Vocabulary knowledge is an important foundation skill for reading across all subject areas. Because students with disabilities lag behind their peers in reading skills, there is a need for efficient and effective vocabulary interventions. Focusing on morpheme knowledge is one efficient approach to building vocabulary. This article describes an…

Self-monitoring is regarded throughout the literature as an effective classroom intervention. Researchers have used self-monitoring interventions to improve school-related behavior of students with varying disabilities across a variety of settings. Although research supports the use of self-monitoring, traditional self-monitoring techniques may be…

Video-based instruction is technology-based instruction delivered through video clips in which a human model demonstrates target behaviors (Rayner, Denholm, & Sigafoos, 2009). It can be used to teach a variety of skills, including social communication and behavioral and functional skills (Cihak & Schrader, 2008). Despite the advantages,…

Many students with complex disabilities (e.g., moderate and severe disabilities, autism spectrum disorder) require explicit instruction in social skills in order to respond to and initiate interaction with their peers. This article reviews the research on developing social skills groups to teach peer interactions for students with complex special…

In this article, the authors focus on issues of instruction in classrooms. Initially, a brief definitional and historic section is presented. This is followed by a discussion of four assumptions about the current state of affairs: (a) evidence-based practices should be identified and used, (b) children's phase of performance should dictate…

Many students identified as having moderate and severe disabilities (MSD) benefit from a curriculum that includes instruction on the functional skills that they will need to successfully transition to adulthood. In particular, this includes students with cognitive disabilities who are most likely to qualify in the 1% who are eligible for the…

Childhood obesity has become a problem of epidemic proportions in the United States, but much of the research has focused on prevention and intervention programs, which target the general population of school children. Overlooked in the literature are children with special needs (including autism, genetic disorders, Down syndrome, and Prader-Willi…

Five learning disabled, emotionally disturbed, and physically disabled adults were taught six basic macrame knots using an instructional manual, series of error correction procedures, and social reinforcement. They then independently used the instructional materials to make three complete macrame projects without direct instruction. Ss also…

Many students with disabilities continue to struggle with understanding what mathematics means. They memorize basic facts or step-by-step mathematical procedures without understanding the underlying concepts related to the problems. Thus, instruction designed to help students understand the meaning of the mathematics that they are learning in…

A school-based short-term intervention used successfully with impulsive, aggressive, shy, oversensitive, attention-disordered, and language- and learning-disabled elementary school students features exercises and activities such as generating ideas, rehearsing behaviors, and adapting behaviors to help students learn to "enter" play groups and join…

Social LIFE (Social Learning of Independence through Functional Experiences), a game used as a means of developing new social skills in a variety of settings and social situations and involving players and a mediator (instructor), is described. Appropriate responses to the game situations are rewarded by points or play money. Target behaviors or…

This article highlights the importance of parents as intervention agents for young children with special needs. It describes individualized training in behavioral strategies for parents, explains procedures for helping parents gain skills that foster their children's development, and suggests that parents will maintain the skills and generalize…

A seven-step model for developing, teaching, and evaluating social safety skills curricula for persons with intellectual disabilities is presented. The model is based on validated best practices, including those associated with ecological inventories, (near) errorless learning instructional procedures, and procedures for promoting generalization…

This final report discusses the outcomes of a federally funded study of nine toddlers and preschoolers (ages 29-63 months) with a variety of disabilities. The project investigated the effectiveness of embedding systematic instruction within inclusive, developmentally appropriate practice (DAP), play-based environments to teach young children with…

Research indicates that peer interaction can have a substantial impact on the lives of adolescents with disabilities. However, social interaction among adolescents with intellectual disabilities and their general education peers typically occurs infrequently in secondary schools. This paper provides a critical analysis of twenty-six empirical…