Education
and Training in Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities
VOLUME 37
NUMBER 2 JUNE 2002
Access to the General Curriculum for Students with Significant
Disabilities: What it Means to Teachers
Placement and Exit patterns for Students with Mental
Retardation: An Analysis of National Trends
Effects of Instructional versus Non-Instructional Roles
on
the Social Interactions of High School Students
Enhancing Self-Management in Students with Mental
Retardation: Extrinsic versus Intrinsic Procedures
Teaching Laundry Skills to High School
Students with Disabilities: Generalization of Targeted Skills and Nontargeted
Information
Applications of Measures of Speed of Mental
Operations Among Children with Intellectual Deficiency
Attitudes Toward Acceptable
Socio-Sexual Behaviors for Persons with Mental
Retardation: Implications for Normalization and Community Integration
Staff Definitions of Challenging Behavior
Enhancing Independent Task Performance for
Individuals with Mental
Retardation Through Use of a Handheld Self-Directed Visual
and Audio Prompting System
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Abstracts
Access to the General Curriculum for Students
with Significant
Disabilities: What it Means to Teachers
MARTIN AGRAN
SANDRA ALPER
MICHAEL WEHMEYER
Abstract: The 1997 amendments to IDEA mandated that individualized
education programs of students with disabilities include information about
student's participation and progress in the general curriculum. Although there
is general agreement with the intent of the access to the general curriculum
mandates to ensure that students with disabilities are held to high
expectations, receive a challenging curriculum, and are included in the
accountability mechanisms being created for all students, there are some
concerns as to potential negative effects of unintended consequences from
components of school reform efforts, to which the access mandates are linked.
One variable that remains unknown, and which can affect the success of the
mandates, is the opinion of teachers about this policy direction. The present
survey obtained opinions of a sample of teachers on issues relating to access
to the general curriculum. The findings suggested that the majority of
respondents believed that access is not appropriate for students with severe
disabilities and that these students should not be held to the same
performance standards as typical peers. Additionally, the study revealed that
a number of teachers were not actively involved in planning relating to
access, and that almost half of their districts did not have a clear policy on
this issue. Implications of these findings to promote student participation in
the general curriculum are presented.
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Placement and Exit patterns for Students with
Mental
Retardation: An Analysis of National Trends
ANTONIS KATSIYANNIS
DALUN ZHANG
TEAR ARCHWAMETY
Abstract: Analyses of placement and exit data on students with mental
retardation found in the annual reports to Congress on the Implementation of
IDEA indicated an upward trend in educating students with mental retardation
in general education classrooms and a decline in graduation rates with a
diploma or certificate. Students with MR, in comparison to students with all
disabilities, were more likely to be educated in more restrictive settings.
There was also variability among geographical regions on both placement and
exit patterns.
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Effects of Instructional versus Non-Instructional
Roles on
the Social Interactions of High School Students
CAROLYN HUGHES
ERIK W. CARTER
TANYA HUGHES
EMILY BRADFORD
SUSAN R COPELAND
Abstract: We used an alternating-treatments design (Barlow & Hersen,
1984) to investigate the effects of instructional versus non-instructional
roles on the interactions of general education high school students and their
peers with disabilities. There were three experimental conditions: (a) an
instructional role condition, (b) a non-instructional role condition, and (c)
a continuous baseline condition. Findings indicate that during the
non-instructional role condition, students engaged in more social-related than
activity-related interactions than during the other two experimental
conditions. Students also discussed a greater variety of conversational topics
during the non-instructional condition, and their interactions received higher
ratings of quality of interaction from (a) observers and (b) general education
participants. Implications of findings are discussed with respect to future
research and practice.
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Enhancing Self-Management in Students with
Mental
Retardation: Extrinsic versus Intrinsic Procedures
KATHERINE BAKKEN FIRMAN
PAUL BEARE
ROBERT LOYD
Abstract: Management of one's behavior is a valued characteristic across
settings. Research supports use of self-management to increase students'
time-on-task as well as other academic and productivity behaviors. Three
middle school students with mild/moderate mental retardation participated in
this study utilizing 3 self-management interventions ranging from more
externally assisted to less intrusive conditions to increase time-on-task
behaviors. As expected, the more externally assisted procedure resulted in the
greatest improvement; however, the less intrusive produced only a slightly
reduced effect. Results indicate that individuals with mental retardation can
be taught to improve and maintain behaviors with minimal support. This implies
that teachers select the less intrusive, more normalized self-management
training procedures to help students to improve and maintain appropriate
behaviors.
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Teaching Laundry Skills to High School
Students with Disabilities: Generalization of Targeted Skills and Nontargeted
Information
PAULA TAYLOR
BELVA C. COLLINS
JOHN W. SCHUSTER
HAROLD KLEINERT
Abstract: The investigators designed this investigation to teach laundry
skills (i.e., washing and drying clothing) to 4 high school students with
moderate mental disabilities. Instructional sessions consisted of a system of
least prompt procedure with multiple exemplars of materials to facilitate
generalization of these skills across community settings. The procedure also
included multiple exemplars of nontargeted information (i.e., functional
laundry sight words) presented as instructive feedback presented during
trials. A multiple probe across students design was used to evaluate the
effectiveness of the intervention. Results indicate that the students acquired
and generalized the target skills and that they also acquired and generalized
much of the nontargeted information.
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Applications of Measures of Speed of Mental
Operations Among Children with Intellectual Deficiency
MICHEL LORANGER
MARIE CLAUDE BLAIS
SANDRA HOPPS
MICHEL PIPIN
JEAN?MARE BOISVERT
MARTIN WYON
Abstract: This study attempts to verify the value of new measures of
speed of mental operations among children with intellectual deficiency.
Results on this collection of simple problem-solving tasks are examined in
relation to those obtained on different traditional measures of cognitive
skills, as well as a scale of adaptive behavior. The participants are 62
children aged 3 to 13 years old, whose mean score on the Stanford-Binet is
55.03 (SD = 12.34). The results show medium to high correlations between
scores on these five computerized tasks and all other cognitive measures, as
well as the adaptive behavior scale. The relevance of taking speed of response
into account in the assessment of cognitive skills is discussed along with its
implications for the intellectual assessment of special populations.
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Attitudes Toward Acceptable
Socio-Sexual Behaviors
for Persons with Mental Retardation: Implications for Normalization and Community
Integration
MATTHEW
N. OLIVER
AARON ANTHONY
TRISHA T. LEIMKUHL
GEMMA D. SKILLMAN
Abstract: Full community integration includes normal socio-sexual
development and expression. However, opportunities to experience healthy
sexual development and expression are commonly limited for adults with mental
retardation. This study evaluated attitudinal discrepancies among non-disabled
community members (i.e., residential staff and individuals in early and late
adulthood) regarding the acceptability of socio-sexual expression for persons
with and without mental retardation. Results suggest that, across community
groups, discrepancies between adults with and without mental retardation
primarily concern attitudes toward marriage and parenthood. Relative to
residential staff and those in early adulthood, individuals in late adulthood
were more conservative in their attitudes toward socio-sexual behavior
regardless of disability status. Different sexual expression standards for
persons with and without mental retardation underscore the need for advocacy
and effective community integration strategies.
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Staff Definitions of Challenging Behavior
SARAH ELGIE
RICHARD P. HASTINGS
Abstract: Staff beliefs about challenging behaviors may influence staff
behavior towards those who challenge. Staff behaviors in turn have been
implicated in both the development and maintenance of challenging behaviors.
Very few previous research studies have focused on staff definitions of
challenging behavior. In the present study, 50 staff working with adults with
mental retardation rated potentially challenging behaviors in terms of: (a)
whether they thought the behaviors were challenging, and (b) whether the
behaviors should be the focus of intervention. Results confirmed previous
research findings in that behaviors primarily having negative effects on
individuals, rather than staff and services, were less likely to be identified
as challenging. Practical implications of the study findings and directions
for future research on staff beliefs about challenging behavior are discussed.
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Enhancing Independent Task Performance for
Individuals with Mental Retardation Through Use of a Handheld Self-Directed Visual
and Audio Prompting System
DANIEL K DAVIES
STEVEN E. STOCK
MICHAEL L. WEHMEYER
Abstract: Computer technology offers promising new approaches to
reducing the dependence of people with mental retardation on others. This
article reports results of a beta test of the utility of a Windows CE based
multimedia palmtop computer program (Visual Assistant) for use in supporting
individuals with mental retardation to more independently complete
community-referenced vocational skills. Project personnel identified system
requirements that would be required to accommodate the needs of people with
mental retardation, and then developed and tested a
"proof-of-concept" prototype of the Visual Assistant system. Results
from the beta test demonstrated support for using a multimedia training
program on a palmtop PC to enhance self-direction of adults with mental
retardation in performing community-based vocational tasks. Use of the Visual
Assistant prototype resulted in improved task accuracy and decreased use of
external prompts from a support person on two different vocational tasks.
Implications for use of palmtop and handheld PC technology to increase the
independence and self-determination of individuals with mental retardation and
other developmental disabilities is considered.
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