A survey of 484 teachers of hearing-impaired adolescents identified 18 competencies considered essential for teaching adolescent students. For 15 of the 18 competencies, teachers indicated that there was a significant difference between the importance of the competency and the degree of training that they had received in the area. (Author/JDD)

This study of mothers of 60 children (ages 2-18) with autism found that mothers who perceived social support as more available experienced fewer stress-related somatic problems and depressive symptoms than did those with less perceived support. Analysis also indicated that hardiness was a predictor of both depressive symptoms and somatic…

Twenty-four adults with mild mental retardation were compared with equal-mental age children and adults without mental retardation on tactile processing asymmetries. Results suggest that hemispheric processing is dependent on information processing requirements rather than type of stimulus. (Author/JDD)

A visual orienting task was given to 11 high functioning male adolescents and adults with autism. Findings suggested that autistic people have difficulty processing briefly presented cue information and problems disengaging and shifting attention within the visual modality. Results support previous ideas that attentional dysfunction may underlie…

Students explore three-dimensional properties by creating red and green wall decorations related to Christmas. Students examine why images seem to vibrate when red and green pieces are small and close together. Instructions to conduct the activity and construct 3-D glasses are given. (MDH)

Examines the principal's role in school restructuring using essential school precepts. Based on qualitative data from a 2.5-year longitudinal study, results indicate that principals must assume a more inclusive, prominent role in restructuring efforts. The Coalition of Essential Schools' metaphor "student as worker, teacher as coach"…

Individual differences in performance on 4 computer-controlled visual memory and recognition tasks as a function of performance on 5 paper-and-pencil spatial tests were studied for 90 psychology students attending the University of Rennes (France). Results show that spatial thinking is partially supported by visual memory. (SLD)

Children and adults performed a divided attention task and two selective attention tasks with shapes that were either spatially integrated or separated. Results indicate that integrated stimuli are initially perceived as wholes, and separated stimuli as features, at all ages. (BC)

Analyzes statistical data from 1988 National Health Interview Survey to determine adult awareness of and experience with HIV antibody testing. Following findings reported: most knew of test; 17 percent had been tested; Blacks and Hispanics were more likely than Whites to have been voluntarily tested; and high-risk group members were more likely…

Describes the construction and use of a microcomputer-based experimental system designed to examine the role of visual context in the analyses of data displayed in computer graphics. The responses of end users to changes in visual context of business graphics are examined, and future experiments are discussed. (Seven references) (LRW)

Data from 4 experiments in which 136 college students read a situation description and took the perspective of an uninformed addressee to determine whether a speaker was sarcastic suggest that readers use perspective-irrelevant information. The finding poses a problem for theories of language that assume the use of only relevant information. (SLD)

Presents a lesson plan that uses a constructivist approach for developing and challenging students' different thinking strengths. In the context of musical and bodily-kinesthetic thinking, elementary school students interpret the sounds and movements the dinosaurs made as they negotiated their primitive environments. (CR)

Examines characteristics of teamwork in modern organizations and workplaces in order to extrapolate the means for transferring teamwork skills to technology education. Discusses teamwork in education, team development, communication skills, interpersonal skills, team decision making, role assignment and leadership, and evaluation of team…

Compared narrative representations from low SES maltreated and nonmaltreated preschoolers. Found that maltreated preschoolers portrayed parents and children as responding less often than did nonmaltreated preschoolers, yet portrayed themselves as stepping into the story more often to relieve children's distress. Abused children portrayed the most…

Nineteen individuals with autism either listened to auditory integration training processed music or unprocessed music for 20 half-hour sessions. A significant decrease in Aberrant Behavior Checklist Scores was observed in the experimental group at the 30-month follow-up assessment. In addition, three experimental subjects but no controls showed a…