A consultation model provided technical assistance in the areas of behavior management and curriculum design for the treatment of severe behavior problems exhibited by persons with severe/profound retardation and dual sensory impairments (deaf/blind). Four of the five clients showed significant behavioral improvements as a result of the…

Examination of the acquisition, maintenance, and generalization of three cooking skills by three multiply and severely handicapped blind adolescents revealed that a "whole task" approach was successful in teaching the subjects to boil an egg, grill cheese, and cook a TV dinner. These skills also generalized to other cooking products. (Author/CB)

Australian rehabilitation programs and centers for children and adults with mental and multiple handicaps are reviewed especially as they compare to similar programs in Canada. Such issues as deinstitutionalization, funding, normalization, vocational training alone vs. integrated programming, preservice and inservice training of personnel, and…

Factors identified during an earlier study were used to ascertain features of the stress experienced by mothers of school-aged children with Down's syndrome, other mental retardation, autism, or double (mental and physical) handicaps. The utility of these stress patterns, efficacy of other factors not used, and interview methods are discussed.…

Outlines specific steps for implementing and validating a qualitative methodology designed to evaluate rural areas' special education programs serving students with severe special needs. Provides a rationale for use of the elements of aesthetic criticism as the basis of the methodology and discusses practical limitations and usefulness of the…

Because of the limitations of the traditional approaches to classifying a child's characteristics, a number of authors have proposed to describe children on the basis of a defined set of functional skills or abilities rather than by etiological or deficit category (Bailey et al. (1993); Holt (1957); Linden (1963)). Building on this earlier work,…

Vision problems occur at higher rates in the deaf and hearing impaired population than in the general population. When an individual has a hearing impairment, vision becomes more significant in the instructional and learning process, as well as in social and communicative exchanges. Regular comprehensive visual screening of hearing impaired…

This report describes the activities and outcomes of a pioneering Telehealth project in which clinical psychologists use state of the art satellite technology to consult with paraprofessionals who live and provide treatment settings to persons with the dual diagnosis of developmental disabilities and mental illnesses. The goal is to provide early…

Twenty-one papers on caring for children with cerebral palsy are organized into four sections, including: (1) cerebral palsy and the interdisciplinary team approach; (2) management of impairments related to cerebral palsy; (3) preventing disability by optimizing function of the child with cerebral palsy; and (4) preventing handicap by creating…

The origins and nature of auditory dysfunction in school age children and the role of the audiologist in the evaluation of the learning disabled child are reviewed. Specific structures and mechanisms responsible for the reception and perception of auditory signals are specified. (Author/SEW)

The Transitional Unit at Maryland School for the Deaf at Columbia, Maryland, is targeted at deaf multihandicapped children (four to 12 years old) and seeks to transfer children into the regular program on campus by age 12. (SEW)

Effects of a program of motor therapy on the motor ability levels of eight multisensory handicapped children were examined. Participation improved performance for all subjects. The gain scores from pretest to posttest indicated that children with multisensory disabilities may benefit from such a program. (Author)

The determination of what is considered to be the least restrictive environment for the deaf-blind severely handicapped child should not be based solely on the child's learning needs. The individual needs of each child should be the main but not the only consideration. (JN)

The Oak Hill School Model was developed to secure the best plan for educating, training, and developing a life program for the multihandicapped person. The handicapped individual's full potential is developed in the least restrictive environment. The group home program teaches self-help skills and is an alternative to the institution. (JN)