This study assessed the possibility of guiding a person with blindness and intellectual disability during indoor travel with fewer auditory cues. Results indicated that infrequent presentation of the cues and the provision of extra cues in case of errors maintained high levels of independent moves, albeit of increased duration. (Author/CR)

First discusses the philosophy, structure, and content of instruction for students with severe disabilities and then presents procedures to define and incorporate strategies to meet the unique needs of students with visual and multiple impairments. A five-step analysis process is suggested for modifying a core curriculum to individualize…

A study evaluated the use of a situational assessment for identifying work task preferences among three individuals with multiple severe disabilities. The assessment involved systematically observing indices of happiness and unhappiness while participants worked on different tasks. Work engagement was most frequent when workers worked on their…

A survey of 241 school-based speech-language pathologists examined numbers of confirmed and suspected concomitant speech/language disorders in children who stutter and the preferred intervention approaches. Of 467 children, 44 percent had a verified concomitant phonological and/or language disorder with additional children suspected of having such…

This article discusses integrating communication skills and the use of real object "props" with the teaching of literature to students with severe and profound and multiple learning difficulties. The novel "Oliver Twist" is used to illustrate how objects of reference can be used to teach literature and promote communication skills. (Contains…

A study compared Medicaid children with and without serious mental health problems (n=965) using parent reports of global health status, physical functioning, and general health perceptions. Children with more serious mental health problems were significantly more likely to have chronic health conditions. The number of conditions also predicted…

A study investigated how strategies employed by two adults (a mother and a physical therapist) to interact with a 2-year-old child with multiple disabilities were reflective of beliefs about communication. The mother used the demands of the larger, mostly nondisabled speech community as her primary reference point. (Contains references.)…

The parents of a 31-year-old man with mental retardation, mental illness, and behavioral disorders describe how his relatively independent life style is maintained through comprehensive lifestyle support including friends, home, work, community connections, transportation, and family. Anecdotal accounts illustrate interventions effective with…

This article describes the types of preference assessment procedures that have been used with individuals with profound multiple disabilities (PMD). It provides a rationale for conducting preference assessment to assist in curriculum development and describes a process for conducting preference assessments and targeting social, affective, and…

This article reviews evidence on the treatment and comorbidity of psychiatric disorders with the purpose of suggesting odds that a child with behavioral disorder may indeed have a disorder that is responsive to psychopharmacologic treatment. Merging the medical and behavioral models is suggested as critical to special education decisions.…

This study used grammaticality judgments to measure the sensitivity of four school-age children with severe speech and physical impairments (SSPI) to different morphological errors. Results indicated that the SSPI children and control groups made similar judgments. Participants with SSPI had greater difficulty detecting tense-marking errors…

This article describes an innovative action research project based at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom that involved the professional development of teachers and instruction using specially developed Moon tactile code materials to teach literacy to pupils who are blind and who have additional disabilities. (Contains references.)…

This study investigated the effectiveness of metacognitive strategies in teaching reading comprehension to five Chinese children with physical and multiple disabilities. Results suggested that metacognitive instructional strategies might be effective. Further research using various methods/designs on children of different ages and academic levels…

A single-subject multiple treatment design counterbalanced across nine participants with moderate to severe and multiple disabilities was used to determine the efficacy of a school-based multi-treatment package (a combined dysphagia treatment and positive reinforcement behavior management program) for children and youth (ages 4-17) with feeding…

The authors studied how care provision and educational and therapeutic support for children with profound multiple disabilities are organized and coordinated in the German-, French-, and Italian-speaking parts of Switzerland. Study questions were: (a) how do the care and educational elements of support coexist in the everyday life of these…