In these two studies, two children with multiple disabilities and minimal motor behavior were assessed to see if they could use chin movements to operate microswitches to obtain environmental stimulation. In Study I, we applied an adapted version of a recently introduced electronic microswitch [Lancioni, G. E., O'Reilly, M. F., Singh, N. N.,…

This final report details the outcomes of a 3-year project involving children with severe disabilities (ages birth-6) designed to: (1) determine the effectiveness of specific therapeutic intervention techniques on the development of basic motor skills in young children with severe and multiple disabilities; (2) explore the relationship between…

This monograph describes the National Speech and Hearing Survey (NSHS) database and examines the prevalence of articulation deviations, voice deviations, stuttering, dialects, hearing impairments, and multiple deviations. Literature on the coexistence of communication disorders is then reviewed, focusing on coexistence in articulation and language…

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…

The report describes the accomplishments of a swimming project to teach instructional objectives to deaf blind, severely-to-profoundly retarded students, using nonhandicapped high school and college students who were trained and paid as peer tutors. Tutors recieved hands-on as well as didactic training and were evaluated by means of pretests and…

Some statistics are presented concerning age of onset, cause, and additional handicaps from a nationwide sample (1972-73) of 43,946 hearing impaired students enrolled in 712 special education programs. (Author/LS)

Examined were the intellectual ability, social adjustment, social competence, and personality characteristics of 33 children, 8-to 15-years-old with spina bifida (a malformation of the spinal cord). (CL)

Suggested are guidelines for the selection and use of music for the mentally retarded ethnic child who typically encounters language, social, and emotional problems and inferior educational opportunities. (CL)

The paper examines issues concerned with the incidence of visual perceptual learning disabilities among deaf and partially hearing children. Evidence indicating a high incidence (15.5 percent of 682 deaf students) of visual perceptual deficits is offered, as is a definition of visual perception. The impact of visual perceptual deficits on…

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 national survey was conducted in 1985 of agencies and schools for the blind and visually impaired as well as vocational rehabilitation facilities serving this population. Of the 1453 organizations in the sample, 415 responded; of these responses, 309 were usable. The survey was designed to examine agency characteristics; population…