Purpose: The objective of this paper is to examine the initiation of the University of the Heads of the Valley Initiative (UHOVI) project and evaluate the development of its focus, materials and structure. Design/methodology/approach: The methodology employs interviews with a purposive sample of local employer stakeholders. The rationale for this…

Children considered preoperational on multiple classification skills and left-right conceptions were trained to work on classification problems under different conditions, including two variations of children working in pairs, and a situation in which children worked alone. Those in collective conditions progressed more significantly than those in…

This study demonstrated the increase of social interaction skills in four preschool children with autism as a result of a daily 10-minute intervention emphasizing naturalistic teaching tactics designed to stimulate children's play and interaction with others. Two of the four children continued to display high levels of interaction during the…

This study investigated the effects of teaching sociodramatic scripts on interactions among three triads, each containing two typical preschool children and one child with autistic characteristics. Results supported the inclusion of systematic training of scripts to enhance interaction among children with and without disabilities during…

The purpose of this quality of life training curriculum is to enhance staff's understanding of the concepts of choice, integration, and advocacy; the importance of these qualities; and how staff can promote these qualities within the daily lives of persons with developmental disabilities. The curriculum includes topics for group discussion and…

A multicomponent intervention to change problem behavior, which prevented community integration of three adolescents with autism, was evaluated. The intervention (implemented in a supermarket setting) included choice making, embedding, functional communication training, building tolerance for delay of reinforcement, and presenting discriminative…

This final report describes activities and accomplishments of SpecialCare Outreach Program. This federally funded project was designed to expand inclusive child care options for families of young children with disabilities through replication of a proven model and curriculum for training home and center-based child care providers. During the…

A study examined perceptions of 26 teachers, including 13 special educators, of the Peer Buddy Programs implemented in a Nashville school district. Teachers reported positive relationships between buddies and their partners with disabilities and enhanced personal growth for students with disabilities. The majority agreed buddies assisted in a…

This article describes a comprehensive, credentialed training program for family child-care providers that is family-centered, community-based, and focuses on developmentally appropriate practices for all children, including those with disabilities. The development of and rationale for this program are discussed, and a description of field test…

This survey relating to 184 Oregon students with severe intellectual disabilities and severe problem behaviors found that major extra educational support was in the form of additional teaching assistants. Ninety percent of students spent some portion of each school day socially integrated. Over 40% received community-based instruction. (Author/JDD)

These two newsletter issues focus on training strategies for developing more inclusive programs for children with disabilities and for developing collaborative programs. An interview with Dr. Barbara Wolfe addresses successful inservice teacher training strategies. Additional information in the first issue includes guidelines for empowering…

The Involvement Instrument, an observational technique for examining children's interaction patterns and degree of involvement within the school setting, is presented in this paper. Training protocols for obtaining skill in using the Involvement Instrument, methods of analyzing data obtained by using the instrument, and criteria for determining…

This study investigated the effects of a visually mediated intervention (i.e., social stories, written social phrases, pictures of social skills, and videotaped feedback) on the social communication of five elementary students with pervasive developmental disorders. Five triads, each with one subject and two typically developing peers were formed.…

This study involving three autistic and four nondisabled preschool children found that a peer-initiation intervention produced increases in peer initiations and social interactions when the teacher verbally prompted, but not without verbal prompts. When a correspondence training/visual feedback package was implemented, peer initiations and social…

Three older adults with severe/moderate mental retardation learned aerobic-type exercises in a group setting using a system of prompts and contingent praise. Prompt fading facilitated maintenance of the exercise skills in the absence of instruction, and skills were maintained at a nine-month follow-up assessment. However, only slight increases in…