Abstracts
Promoting Access to the General
Curriculum for Students with Mental Retardation: A Multi-Level Model
MICHAEL L. WEHMEYER
DENISE LANCE
SUSAN BASHINSKI
Abstract: The 1997 amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act included requirements that students with disabilities have
access to and progress in the general curriculum. Most discussions of efforts
to promote such access and progress do not take into account the unique needs
of learners with mental retardation. Wehmeyer, Lattin, and Agran (2001)
introduced a decision-making model to enable IEP teams to make decisions about
the educational program of students with mental retardation taking into
account both the general curriculum and unique student learning needs. This
article places that decision-making process into the context of other steps
needed to ensure access for students with mental retardation, providing a
multi-step and multi-level model to ensure access for students with mental
retardation.
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Friendships of Children with Disabilities in the Home Environment
CHERYL L. GEISTHARDT
MARY JANE BROTHERSON
CHRISTINE C. COOK
Abstract: Friendships are a valued aspect of life. Understanding the
family and home aspects of friendships can help special educators to develop a
broader understanding of issues supporting friendships for young children with
disabilities. In this exploratory study, family interviews and home
observations were used to examine friendships of children with disabilities (3
to 10 years old) at home. Results suggest many children with disabilities
spend limited time with friends or peers in the home environment. In this
sample, children with the greatest amount of contact with friends had
disabilities that were mainly physical in nature, while children with behavior
problems and cognitive limitations were among the children who experienced the
fewest peer interactions. Children living in isolated areas and/or off busy
roads had more limited contact with friends than children residing in
neighborhoods. Living in close proximity of other children, however, did not
guarantee frequent peer interactions or friendships. Characteristics of the
home and neighborhood and parents' roles in initiating and supervising
friendships are examined. Implications for special educators are discussed for
increasing opportunities for children with disabilities to interact with peers
and develop friendships in their home and neighborhood.
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High School Inclusion of Adolescents with Mental Retardation: A Multiple
Case Study
ROBERT DORE'
ERIC DION
SERGE WAGNER
JEAN-PIERRE BRUNET
Abstract: A multiple case study approach is used to evaluate feasibility
and benefits of inclusion of students with mental retardation in regular high
school classes. Two students are first observed in a self-contained class and
are then transferred to a regular class on a full-time basis for the remainder
of the school year. The transfer was associated with an improvement in
classroom work skills, especially for one of the students. However their
social integration, observed in the cafeteria at lunchtime, was minimal.
Teachers of the students evaluated the inclusion as being satisfactory and
feasible insofar as few modifications to class activities were required. The
possible influence of factors related to the timing and support structure of
the inclusion is discussed.
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Using Self-Monitoring to Improve Performance in General Education High
School Classes
CAROLYN HUGHES and SUSAN R. COPELAND
MARTIN AGRAN
MICHAEL L. WEHMEYER
MICHAEL S. RODI
JUDITH A. PRESLEY
Abstract: We used a multiple-baseline-across-participants design (Kazdin,
1982) to examine the effects of self-monitoring on selected social and
academic behaviors of high school students with mental retardation who were
enrolled in general education classes. Target behaviors and self-monitoring
strategies were individualized for participants based on input from students
and their teachers and parents, students' individualized education program (IEP)
goals, and direct observation of students in general education settings.
Occurrences of self-monitoring were associated with improvement in target
behaviors across participants. In addition, students' teachers and classmates
perceived improved performance of target behaviors when students used their
self-monitoring strategies. This study adds to the literature as one of few
studies investigating self-monitoring by high school students with mental
retardation in general education settings.
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Comparison of Two
Instructional Strategies for Acquiring Form and Sound of Hebrew Letters by
Students with Mild Mental Retardation
ORIT E. HETZRONI
PRINA SHAVIT
Abstract: This study investigates the use of mnemonic strategies in
using pictures for enhancing acquisition of the form and sounding of letters
(consonants), by students with mild mental retardation. Twenty-four students
with mild mental retardation aged 10-15 were selected for this study.
Participants were divided into two groups, with and without mnemonics, matched
for age, sex, and number of years with the classroom teacher. Two intervention
strategies used for the study were identical in the procedures differing only
in inclusion of pictures as a mnemonic strategy in the experimental condition.
The mnemonics group used picture cards to enhance association and assist in
letter identification. Results indicate that the mnemonic group learned
significantly more letters than the control group. The relevance of the
results and their implications for learning are discussed.
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Comparison of the
Effectiveness and Efficiency of Two Response Prompting Procedures
Delivered by Sibling Tutors
ELIF TEKIN
GONUL KIRCAALI-IFTAR
Abstract: We used a parallel treatments design to compare the
effectiveness and efficiency of a 4 s constant time delay and a simultaneous
prompting procedure on teaching receptively identifying animals to children
with mild and moderate mental retardation. The study had two purposes: (1) to
determine if sibling tutors use these two instructional procedures reliably
for instructing their younger siblings with mental retardation, and (2) to
asses any differences between these two instructional procedures in terms of
effectiveness and efficiency. Three children with mental retardation and their
siblings who were trained as tutors participated. The two procedures were
delivered alternately by tutor siblings. Results show that both procedures
were effective in teaching receptively identifying animals to the children
with mental retardation. Efficiency data showed that the differences between
two procedures were minimal. Maintenance data collected 1, 4, and 5 weeks
after training indicated no difference between the two procedures. When
generalization data for the two instructional procedures across all sibling
tutees were compared, stimuli taught with the constant time delay procedure
resulted in higher levels of generalization for all sibling tutees. In
conclusion, (a) both procedures were implemented reliably by all typical
sibling tutors, (b) both procedures were effective on teaching receptively
identifying animals, (c) simultaneous prompting was more efficient than
constant time delay in terms of the number of training errors and training
time through criterion, (d) no differences were evident based on maintenance
data, and (e) constant time delay resulted in more generalization. Future
research is needed to support these findings.
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Comparison of Two Approaches
for Identifying Job Preferences among Persons with Disabilities Using Video
CD-ROM
DAVID A. ELLERD
ROBERT L. MORGAN
CHARLES L. SALZBERG
Abstract: This study examines effects of presenting motion video stimuli
as job choice response options in single and paired-choice formats. Four
adults (two males and two females) with disabilities in an adult day treatment
program participated in the study. Five jobs represented in video on a CD-ROM
were presented in single and paired-choice formats. Data indicates that all
participants express preferences using the motion video by differentially
responding to the five job videos. Findings were consistent with previous
research indicating that, with the single operant approach, stimulus
over-selectivity occurred. These results also suggested that video medium is a
potentially useful method to present complex stimuli in choice responding
arrangements.
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The 1983 AAMR Manual, the 1992 AAMR
Manual, or the Developmental Disabilities Act: Which do Researchers Use?
CAROLE CONYERS
TOBY L. MARTIN
GARRY L. MARTIN
DICKIE YU
Abstract: We examined Participants' sections of all research articles
published in four journals, from 1993 through 2001, to determine how the
authors described participants in research in mental retardation.
Approximately two-thirds of research articles during that period have
consistently described participants by the diagnostic categories (mild,
moderate, severe, and profound) from the 1983 AAMR diagnostic manual
(Grossman, 1983). An average of 10% of research articles described
participants in terms of the 1992 AAMR manual (Luckasson et al., 1992), which
eliminated the diagnostic categories of the 1983 manual. Only an average of 4%
of research articles described participants as persons with a developmental
disability. Possible reasons for these trends are discussed.
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Review of Using Auditory
Prompting Systems with Persons who have Moderate to Severe Disabilities
MICHAL POST
KEITH STOREY
Abstract: A barrier to successful community involvement for individuals
with moderate to severe disabilities is the dependence upon others for
acceptable task completion. The need for on-going step by step instructions
and prompting to accurately complete a task is a critical problem. This
article reviews research designed to improve the performance of persons with
moderate to severe disabilities through the use of auditory prompting systems.
Areas reviewed are the effect of auditory prompting systems on
self-management, fluency of work performance, generalization across settings
and resultant independent performance of tasks. Auditory prompting systems are
analyzed and reviewed for improvements on these performance skills for persons
with moderate to severe disabilities.
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Self-Perceptions of Adequacy
of Support Among Persons with Mental Retardation Living in Suburban Versus
Rural Communities
THOMAS KELLOW
RICHARD I. PARKER
Abstract: Self-perceptions of adults living in suburban and rural
environments were examined with respect to adequacy of their social support
systems. A case study methodology examined (a) number, (b) type, (c) frequency
of contact, and (d) satisfaction with social support sources. Results
indicated that the number of formal (paid) social supports available to
suburban and rural participants were roughly the same, and were used with
similar frequency. However, a significant discrepancy was noted between groups
with respect to utilization of informal (non-paid) supports. Suburban
participants had more informal sources of support and utilized informal
supports more frequently than rural subjects. Suburban participants also had a
higher self-perception of the adequacy of their social support sources.
Implications of these results for service provision in rural communities are
elaborated.
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