Most social work students receive only limited instruction about disabilities in their general coursework despite a growing need for trained social workers in this area. In this paper, we argue that coursework dedicated to the field of intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) needs to be implemented as an essential component of a…

Case management (CM) is one of the most commonly used services by individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), but little is known about the workers who provide CM. This study used a mixed methods approach to gain understanding of the CM workforce in one U.S. state. An online survey was completed by 35 IDD service directors…

Case managers, often called support coordinators, are pivotal in the service system supporting people with intellectual/developmental disabilities (I/DD) and their families to have meaningful lives in the community, which includes access to community integrated employment. Support coordinators balance this priority, along with ensuring individual…

Assistive technology (AT) benefits many individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). The appropriate application of accommodation solutions, whether they involve the use of AT or not, can be a complex process involving a team of people with various backgrounds. This article describes an in-service AT training program that…

The profound injuries caused by child maltreatment are well documented in the neurological, attachment, cognitive, and developmental literature. In this review paper, we explore the potential of early childhood education (ECE) as a community-based resilience intervention for mitigating the impacts of child abuse and neglect and supporting families…

As a new extension of individual quality-of-life (QOL) framework that has been widely embraced in the field of disability to affect policy making, guide service delivery, and enhance outcomes of individuals with disabilities, family quality of life (FQoL) has been increasingly recognized as an important concept in the area of family supports for…

United Methodist Family Services of Virginia placed 41 developmentally disabled children in adoptive homes between August 1985 and June 1988. Efforts of the program's caseworkers to find potential adoptive families and obstacles to the placement of the children, are discussed. (BG)

Staff at a day program were trained in Augmentative/Alternative Communication (AAC) strategies and techniques. The goal was to provide training that would allow staff at the centre to use communication strategies when working with their clients. Two training sessions were provided on AAC and communication strategies for all staff at the centre.…

This paper explains why social work practice does not seem to play as strong a role as other professions in enhancing the dignity of lives of individuals with developmental disabilities. Social workers are urged to give the same validity to case management of individuals with disabilities as has been given to improving services to poor people.…

An essential component of applied behavior analysis programs for teaching children with autism is discrete trials teaching. Experiment 1 investigated the effectiveness of a self-instructional manual for teaching university students to correctly apply discrete-trials teaching to teach three tasks to confederates role-playing children with autism.…

This study examined the current case management system in Minnesota and the functions performed by case managers. Data were collected from 206 case managers, 66 case manager supervisors, and 60 county directors of human services agencies. The questionnaires solicited information on different aspects of case management, including training, case…

Rural residence and social service delivery, role of the social worker, availability of services (staff count), and special training for service providers are examined to propose that case coordination, focusing on services to the client, is more appropriate than case management in meeting the needs of the rural developmentally disabled. (MM)

This study identified the nature and frequency of contacts that case managers had with families and adult service providers for 90 young adults with developmental disabilities during school-to-community transition. Frequency of contacts was examined by participants' gender, type of disability, and placement outcomes. (JDD)

This book is a resource for human service professionals with detailed information necessary to start, maintain, monitor, assess, and reevaluate a program targeting independence. It describes the Whole Life Program, an interdependent apartment program combined with continuing education for adults with developmental, physical, and emotional…