Examines a study of the most common service coordination mechanism-- the community coordinating committee. Offers recommendations to help communities determine readiness for coordinating committee formation, most appropriate committee type and focus, and most effective operating conditions. (RWB)

The manual suggests steps, procedures, best practices, and key concepts to create and maintain successful interagency collaboration in the delivery of services to preschool handicapped children. Considered are the concept of collaboration, the rationale for its development, and a means of assessing a community to determine the needs and potential…

The special developmental needs of young children with congenital HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) infection require evaluation, training, therapy, and other supports. Such services should be guided by developmentalists in a child study center in close alliance with medical, educational, and community service providers. Concerns about the…

The Vermont Independent Services Team Approach (VISTA), is a cross-disciplinary method for planning consensus decisions about type, mode, and frequency of related services required to support a student's educational program. After six student planning teams used the VISTA model, team members reported higher levels of confidence in team practices…

The article presents guidelines and examples of how transdisciplinary teams can deliver services to students with severe disabilities in community environments. Recommendations are also given for scheduling and other aspects of effective teamwork between school and related services personnel. (Author/DB)

An overview is presented of common causes of vision loss in young children and the impact of a visual impairment on development and learning. The article also discusses the role of the family and team members in meeting the intervention needs as well as issues affecting delivery of early intervention services. (Author/DB)

Explores the dimensions of confidentiality in nondyadic situations. Offers guidelines for practicing counselors regarding counseling as part of multidisciplinary team; coordination of services, referral, and placement; mandated services; supervision; and client advocacy. (Author/ABL)

This article discusses how the move toward mainstreaming affects the traditional public school speech language pathologist (SLP) role. The delivery of services by the SLP should emphasize the student's current curricular and social communication needs relative to teacher expectations. Also considered are screening guidelines and premises and goals…

The paper describes a consultative speech and language service-delivery model used in Washington County (Oregon) schools. The model promotes teaming of the speech language pathologist with other special education and regular education teachers and emphasizes student-centered intervention within real-life contexts at all grade levels. (Author/DB)

To overcome factors inhibiting effective decision making by child study teams, a rationale is established for the development of pandisciplinary tools to assist in interpersonal communication, group decision making, and assessment. Specific examples of such tools are presented, and their relationships to current practices are discussed.…

A framework to help speech-language pathologists deal with the communication problems of adolescents involved in violence in either school or correctional facility settings is proposed. Intervention programs containing socially and academically relevant activities that focus on assessment, general intervention principles, conversational…

Discussion of problems faced by early interventionists in working with families offers practical guidelines for developing effective collaborations between early intervention programs and families. These include establishing family-centered services and rules for clinician/parent communication, encouraging the family to be a genuine coparticipant,…

The review examines the literature on services and needs of learning disabled students at the postsecondary level. Statistics are given showing that many learning disabled students do seek postsecondary education. Problems of definition and identification at the postsecondary level are noted. Observable characteristics of learning disabled…

This manual is the response of a National Institute on Rehabilitation Issues (IRI) Prime Study Group to charges given to the group by the National IRI Planning Committee to develop a meaningful training and resource document on the multidisciplinary approach to vocational rehabilitation. The guide is organized in seven chapters that cover the…

A school district in Nanaimo, British Columbia (Canada) implemented a transdisciplinary team to provide services for students with multiple handicaps. The team comprises a special education teacher, speech/language pathologist, physiotherapist, occupational therapist, and teacher aides. This paper describes team member roles and responsibilities,…