When a military family has a child with autism, they face all the emotions and challenges that accompany this diagnosis, compounded by the realities of military service: war, extended family separation, frequent moves, varying access to specialized healthcare, and other stressors that complicate and often work against effective treatment for…

The process of "functional assessment" is recommended to establish a basis for individualized behavior management programing for students with special needs. The approach is based on identifying the functions of the challenging behavior and involves systematically collecting information about the behavior and developing an intervention…

Comprehensive staff development approaches described in this paper are based on on-site work with school districts and a 1980 National Rural Project investigation of problems experienced by over 80 rural districts and cooperatives across the country as they attempted to implement staff development programs. Three models are described which…

The purpose of this guide is to help families prepare for those times during which their child moves from one environment to another and from one developmental stage to another. The focus of the guide is on the role of assistive technology (AT) during those times--how to consider a child's evolving AT needs, how to identify and address the AT…

This article explains how administrators make it possible for their staff to initiate and implement advocacy efforts on behalf of students with special needs. A step-by-step series of actions and decision points are described to support the implementation of an innovative student-led Individualized Education Program process. (Contains 7…

Autism presents parents and families with many challenges under normal circumstances. Autism in a military family magnifies many of those challenges and adds a few more that are unique to the demands of military life and service, further complicating an already complex neurobiological disorder. Military sources indicate that more than 13,000…

Describes a person-centered planning approach for involving students with disabilities and their families in the transition planning process. Components of person-centered planning are discussed, including development of a personal profile, identification of future lifestyle preferences, action steps and responsible parties, and necessary changes…

This manual is a guide to Project MESH (Making Effective Schools Happen), a project which blends the "effective schools" research and change process with the values of the movement to include all students with disabilities in general education programs. The manual is based on the experience of two elementary schools in Washington State.…

Student behavior problems have been found to be the most significant and frequently addressed concern of rural educators. A model was developed in response to the needs of rural educators in West Virginia for planning, documenting, implementing, and monitoring behavior plans for students with emotional and behavior problems. The first step…

Students are more diverse than ever before in cultural background, learning style and interests, social and economic classes, and abilities and disabilities. This diversity replaces the old statistically derived, bell-shaped curve that uncompromisingly identifies some students as "inside" and other as "outside." With this shift in norm definition,…

This information brief on the successful transition of students with disabilities to postsecondary educational settings focuses on the importance of the student's full participation in the Individualized Education Program (IEP) process during secondary school and the student's developing understanding of differences between secondary and…

A product of the Project on Vocational Education Models for Linking Agencies Serving the Handicapped, this handbook is designed to assist state and local level personnel to develop effective linking strategies that will help meet the needs of handicapped students. It consists of 11 chapters. Following an introductory explanation of the purpose and…