disabilities.

We examined the effectiveness of a social skills problem-solving approach to teach question-asking to workers with mental retardation. The components of the social skills problem-solving approach were trained individually to participants. Generalization across settings and participants was assessed once persons reached the training criterion on each component of the social skills process. Experimental control was demonstrated using a multiple baseline across participants. All participants evidenced generalization across settings and persons and maintained the skills at a one-month follow-up.

Two studies were conducted to demonstrate strategies for empirically validating worker perfor- mance in a workstation. Study I demonstrated a technique for determining the effects of training procedures on job acquisition. Study I involved investigating the effects of on-the-job training provided within a worksta- tion on the acquisition of housekeeping skills by six persons with developmental disabilities. Training con- sisted of a combination of total task presentation and constant time delay. A nonconcurrent multiple baseline across pairs of workers indicated a relationship between training and skill acquisition. Study II demonstrated techniques for gathering job / skill maintenance data and measuring two aspects of on-the-job social integra- tion within a workstation located with a community recycling center.

This study was conducted to examine the abilities of managers and entry-level employees of community businesses to suggest appropriate interventions for job-related social skill problems of students with mild, moderate, or learning handicaps. A survey of 202 managers and employees was used to obtain suggestions for intervening on 14 job-related social skill problems. The suggestions were evaluated by two special education experts regarding their appropriateness for the students and situations presented.

The results of the study were interpreted to indicate that managers and employees can provide appropriate strategies for remediating job-related social skill problems. Managers had a significantly higher proportion of responses rated appropriate than employees and some of the job-related skills had higher percentages of interventions rated as appropriate than others. The discussion reviews these results and describes the importance of these findings and future research for addressing job-related social skill problems of students with mild, moderate, and learning handicaps in community work sites.

This paper presents a qualitative study of what influences teachers’ instructional practices with students who have moderate to severe disabilities. Ethnographic interviews and observations were used (a) to discover teachers’ perceptions of their activities with their students and then (b) to compare these perceptions to classroom actions. Findings are examined along four separate themes: (a) curriculum consistency, (b) instructional consistency, (c) administrative support, and (d) time and effort. The findings are discussed in terms of teachers’ roles in delivering best practices to students with significant disabilities.

This study was designed to determine the effects of using personal photographs of participants as an interim curriculum sequencing step to assist three intermediate level elementary students with moderate mental retardation with the development of verb usage given the presentation of iconic (figural) stimuli (Bruner, 1960, 1966; Bruner et al. 1966). The curriculum materials consisted of four language books. Each of the first three language books contained photographs of the respective participants enacting 10 verb poses in familiar school environments. Instruction with these books constituted the independent variable. The fourth book contained figural line drawings (graphic representations) of the 10 verbs, which served as the dependent variable. A multiple baseline design consisting of three phases was implemented to analyze the intervention's effects. The results indicated that using photographs of the student had a positive effect on the development of expressive verb usage in response to the graphic stimuli.

Ten years ago, Orelove, Wehman, and Wood (1982) critically evaluated Special Olympics. Their review included the history and impact of Special Olympics, positive aspects of Special Olympics, limitations of Special Olympics, and suggestions for improving Special Olympics. Since this article was published, Special Olympics has made a variety of modifications and improvements to its overall organization and program. Yet, Special Olympics continues to be researched and critiqued. Has Special Olympics implemented any of the suggestions for improvement outlined by Orelove et al., or does Special Olympics continue to be the antithesis of the current philosophies of special education? The purpose of this paper is to objectively review the changes Special Olympics has made over the past ten years and evaluate Special Olympics in 1992. Emphasis is given to the efforts Special Olympics has made to meet the concerns raised by Orelove, Wehman, and Wood. New suggestions will be provided for improving Special Olympics or for initiating community alternatives.