Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities

The most important outcomes for students with mild mental retardation are successful employment, development of independence, the acquisition of life skills, and successful involvement within the school and community. Models now exist for supported work initiatives, empowerment and self-determination, life skills (i.e., a comprehensive concept of adult adjustment), and the achievement of inclusion within functional curricular programs. Inhibitors that have impacted successful outcomes include a variety of factors within the community, absence of supports throughout adulthood and continued reliance on non-functional curricula. Implementation of outcome-oriented programs and services would be enhanced by targeting research and model programs funding for students classified as mildly retarded, modifying data reporting procedures, increasing commitment to appropriate curricular alternatives at the secondary level, assuring that quality transition planning takes place, adopting the concept of supported education as central to inclusion, and stressing periodic follow-up after exiting school programs.

Twenty-five studies were reviewed which surveyed parents of children with moderate to severe mental disabilities to determine their wishes, needs, and/or satisfaction with various services and aspects of services provided to them and their children. Most of the studies were conducted between 1985 and 1994. They investigated a variety of issues including what parents wanted their children to learn, what type of school setting they desired, what type and degree of involvement the parents desired with the schools, their level of satisfaction with school, preschool, and community based services, and their needs and plans for their children as adults. Ways in which professionals can best address the wishes and needs of parents are presented in the conclusion of the paper.

The incidence of AIDS in the United States continues to increase, with a present total of over 360,000 cases. HIV infection and AIDS have also been documented in persons with developmental disabilities, and there is a clear need for effective HIV / AIDS education programs with this population. The present paper reports on 31 employees of a sheltered workshop for persons with developmental disabilities who participated in an HIV/AIDS education program. Comparison of pretest and posttest scores on an AIDS Risk Knowledge Test revealed an increase in knowledge that was related to the cognitive level of the participant. Future directions for HIV / AIDS education research with this population are discussed.

We examine the effectiveness of communication books in increasing the integration of workers with severe disabilities in supported employment settings. Results demonstrate that use of the communication books increased the social interactions of the workers with severe disabilities. Integration data were collected using direct observation, social validation, and global measures. Generalization was assessed to other persons, settings, and situations. Maintenance was also assessed.

A sample of 200 adults with mild mental retardation was assessed on overall job satisfaction and self-esteem using the Vocational Program Evaluation Profile and the Coopersmith Self-esteem Inventory. The subjects worked either in a sheltered workshop or in a supported employment setting. Results indicated that there was a significant relationship between self-esteem and job satisfaction for both groups of subjects. In addition, subjects who worked in supported employment reported significantly higher levels of job satisfaction. There was also an interaction between place of residence and place of employment when looking at self-esteem; those who lived in a semi-independent home and worked in supported employment reported the highest levels of self-esteem. These results were discussed in terms of the social validity of supported-employment for persons with mild mental retardation.

Reggie was an 11-year-old boy with moderate-to-severe retardation, seizures, and behavior disor- ders, who frequently engaged in problem behavior at school. These behaviors included: making a loud, high- pitched noise (“Eee”); hitting staff, peers, and objects; throwing objects; laying down on the floor; running away; biting others; and spitting. The study was conducted in two phases. The first phase focused on assess- ment and included structured interviews and observations, hypothesis development, and hypothesis testing within ongoing school activities. The interviews and observations led to hypotheses that Reggie would behave better when he (a) was engaged in preferred activities, (b) was given choice, and (c) received attention fre- quently while he was engaged in appropriate behavior. Experimental analyses confirmed these hypotheses. The second phase examined the effectiveness of an assessment-based intervention that was implemented by the teaching staff. The intervention virtually eliminated all problem behavior and resulted in appropriate be- havior nearly all of the time. In addition, the effect occurred immediately, lasted for at least several months, and generalized to three non-targeted (generalization) problem behaviors. In addition, the assessment-based intervention received high acceptability ratings from the staff; in contrast, the methods they had used pre- viously (time-out, prompting, and redirection) received low acceptability ratings.

A longitudinal study was conducted to determine the ability of the Uzgiris and Hunt scales to predict the learning of manual signs over a four year period. 34 children diagnosed with severe and profound levels of mental retardation were administered the Uzgiris and Hunt scales and the Receptive-Expressive Emergent Language (REEL) scale. Four years later teachers were observed with their students and asked for the manual signs imitated, used independently, and used in combination and for any spoken words used. Regression analyses and ANOVAs supported the theoretical position that stage 5 is necessary for the learning of manual signs. However, even among those children at or above stage 5, relatively little learning occurred. The findings were discussed for their practical and theoretical significance.