The Autism Program at Camarillo State Hospital and Developmental Center (California) has implemented "deinstitutionalization" within a large facility by providing effective and appropriate treatment based on individual needs. This paper describes the design of treatment services, quality assurance mechanisms, medical care (including…

Increasingly, college undergraduates are custom designing their courses of study and creating majors that allow them to combine often eclectic interests with career goals. In many cases, students' creations have had a lasting impact through development of new academic programs. Institutional arrangements for planning, advising, and monitoring…

This paper identifies four key issues in the implementation of Individualized Family Service Plans (IFSPs) to provide services to young handicapped children as required by Public Law 99-457. These include sensitivity to cultural diversity, family assessment, intrusiveness, and establishing family outcomes. A typology of family outcomes which…

The article describes Louisiana's approach to implementing Individualized Family Service Plans, including four model formats developed by early intervention service providers and families of young children with disabilities. Formats differ in the way the required elements are expressed, allowing application to the unique characteristics of…

A family-focused intervention model was implemented with 16 families having young children (birth to 3 years) with moderate or severe disabilities. Individualized Family Service Plans were formulated and implemented, resulting in high levels of parental satisfaction, accelerated rates of progress by the children, and acquisition of functional…

This study compared three written surveys intended to help identify family strengths and needs during the Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) process. Subjects were 48 mothers of children enrolled in early intervention programs and 25 program providers. Mothers tended to prefer written surveys to personal interviews and rated the surveys'…

Areas crucial to the development of "state of the art" curricula for gifted students are discussed, including differentiation, emphasis on both process and content, interdisciplinary and individualized formats, balance between acceleration and enrichment, and comprehensive and articulated curriculum structure. (DB)

Both general education and the structure and process of specialization on the undergraduate level must be reformed in relation to each other to strengthen curriculum and practice of liberal learning. Reform could mean either redistributing the time allotted in the undergraduate curriculum or tying general education to specific student interests.…

Proposes the Program of Human Inquiry as a framework for joint student-faculty portfolios by graduate students and faculty advisors. The program consists of four components: (1) acknowledgment of what one brings to graduate studies; (2) a plan of study, (3) a record of rigorous negotiated "avenues of inquiry," and (4) ongoing discussion of values…

An assessment and intervention process for use by occupational and physical therapists working in schools is described. The process addresses discrepancies between performance and expectations, establishment of goals and objectives, determination of needed services, determination of service delivery setting, and provision of efficient and…

This study analyzed the impact that the use of Person Centered Planning (PCP) had with 10 transition-age students receiving special education services. Interviews with students, parents, and educators indicated that PCP training was associated with various indicators of service provision as well as higher satisfaction with the planning process.…

The NIMH Healthy Living Project (HLP), a randomized behavioral intervention trial for people living with HIV, enrolled 943 individuals, including women, heterosexual men, injection drug users, and men who have sex with men from Los Angeles, Milwaukee, New York, and San Francisco. The intervention, which is based on qualitative formative research…

Parent-school relationships are vital to the success of student achievement. Effective parent-school relationships are especially beneficial to students with disabilities. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires parental participation in partnership with the school staff when developing the individual educational programs…

Reading affects a plethora of areas in life. Students with learning disabilities often fall into this category due to a lack of practice with reading and less time to focus on building skills. This paper examines the background, the relationship between reading and learning disabilities, the characteristics of students with learning disabilities…

In November 2008, Congress passed, and the President signed, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Amendments (ADAA), with an effective date of January 1, 2009. While other issues, such as the national economic crisis, dominated public attention at the time, the ADAA unobtrusively connected to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973…