This article suggests ways to use tactile teaching strategies with students who have severe and multiple disabilities including blindness. Guidelines address tactile modeling, tactile mutual attention, presenting tactile information, providing effective tactile representation, hypersensitivity to touch, and a team approach. (Contains references.)…

This paper offers guidelines to compare the characteristics observed in children with autism and blindness and those observed in children with blindness alone. It distinguishes between stereotypic behaviors (blindisms) in blind individuals and similar stereotypic behaviors of children with autism. A table presents typical behavior patterns of…

A six-point program of diagnostic inquiry and treatment strategy for individuals with behavior disorders in addition to severe or profound mental retardation is presented, which allows alternate etiological hypotheses to be tested in a clinical setting. This format is intended to unify psychopharmacy practice in mental retardation and in general…

A teacher recounts a summer school program for 9 students (ages 9-16), all with hearing loss and several with other learning problems. Stressed is the role of the summer program in maintaining academic skills. Specific activities around the theme of "rivers" are detailed. (DB)

Guidelines for teaching orientation and mobility skills to visually impaired children with additional disabilities focus on basic needs including the need to feel safe, the need for control, the need to be in contact with the physical environment, the need for some type of independent movement, and the need for meaningful mobility. (DB)

It is suggested that curricula for young multiply handicapped children should be based on well articulated child development models which specify milestones to be demonstrated as well as contexts in which they will be demonstrated. It is further suggested that the criterion of ultimate functioning should also be considered in choosing one design…

The mercury switch is a simple device which allows severely handicapped students to easily turn on or off electrical devices. Directions and diagrams are given for construction of the switch, its uses, modification of toys to utilize the switch, and correcting problems with the switch or other adaptive equipment. (DB)

The article reviews the use and limitations of medical and behavioral approaches (restraints, shock, drugs, punishment and aversive stimulation, reinforcement of incompatible behaviors, and overcorrection) to reduce self injury in visually impaired, mentally retarded persons. Legal and ethical considerations are pointed out. (Author/CL)

Two new techniques that were used with a group of seven blind, multiply handicapped young adults in a half-way house are described. Structured learning therapy is a social skills training technique and group assessment is a method of averaging psychological data on a group of clients to facilitate program planning based on client needs.…

Educational case studies of three multiply handicapped blind children (five to ten years old) are presented in a discussion of visual stimulation approaches. Objectives of activities such as coupling a light with a sound-producing object are described. (CL)

An introduction to the special section on dual diagnosis comments on the prevalence of dual diagnosis. A study is then reported in which 205 people with mental retardation were administered the Reiss Screen for Maladaptive Behavior. Fifty-nine subjects were then evaluated by clinical psychologists, and a dual diagnosis rate of 39 percent was…

This article discusses the increasing incidence of cortical visual impairments, resulting from medical advancements making possible the survival of critically ill children with severe brain damage. Discussed are the prevalence of multiple handicaps, formation of visual concepts, foreground/background distinction, potential for mainstreaming, use…

Clinical features, pathogenetic hypotheses, and symptoms of the cardio-auditory or surdo-cardiac disorder first reported by Jervell and Lange-Nielsen are described, and methods of diagnosis and treatment are presented, to alert teachers and other professionals to potentially life-threatening symptoms they may observe when working with deaf and…

This article provides guidelines on diagnosing learning disabilities in deaf or hard-of-hearing children and adults, evaluates major tests in terms of their use with deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals who may have a learning disability, and suggests a battery of tests found to be useful. (Author/JDD)

Case studies are used to demonstrate several strategies used in the San Francisco Bay area to ensure the inclusion of persons with dual sensory impairments and other multiple disabilities in integrated community employment. Strategies include heterogeneous group placement, job restructuring, use of natural support, volunteerism, and social skills…