Specific program suggestions are provided to enable the speech-language pathologist to utilize the mealtime setting to integrate both vocal and nonvocal communicative objectives. The roots of interaction and communication which underly both vocal and nonvocal systems are described. (Author)

The author describes specific classroom activities and materials that can be used with visually impaired, multihandicapped children who can function in a group. Objectives, procedures, materials, and possible modifications are listed for activities involving colors, shapes, and gross motor development. (Author/CL)

A low functioning, nonverbal student who is hearing impaired as well as visually impaired presents special problems in designing instructional activities. Activities which have been used successfully with this type of student to develop attending to visual stimuli, tracking visual stimuli, and discriminating color and shape are described. (Author)

The handbook describes the structure and process of practica for teachers of students with severe and multiple handicaps at the University of Alberta. Guidelines for introductory practica are presented and eligibility, practica duration, and location of the practica are discussed. The handbook includes forms of evaluating individual and group…

The article discusses procedures for development and implementation of a curriculum to shape functional skills for severely multiply or severely profoundly disabled preschoolers. Five response levels of increasing complexity are suggested. Teachers urged to be sensitive to child-determined instructional occasions in early assessment and…

The paper reviews cognitive development during the sensorimotor period (approximately the first two years of life) and considers approaches to assessing multihandicapped, deaf-blind, or severely/profoundly retarded students functioning at this level. Evaluation and training of basic sensorimotor schemes (visual fixation and tracking, sucking, and…

This article suggests ways to use tactile teaching strategies with students who have severe and multiple disabilities including blindness. Guidelines address tactile modeling, tactile mutual attention, presenting tactile information, providing effective tactile representation, hypersensitivity to touch, and a team approach. (Contains references.)…

It is suggested that curricula for young multiply handicapped children should be based on well articulated child development models which specify milestones to be demonstrated as well as contexts in which they will be demonstrated. It is further suggested that the criterion of ultimate functioning should also be considered in choosing one design…

This task force report considers strategies designed to elicit active participation on the part of severely multihandicapped students. The first section considers ways to gather information on environments and daily activities of severely multihandicapped students. Hypothetical daily home and vocational routines were composed and estimates made of…

Ten multihandicapped high-school students in the Dayton (Ohio) Public Schools were trained using a curriculum of independent community social skills, focusing specifically on restaurant skills, travel skills, shopping skills, self-care skills, and skills for visiting a business or government agency. The students made weekly trips into the…

A training manual for teaching functional sign training to the severely multiply handicapped was developed using the Signing Exact English (SEE) system. The program, which was adapted from the Functional Speech and Language Training Program, is designed for persons who lack refined motor, speech, and language skills. Procedures are outlined to use…

A series of exercises was developed at a school for multiply handicapped, brain damaged and autistic children to take advantage of the opportunity for increased cooperation and socialization presented by balance beam activities. (GW)

A blind multiply handicapped preschooler was taught to respond appropriately to two adjacency pair types ("where question-answer" and "comment-acknowledgement"). The two alternative language acquisition strategies available to blind children were encouraged: echolalia to maintain communicative interactions and manual searching…

Techniques for evaluating the multiply impaired child's functional level of vision are described and a sequence of visual stimulation instruction for children with visual impairments is presented. (PHR)

An itinerant teacher of multiply handicapped students with low vision shares learning activities in which students learn to use coins with the aid of a computer program and make a shopping list using advertising flyers. (DB)