The group therapy context provides unparalleled opportunities for cost effective learning. However, within group meetings, therapists must strive to tailor psychological services to address the particular needs of individual patients. Creative means of customizing patients experiences within group are needed in order to address consumer needs…

Describes a study of the Individualized Learning Activity Program (ILAP) which permits a variety of activities, develops individualism in some tasks and cooperativeness in others, and allows the student to share in the responsibility of assignment selection and progress monitoring. Students and teachers indicate a consistent positive regard for…

Schools have devised several ways to adapt instruction to a wide variety of student abilities and needs. Judged by criteria for what adaptive education should be, most learning for mastery programs look good. (Author/JM)

In Elizabethton (Tennessee) a separate program with one teacher keeps some high school students from dropping out and helps improve their attendance. (Author/MLF)

Examines the library's efforts to refashion its bookmobile services. User studies convinced the staff of the Memphis/Shelby County (TN) public library system that its bookmobile fleet should be expanded with smaller, multipurpose vehicles, service child care centers, visit housing authority properties, and provide literacy training. Includes a…

Describes the Alternative Education Program for high-risk students at the Michigan School for the Deaf. Key program components include monitoring each student through a team approach and instituting a behavior-management program. Outcomes for seven students over a two-year period are reported. (DB)

Discusses the bio-psycho-social disease consequence model in rehabilitation and the model's development in the Finnish "Work Hardening Program for Chronic Pain." The theoretical background of the model is explained and the possibility of applying the model to other fields of rehabilitation is explored. (Author/CR)

Providing effective services to promote development of all children is the goal of programs serving young children; this is especially important for programs that include young children who have disabilities or are at risk. Ensuring effectiveness of programming for each individual child can be difficult, and many children will need individualized…

Self-advocacy and self-determination include the abilities to select personal goals, plan steps toward goals, assess one's progress, make choices, and self-monitor and self-evaluate one's behaviors. These are important skills in both current and future environments. Unfortunately, youth with significant intellectual and developmental disabilities…

Physical educators of students with disabilities are frequently expected to participate in the development of individualized education programs (IEP), but sometimes this responsibility can be time-consuming. It is unrealistic to attend every meeting for every student with a disability and those receiving special education services. Physical…

This article presents a due process hearing case study of a mother who contended that his son, D.J., has been denied of a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) of his School District after being suspended from school. D.J., an elementary student, had been described as hyperactive, inattentive, defiant, and often volatile. He was identified…

Although public school districts in Southern California are experiencing declining enrollment overall, accompanying this decline is a continuing increase in the percentage of students classified as English language learners (EL). In one Southern California school district with an enrollment of approximately 5,500, EL represented almost 31% of…

Under United States federal law, students who are in special education are guaranteed the right to attend school, but their education will vary depending upon their disability and their independent goals that are developed in a contract between the school and the parents called an Individual Educational Plan or IEP. Students with moderate/severe…

Because the virtual public school landscape is relatively new--and changing and expanding at such a rapid rate--very little is known about how these schools are currently serving students with disabilities. The purpose of this document is to describe how state-level virtual public school programs are serving students with disabilities and to…

This article features Melmark New England, a private, nonprofit, community based organization dedicated to serving children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders, acquired brain injury, neurological diseases and disorders, and severe challenging behaviors. The Melmark parent corporation, a Pennsylvania based provider of services for those…