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…

Older people with a lifelong disability, such as intellectual disability, face significant barriers to enjoying "active ageing" as they transition into retirement. Active ageing involves enhancement of quality of life through optimising the health, participation, and security of individuals and populations (World Health Organization [WHO], 2002).…

We evaluated the efficacy of a vocational training program including behavioral skills training, and a "performance cue system" (i.e., a proprietary iPhone application adapted for the study) to teach targeted social-vocational skills to six young adults with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. In two separate studies, participants were employed…

This study used a constant time-delay procedure to teach three secondary students with moderate mental disabilities the community skills of mailing a letter, cashing a check, and crossing a street. Instruction involved community-based instruction plus either classroom simulation, videotape modeling, or both. The most efficient methodology was the…

Twenty individuals with mild retardation and 20 individuals with moderate retardation participated in simulated instruction and/or community training of four functional living tasks. Participants with mild retardation performed better on simulated tasks and in the community settings, however, in many situations, community training was sufficiently…

Individuals (n=178) in community sites involved with persons having severe disabilities were surveyed concerning attitudes toward the social acceptability of commonly used training techniques, including antecedent, consequence, and data collection techniques. Groups of respondents differentially rated the social acceptability of the techniques.…

Research on language intervention in the natural environment was reviewed in relation to the variables of context, analysis of communicative behaviors, and intervention strategies. Intervention strategies described include naturally occurring opportunities, skill cluster training, interrupted behavior chain strategy, and milieu training.…

The research brief on community-based instruction for individuals with severe disabilities is based on a manual for practitioners titled "Designing Community-Based Instructional Programming" developed at the University of Utah. The manual stresses the importance of preparing students for community participation by providing instruction in the…

The author discusses changes that the Texas Division for Blind Services made in its vocational rehabilitation program to increase competitive employment opportunities for vocational rehabilitation consumers who are blind and visually impaired. P. R. Warren, B. S. Cavenaugh, and M. J. Giesen (2004) reported that, nationwide, a higher proportion of…

Community-referenced activities, which involve combinations of skills used in routine tasks of daily living, are critical for the independent functioning of moderately and severely handicapped persons. The paper examines the characteristics of these activities in order to extract implications for enhancing instruction. The tasks involved in such…

Four students (ages seven to nine) with moderate mental retardation were successfully taught to name photographs of foods using a progressive time delay procedure. Presentation of the supermarket grocery department as part of the discriminative stimulus was effective in increasing the percentage of correct responding. Some generalization occurred…

This study, with six high school students with moderate to severe disabilities, found that students who received concurrent sequence training demonstrated better generalized performance in three nontrained grocery stores than students who had received serial sequence training, once training criterion was attained though training required more…

Because the communication skills of people with significant disabilities are often limited, ordinary choices often elude them. This guide provides step-by-step instructions to help care-providers recognize the choices made by people with severe disabilities, especially those natural cues which indicate an individual's preferences. It discusses…

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a multimedia computer-based instructional program with four middle school students with moderate/severe mental retardation in establishing match-to-sample skills and generalizing those skills to the natural setting (a grocery store). In vivo probes found mean and median duration to find target items…

This newsletter issue provides rehabilitation professionals with various information pieces concerning transition from school to adulthood for young people with disabilities. An introduction identifies specific challenges in transition programming and stresses the goal of fully integrating young people with disabilities as interdependent parts of…