Thirty adults who had no experience with mental retardation rated slides of residential settings as to their "home-likeness." Of 26 features of living rooms studied, furniture position, lighting type, and lighting flexibility were highly correlated with home-likeness, whereas building code-specific features and seating type were minimally related…

A program created to help mentally retarded adults move from a state facility to an independent living situation in Jackson, Mississippi, is described. The three stages of the program are outlined as follows: (1) new clients are housed in a cluster unit of apartments close to staff housing, during which time they are assessed according to the…

Evaluation of effects of moving mentally disabled individuals from a British National Health Service hospital into community group homes found much overlap between the institutions' caring routines and practices with the community hostel setting, providing only slightly more opportunities for personal choice, privacy, personalization, integration,…

A "social guide" model was used to teach staff of an apartment-based residential program to use a set of "community network strategies" to improve the social relationships of three women with severe or moderate mental retardation. The intervention resulted in increased size of participants' social networks and more frequent social integration…

This paper examines the issues of deinstitutionalization and mainstreaming from a historical perspective, focusing on the changes over time in views and practices toward retarded individuals and the role of science in the mental retardation field. The parallel development of residential programs and special education programs for individuals with…

This compilation brings together various conference papers and a working group report on the topic of residential services for people with deaf-blindness and other profound disabilities. The title paper by Lyle T. Romer describes three measures for evaluating residential programs: capacity, progress, and lifestyle. Valued outcomes of a residential…

The purpose of the conference summarized here was to provide a multidisciplinary examination of the critical service needs of youth who are profoundly/multiply handicapped with deaf-blindness and who are old enough to be leaving the education system, and to recommend strategies for providing high quality comprehensive transition services for the…

This book is intended to assist anyone who is interested in the quality of life afforded persons with moderate and severe disabilities, including educators, residential providers, vocational rehabilitation personnel, social staff, parents, and advocates. The first section, which deals with the reasons why transition is needed, covers the following…