Since the re-authorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1997 functional assessment has become popular in designing interventions for people with challenging behaviour. The purpose of this study was to assess the applications of functional and structural analysis in the assessment of problem behaviour. The study analysed…

In recent years, the number of alternative schools has continued to grow and an increasingly large number of students at-risk for school failure have been enrolled in alternative settings. Critics blame this increase on the fact that the school-aged population has become increasingly diverse, presenting a broad range of issues that the schools…

This article reviews a specific body of writing intervention research, that of component analyses of cognitive strategy instruction. One rationale for examining the effects of individual components comes from meta-analyses, which indicate powerful intervention outcomes for complex strategies, though it is frequently unclear which component has the…

There is a great need to identify specific instructional methods that effectively promote positive skill development in young children with developmental disabilities. One method that has received strong empirical support with children with autism is Discrete Trial Teaching (DTT); however, the effectiveness of DTT has not been extensively…

The birth of a child with a disability entails the revision of roles and a consideration of the partners' tasks and activities, the reallocation of financial resources, and a whole range of new behaviors to cope with the needs of the newcomer. It is important to analyze the quality of life experienced by parents and families of children with…

This book is designed to help postsecondary education personnel initiate or refine college programs for students with learning disabilities (LD). Following an introductory chapter, chapters 2-3 discuss the need for such postsecondary programs and presents an overview of federal legislation designed to ensure educational opportunities for students…

This final report documents achievements of a project to assess social impact and achievement gains resulting from the use of interactive videodisc technology to teach fractions in mainstreamed classrooms across multicultural settings. Subjects (N=294) were regular upper elementary students and students with mild handicaps (MH) in Utah, Wyoming,…

The full texts of all prepared statements and supplemental materials presented during five days of oversight hearings held on rehabilitation of the handicapped programs and implementation of these programs by agencies under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 are contained in this document. Statements are made by (1) State and local directors and other…

Peer support interventions are emerging as an effective alternative to traditional paraprofessional models for assisting students with moderate to severe disabilities to access the general curriculum. To contribute to the refinement of peer support interventions, we evaluated the impact of altering the number of participating peers on the social…

We describe a training program to teach applied behavior analysis (ABA) knowledge competencies to paraprofessional staff (N = 47) at a habilitation services agency for adults with developmental disabilities. Before and following training, staff completed assessment of knowledge tests for three content areas: basic learning principles,…

Although "Corrective Reading Decoding" has been validated as effective over a wide range of students, there is a lack of information on its effectiveness with older students having intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Thus, the purpose of this investigation was to determine the effectiveness of "Corrective Reading…

This report provides information about special education costs in Vermont and the effects of recent policy changes implemented through Vermont's Act 230 and special education reform efforts. The report begins by describing Vermont's funding formula for special education and explains how the formula is flexible, more equitable, and better able to…

The fundamental question for those concerned with high quality services for people with severe disabilities is how resources can best be used to assist these individuals to live better lives. The question of how to assist in creation of better lives tests and builds leadership. Leadership involves mobilizing people's resources to make progress on…

This bibliography was compiled in conjunction with a research project that conducted a meta-analysis of the developmental disabilities treatment literature dealing with the deceleration of excess behaviors. It lists 318 relevant articles published between January 1976 and December 1987 in 18 psychology and special education journals. The articles…

Youth with learning disabilities have high rates of unemployment and underemployment. A specific aspect of the poor social skills of adolescents with learning disabilities is their inability to solve unstructured problems on the job. The PROBE module was designed to help youth with learning disabilities to overcome this problem. PROBE is one of…