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)

Techniques for training a severely retarded blind client to exit his living unit during a fire drill used a combination of negative and positive reinforcement. Following a shaping procedure, the client learned to leave his living unit from any internal point through generalization training and subsequent test probes. (Author/CL)

A program was adapted to serve hearing impaired children with emotional and behavior disorders. The residential program currently serves 10 students with a treatment staff that includes therapists and educators. (CL)

Parents of a multiply handicapped young adolescent speak to a counselor about an upcoming hearing considering their child's possible transfer to public school from a residential school where he has spent several years. The boy himself also discloses his anxiety and uncertainty. (CL)

The Life Adjustment Program (LAP) of the Model Secondry School for the Deaf, Washington, DC, is a self-contained unit providing vocational and life skills training for multiply handicapped hearing impaired students. (SEW)

The Secondary Individualized Learning Center at the Lexington (NY) School for the Deaf emphasizes instruction of multiply handicapped students in life skills for survival in an urban environment. The curriculum focuses on independent living and work related skills in a hierarchy of work experiences from volunteer jobs to competitive employment.…

The authors outline a number of problems that educators encounter in competency based teacher education development, including the issue of generic v cross categorical training, and time and cost-effectiveness. The Project SERVE training model for teachers of the multiply handicapped, visually impaired is summarized to illustrate the functionality…

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.…

The component parts of a continuum of services needed for the deaf blind individual to function in the least restrictive environment are discussed. The need for both public and private interagency cooperation for the service delivery system to be effective is cited. (PHR)

Describes multiple techniques for facilitating development of initial communication repertoires for individuals with multiple disabilities, and integrates these techniques with strategies for increasing the alert, responsive behavior state through the Tri-Focus Framework, which emphasizes understanding the learner, broadening the communication…

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…

The article describes the Oregon Transition to Employment Project, a three-year federally supported project, which investigated and identified strategies school programs can use to prepare students with physical and multiple disabilities for the transition from school to community-based employment. (DB)

The effectiveness of a graduated guidance procedure for increasing independence in dressing was examined in a multiple baseline analysis across behaviors with two multihandicapped children (ages nine and five). Results showed both children learned dressing skills with generalization of training to similar garments and maintenance of skills and 18…

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…

Techniques used by the Special Visual Assessment Clinic for the Handicapped at the University of California-Berkeley School of Optometry are designed to serve handicapped children and adults generally considered "difficult to assess." This article describes the clinic's assessment goals, clientele, and methods for assessing visual ability and…