Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities

The Board of Directors of the Division on Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (MRDD) of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) adopted a position statement regarding the importance of equal opportunities for adolescents and young adults with mental retardation and developmental disabilities and the need to support the independent functioning of these individuals. Because current practices often fail to adequately prepare these individuals for successful adult life, the board made several curricular and policy recommendations, including adopting a more functional and future-driven curriculum, providing regular diplomas to all students who meet the requirements set out for them by the school, and providing transitional programming between the ages of 18 and 22 in age-appropriate settings, such as junior colleges and vocational-technical schools.

The purpose of this study was to compare the recreation participation patterns of adults with (N=100) and without mental retardation (N=100). A structured in-depth interview was used to determine the diversity of respondents' recreation participation, largely through responses about 132 recreation activi-ties. Although previous research on the recreation participation of adults with mental retardation has re-ported a preponderance of solitary, passive, home-based activities, comparisons of these adults with their peers without disabilities helped provide insight concerning these previous findings. Like their peers without disabilities, the adults with mental retardation reported participating in a “core” group of activities. The adults with mental retardation, however, reported participating in far fewer recreation activities than their peers without disabilities. Significant differences in the recreation participation rates of adults with and without mental retardation were found. Although there were similarities in the types and rankings of activities in which people with and without mental retardation participate, adults with mental retardation had sig-nificantly lower participation rates in activities than their peers.

A 20-state survey of supported employment personnel was conducted to identify self-reported training priorities. Respondents included 131 direct training staff and 79 supervisory staff (N=210). In a mailed survey, respondents rated 35 different topics on variables of importance of training and adequacy of existing training. Results indicated the two most important topics for both respondent groups were “matching the job to the applicant” followed by “gathering information on job prospects.” Highly rated topics in terms of inadequacy of training for both groups were “understanding transition from school to work” and “using assistive technology devices | equipment.” For both groups of respondents, the highest rated topic in impor- tance combined with highest rating on inadequacy of training was “job development and marketing.” Results are discussed in terms of development of training programs for supported employment personnel, and im- plications for future research.

The literature indicates that supported employment is the option of choice to traditional segregated day programs. Yet, many people with disabilities are still unable to access community integrated employment. This paper describes a new customer-driven approach of supported employment where people with disabilities are able to exert choice and control. Best practices in supported employment are reviewed and contrasted with practices presently operating in the field today. Specific information is given on how a customer can select a supported employment provider and a description is given related to the role of this new professional called a community employment specialist.

The deinstitutionalization movement has evolved as policy and practice since the mid-1960s. This has resulted in more than a 50% reduction in the total national census for large state residential facilities. It would be expected that there has been a generally comparable increase in the number of individuals living in community settings. The current study sought to analyze deinstitutionalization patterns by tracking discharges for over 2000 residents of the largest mental retardation facility in Virginia. Based on a review of resident discharge records, the initial placement for these individuals was ascertained and categorized. Discussion focuses on the implications of these placement data for an understanding of the deinstitutionalization movement.

We compared parent and teacher ratings for a group of 16 preschool children on the Receptive-Expressive Emergent Language Scale. Paired t-tests indicated no significant differences between parent and teacher ratings of expressive language, but a significant difference on the receptive language subscale. Pearson's correlations showed significant and positive relationships between parent and teacher ratings. These results suggest the device could be used in research to document language delay and perhaps for classification purposes. However, interrater agreement was only 31.25% for receptive language age and 56.25% for expressive language age. Thus, reliability appears too low for instructional planning.

This study investigated effects of social interactive strategies (i.e., contingent imitation, natural reinforcement contingency, and time delay) developed by Klinger and Dawson (1992) in promoting early social-communicative skills of a preschool child with developmental disabilities during daily classroom activities. An ABAB withdrawal design was employed to evaluate the effects of strategies. Results indicated that the child's eye contact, joint attention, and imitation increased immediately following implementation of the interactive strategies. Results also demonstrated that there was a collateral relationship between social interactive strategies and early social-communicative skills. These findings are discussed in terms of implications for using the interactive strategies during naturally existing classroom activities and recommendations are made for future research.