Naturalistic teaching methods are often used to facilitate explicit child-directed instruction within early childhood environments. They are designed to promote opportunities for instruction within the context of daily routines. The teacher's role is to design the environment and select materials, activities, and routines that will promote…

In the current study, the researchers evaluated the effects of simultaneous prompting and computer-assisted instruction on the story-writing responses of 3 males with autism, 7 to 10 ears of age. Classroom teachers conducted all probe and training sessions. The researchers used a multiple baseline across participants design to evaluate the…

Although there is a push in education to increase the amount of technologies used in the classroom much of the recent literature emphasizes a need to investigate ways to improve the instructional methods used when incorporating technology in education. The focus of the present research is to investigate an instructional technique used in an…

Many students, with and without disabilities, experience difficulty reaching an appropriate level of reading fluency even though they may attain an appropriate level of reading accuracy. The National Reading Panel (2000) found that students who lack reading fluency often lack reading comprehension also. Other students lack the necessary strategies…

Using the telephone to contact others can be an important skill in maintaining friendships with peers. This investigation used a system of least prompts (SLP) procedures to teach two telephone skills to 3 elementary students with cognitive disabilities: (a) placing phone calls and (b) leaving recorded voicemail messages. The SLP procedure was…

Nearly four decades have passed since the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) ensured access to public education for students with disabilities in the United States. During the years following its introduction, there was a growing recognition that helping students, especially students with disabilities, in their transitions from…

Technology is only as good as the results it produces. The use of simple radiophones and earbuds can provide support in action for students with disabilities as they learn to advocate for themselves at planning meetings. This article provides background for using bug-in-ear technology, including a training methods and materials list with students…

The present study focused on investigating (a) what authentic texts were used and (b) how they were used for instruction in three elementary schools, where learners' L1/D1 was a Caribbean Creole. Three findings emerged: First, teachers focused considerable attention on developing students' vocabularies and knowledge of English grammar. Second,…

Four developmentally disabled adults demonstrated similar acquisition rates in identifying symbols via two procedures: standard prompting (stimulus-delay) and the same procedure plus an intervening response of naming the target stimulus prior to responding. Two Ss showed a larger deterioration of performance under the intervening response…

The article reviews definitions, examples and techniques for implementing prompting and fading techniques with handicapped individuals. A review is also made of the research evidence describing the effectiveness of various methods of prompting: verbal, gesture, modeling, physical, combination, test-teach, and both within and extrastimulus…

The present study investigated the effects of a constant time delay (CTD) strategy within a TEACCH approach and the views of the classroom teacher surrounding the teaching process. Three male students with autism participated in the study. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to collect and analyze data. Although experimental…

This study compared the effectiveness of self-, other-, and subjective-video models on teaching daily living skills to three individuals with developmental disabilities. Results indicated that all conditions were effective in promoting independent correct responding in both instructional and generalization settings and that the effects maintained…

The findings and recommendations of researchers and specialists in thinking-skill learning and teaching have important implications for classroom efforts to improve student thinking. This summary identifies various types of thinking skills and skill components recommended for classroom instruction. The author describes and cites research-derived…

The present study used a multiple baseline across participants design to assess whether 4 children with autism could learn a generalized repertoire of helping adults with different tasks through the use of a multicomponent teaching package. Different helping responses were taught in the presence of multiple exemplars of discriminative stimuli…

Enabling persons with intellectual or multiple disabilities to carry out personal care tasks (such as washing and dressing) independent of guidance from parents or staff members and without prolonged interruptions is often difficult, particularly with persons whose disabilities also include visual impairments. Attempts were recently made to curb…