We examined the relationship between three discrimination skills (visual, visual matching-to-sample, and auditory-visual) and four stimulus modalities (object, picture, spoken, and video) in assessing preferences of leisure activities for 7 adults with developmental disabilities. Three discrimination skills were measured using the Assessment of…

The effects of a pica exchange procedure were evaluated on the pica of a female with severe mental retardation. A BAB design revealed that the pica exchange procedure was effective at reducing the occurrence of pica. In addition, the pica exchange procedure was effective throughout six increasingly more difficult response effort conditions.…

This paper summarizes the results of a review of the empirical literature (1990-2005) focusing on use of assistive technology as a self-management tool for persons with intellectual disabilities. Forty investigations were identified which provided information on assistive technology to assist persons with disabilities to initiate and complete…

This investigation compared the use of static picture prompting, in a cookbook format, and video prompting to self-prompt four students with moderate intellectual disabilities to independently complete multi-step cooking tasks. An adapted alternating treatments design (AATD) with baseline, alternating treatments, and final treatment condition, was…

The use of a handheld prompting system by four students with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities to independently transition between an ordered chain of tasks was examined in a community vocational setting. Effectiveness of the handheld prompting system was assessed using a multiple-probe design across participants. Analysis of the data…

Special education teachers often search for effective strategies to teach a variety of skills to students with moderate to severe disabilities through small group instruction. The investigators examined the acquisition of academic skills as well as chained and discrete tasks presented as nontargeted information by a small group of students with…

The purpose of this study was to develop and to evaluate the Preferences for Leisure Attributes (PLA) Assessment, a forced-choice computer software program for students with severe disabilities and communication difficulties. In order to determine content validity of the PLA Assessment, four experts in related fields assigned critical attributes…

The single-stimulus (SS) preference assessment procedure has been described as more appropriate than the paired stimulus (PS) procedure for "lower functioning" individuals, but this guideline's vagueness limits its usefulness. We administered the SS and PS preference assessment procedures with food items to seven individuals with severe…

This study examined and compared the effectiveness of a simultaneous prompting procedure used in both 1:1 and small group instruction to teach pretend play skills to a group of preschool students, three having a diagnosis of pervasive developmental disorder and one having a diagnosis of severe developmental disabilities. The study also assessed…

We examined the effects of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS; Frost & Bondy, 2002) on the manding (requesting) and speech development of school-aged children with autism. In study 1, two participants, Damian and Bob, were taught PECS within a delayed multiple baseline design. Both participants demonstrated increased levels of manding…

Quality of life and self-determination are important values in the field of intellectual disabilities however they may be difficult to facilitate with persons who have limited communication skills. In fact, many studies provide evidence that these persons have less opportunity to make choices and express their preferences. To help practitioners…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of using picture activity schedule books to increase on-schedule and on-task behaviors of children with moderate intellectual disabilities. Four students enrolled in a self-contained classroom participated in the study. Graduated guidance, system of least prompts, and verbal prompting…

Relative efficiency of hand raising and response cards within the context of an ABAB design when teaching time to middle school students with moderate and severe disabilities was investigated. Effects of the two strategies were assessed on four dependent variables: (a) student active responding, (b) on-task behavior, (c) inappropriate behavior,…

This study compared the effectiveness of three different video-based instructional sequences, all used in conjunction with the system of least prompts, for teaching three different daily living skills to three young adults with developmental disabilities. The video-based instructional sequences (i.e., video rehearsal, video rehearsal plus photos,…