The article offers guidelines for severely handicapped personnel preparation programs. Five areas which need to be addressed by such programs are addressed: need for the program, adequacy of resources to develop and maintain the program, staff needs and instructional integrity, program limitation, and a process for program evaluation. (SB)

The manual is intended to help school administrators regionalize special education services. The procedures described are modeled after those of a regional effort in Maine to address the needs of moderately and severely handicapped students. Four major steps are outlined: (1) establishing communication to clarify issues, gather information, and…

Instructional development, particularly for the severely and profoundly handicapped, should stress the delineation of clearly stated functional goals and objectives and the use of systematic instructional strategies to facilitate the acquisition and generalization of target skills. (Author)

Programing for vocational instruction is examined in a general sense and several programing steps are discussed, including identifying component skill areas, determining the behavioral and stimulus control requirements, sequencing instructional content, and designing instructional tasks. (DLS)

The paper reviews court decisions mandating extended-year programs for students with severe and multiple handicaps for whom regression during the summer break threatens the development of independence and addresses considerations in developing such extended year programs. Guidelines center on eligibility, funding, program focus, program length,…

This paper presents five systematic phases for bringing about successful regular education inclusion of students with severe disabilities. Phases include develop networks within the community, assess school and community resources, review strategies for integration, install strategies that lead to integration, and develop a system of feedback and…

The article focuses on a practical prioritization process as a method to bridge the gap between assessment and planning of individualized education programs for severely handicapped students. This prioritization process is based upon a set of criteria agreed to by planning teams which include educators, related service personnel, and families.…

To assess consistency between maternal and professional assessment of child performance, 31 mothers of disabled children (6-36 months old) participating in an intervention program completed measures of infant development, behavior, and characteristics. Maternal and staff assessments were found to be highly similar. Implications for programs are…

Guidelines for developing a physical activity program for students with severe/profound disabilities address medical clearance; levels of participation; staffing; equipment; and program components, including warm-up, range of motion/flexibility activities, aerobics, resistance training, and cool-down. (DB)

This module was developed as part of a federally funded study group project, to answer the question of how students with severe disabilities can actively participate in lessons within regular elementary classrooms alongside their nondisabled peers, while still meeting their individualized goals and objectives. The module presents a brief overview…

A checklist is presented that provides an organizational framework for the development, review, and selection of instructional techniques and programs for persons having severe handicaps. The checklist covers instructional content, description of learner population, instructional methods, testing and recording, individualization, program…

This manual, the second of a two-part study, addresses issues involved in behavioral interventions with low incidence, severely handicapped students. Initial chapters focus on selecting appropriate goals, writing behavioral objectives, and selecting observational systems to measure behavior change. General treatment procedures for increasing and…

Survey responses of 50 State Directors of Special Education indicated wide discrepancies among states in how extended year services for severely handicapped students are provided. The article presents legal and educational bases in support of extended year programing and stresses the need for empirically based program guidelines. (Author/DB)

Included is a framework for determining if a young severely language delayed child is an appropriate candidate for sign programs; a discussion of specific sign objectives; and guidelines for classroom implementation and family intervention. (Author)

Issues such as the utility of standardized assessment instruments in the assessment of severely handicapped infants and preschool children are considered. A model is proposed for analyzing underlying cognitive requirements of assessment tasks and for using results of such an analysis for program planning. (Author/DB)