Educators today are challenged with the task of designing curricula and standards for students of varying abilities. While technology and innovation steadily improve classroom learning, teachers and administrators continue to struggle in developing the best methodologies and practices for students with disabilities. "Models for Effective…

This article provides early childhood practitioners a way to develop a common understanding of the importance of play in the early learning experience of young children. Meaningful discussion among teachers, parents, administrators, and teacher candidates regarding play in early childhood education programs is critical to ensure the growth and…

The Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA) states that transition planning should begin at the earliest age appropriate and no later than age 16. IDEA requires schools to make collaborative efforts to provide students access to an array of postschool activities including integrated employment, postsecondary…

Teaching social skills to mainstreamed handicapped children can be accomplished by prompting, praising, using graduated guidance, and capitalizing on incidental teaching. (CL)

Social skills assessment techniques for determining individual-specific deficits are presented within a framework for integrating information and identifying reciprocal relationships. Employing socially valid measures is recommended to determine target behaviors that predict relevant outcomes and to assess training efficacy. (Author/JDD)

The use of social skills measures as a component of multifactored assessment in making mainstreamed placement decisions is recommended. It is suggested that social skills information may be more important in making a decision to mainstream than IQ or achievement. (Author)

Games analysis process is a process whereby teachers of handicapped students can design games to accommodate individual motoric differences, as well as to promote specific behavioral outcomes such as cooperation. (SBH)

The annotated bibliography is intended to assist professionals working to develop decision making skills in disabled youth. The 40 bibliographic citations date from 1981 to 1989 and are grouped into the following categories: health issues, psychosocial issues, and education and career issues. Fourteen training materials with information given…

The paper recommends that young children with disabilities be placed in preschool classes with normally developing children whenever possible. Significant benefits are cited in the areas of social, emotional, and communication development when children with handicapping conditions are educated in settings with their nonhandicapped peers. Four…

Thirteen programmatic factors are identified and considered for their role in fostering social integration in mainstreamed settings. (CL)

Activities for fostering relationships between handicapped and nonhandicapped children in the mainstreamed classroom are presented. Suggested are such activities as simulation by nonhandicapped students of what it is like to have a handicap and role playing to help children understand the feelings of others. (PHR)

General/special education secondary teachers (N=183) and nonhandicapped and handicapped students (N=437) were surveyed on perceptions of the importance of social skills in relating to others, relating to adults, and relating to oneself. Discussed are the survey instrument's reliability, importance ratings for skills, and levels of agreement…

Group friendship activities can help young children with disabilities in preschool programs develop social skills. Suggestions for successful implementation address the size of the group, activity length, choice of activity, selecting expressions of friendship, and participation of individual children. (DB)

The project examined the psychosocial functioning of preschool-aged siblings of handicapped children in comparison to a matched control group of siblings of non-handicapped children. The project then examined the psychosocial effects of increasing sibling understanding of and involvement with the handicapped child via participation in a 6-week…