Three experiments were conducted in an investigation of information-processing capabilities of mentally retarded adults, nonretarded children (mental age control), and nonretarded adults (chronological age control). Findings support the theory of a structural defect in mentally retarded persons that results in slow information processing.…

Vocational needs of multi-handicapped hearing impaired teenagers include skills in communication, behaviors and attitudes, understanding of the variety of available jobs, job seeking skills and specific job preparation. Job training can take place in the classroom, on school grounds, or in the community. (CL)

The software programs "Toddlers' Tutor" and "Story Machine" have been used along with fingerspelling and sign language interpretation with deaf and mentally retarded students. Improvements have been noted in the reception/expression of basic and expanded forms of signed and written language. (Author/CL)

A transdisciplinary staff of a preschool for multiply handicapped students worked with design students to develop learning boxes which include manipulable and tactile activities designed for stimulation and independent activity. (CL)

The author describes the value to visually impaired and multiply handicapped students of a good typewriting curriculum. She discusses hand and finger exercises and notes benefits to students from focusing on the hands as well as on the rudiments and total communicative value of typing. (CL)

The mother of a child with a variety of difficulties recounts her family's frustrations in receiving conflicting and ambiguous diagnoses from medical specialists who focused only on their area of specialty rather than the whole child. (CL)

The authors describe behavior modification treatment procedures applied by direct-care staff in a residential school to conrol severe aggression and self-injury in two developmentally disabled, visually handicapped students. Techniques included positive practice overcorrection, verbal command, and response immobilization. (Author/CL)

The article examines trends in the education of the visually impaired, severely-to-profoundly retarded population. Present trends advocating functional curricula, particularly with the chronological adolescent, are reviewed. Within the framework of life goals, narrowing of the range and scope of individualized programing is proposed for the…

The recalcitrant spitting of a blind, deaf, and retarded adolescent was eliminated with a behavioral intervention consisting of positive reinforcement for not spitting and facial screening for spitting. The social and academic implications of modifying such behaviors are discussed. (Author/CMG)

Results showed that the graduated prompting procedure was effective in training reach-grasp responding in all three children; for one child, effects were durable over repeated treatment applications, but not maintained during withdrawals; for another child, the procedure was effective in teaching reach-grasp responding in all three positions.…

A token economy was employed for the sequential modification of three high-priority behavioral deficits in a disturbed, autistic child: appropriateness of dress, academic achievement, and appropriate group walking. After establishing a stable baseline rate for all behaviors in both settings, the treatment was systematically implemented until all…

Analysis of the postsecondary qualifications among 8,000 or more children born hearing impaired as a result of the 1963-65 rubella epidemic revealed a favorable prognosis for postsecondary education for many rubella students graduating from secondary programs in 1983, l984, and l985. (Author/CL)

An accessible interior and an imaginatively developed site allow the Harris Hillman School to further the growth and self-sufficiency of severely involved multiply handicapped students. (Author)

A recommendations paper involving strategies for rehabilitation practitioners and theoreticians and recommendations related to intake process and delivery of direct client services. (EA)

Aversive tickling was successfully used with two blind, retarded, adolescent girls as a punishment procedure to reduce frequency of self-destructive head banging in one case and a variety of attention-getting behaviors in the other. (Author/KW)