This review of literature focuses on health issues for individuals with Intellectual Disabilities (ID), Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD), and Multiple Impairments (MI). This population has two to three times higher overweight and obesity prevalence than typically developing individuals. Furthermore, they have higher risk for…

Direct-care and professional staff serving profoundly and multiply disabed persons in small community settings or in a large specialty hospital generally expressed positive attitudes regarding jobs and resident care. Staff members who worked with the most disabled residents did not differ from employees serving profoundly but relatively less…

Planning and implementing successful community-based social integration experiences for infants and toddlers with multiple disabilities require consideration of such issues as the developmental needs unique to this age-group, family needs and concerns, health and safety considerations, and training needs of staff. (JDD)

Attitudes of 340 staff members in 120 community living programs for people with mental retardation, mental illness, and dual diagnosis were assessed using the Community Living Attitudes Scale, a measure of attitudes toward inclusion. Findings identified attitudinal differences toward inclusion between managers and staff and between those working…

Five articles focus on school-to-work transition issues from the perspectives of administrators, consultants, and parents of visually handicapped and multiply impaired/blind students. Programs described include community-based training, state-sponsored vocational training, one-day training seminars, and a job readiness clinic. (Author/CL)

The case study describes various treatments implemented over a three-year period to reduce and eliminate multiple and severe self-injurious behaviors in a 45-year-old retarded and psychotic institutionalized man. Nonaversive intervention and community involvement was associated with positive behavior change and eventual community placement. (DB)

Three youths with mental retardation and behavior disorders were taught functional sight words that supported participation in recreation activities in community settings. Direct instruction with in vivo word find activities was demonstrated to be effective in promoting acquisition of functional sight words. Word recognition was maintained at…

This examination of the successful community placement of 15 medically fragile individuals with profound mental retardation and complex epilepsy found that simplification of anticonvulsants, early intervention for seizures, and improved staff education resulted in fewer seizures, decreases in emergency room visits for status seizures and…

The Self-Report Depression Questionnaire (SRDQ), a measure of depressive symptomatology in persons with mental retardation, was administered to 89 mentally retarded adults living in community-based settings. The SRDQ demonstrated high internal consistency reliability, as well as moderate stability over an 11-week period. Content validity and…

This paper compares segregated, integrated, and community-based environments for instructing students with severe, multiple handicaps. Advantages and disadvantages are reviewed, recommendations for selection of suitable instructional environments are offered, and essential criteria for the evaluation of instruction in the various environments are…

This article discusses development and implementation of a community-based residential program for deaf blind young adults at the Hilltop House (Texas). The article outlines principles of sound management, realistic staff expectations, developmentally appropriate activities, family participation, crisis management, medication, and close…

This article describes the structure, content, and functions of a specialized adaptive diabetes education program in a large community-based blindness rehabilitation agency in Cleveland, Ohio. The program emphasizes helping clients learn diabetes self-care skills and adjust emotionally to their situation. (Author/DB)

The relationship between cost-efficiency and personal characteristics of 111 supported employees were examined. When sheltered workshops were used as alternative placements, supported employees with high IQS benefited more from employment within the community than did supported employees with lower IQS. From society's perspective, African-American…

This study evaluated the quality and costs of services for 16 young adults with dual sensory impairments and mental retardation before and during their placement at a specialized, community-based, residential, further-education facility in England. Results indicated that overall quality and costs were higher than in previous placements, though…

This paper presents an example of "optimistic research," a qualitative approach which focuses on positive interventions helpful to practitioners, in this case an examination of programs successfully integrating people with severe disabilities. The study evaluated 40 programs through site visits which focus on observation, interviews, and…