Music is a way of representing the patterns of frequencies and vibrational relationships--and at St. Francis de Sales School for the Deaf, it is used it to promote language learning and transform students' educational experiences. Traditionally defined through the medium of sound, music has been seen as an approach that excludes deaf and hard of…

This article describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of an online professional development course designed to develop an understanding of the foundations, perspectives, and strategies used by key disciplines (e.g., occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech-language pathology, early childhood special education, visual…

A model of interdisciplinary team education is described which is designed to prepare specialists to work with visually disabled/multiply disabled persons. Problems in implementing interdisciplinary courses in higher education are considered, including both institutional and student barriers. (CL)

The CARES project (Coordinated Ambulatory Rehabilitation Evaluation Services) presents a model to provide multidisciplinary services for multiply disabled children in rural settings. Background, information about model components, and descriptive data are presented to illustrate project evolution and operation. Nearly 400 children with multiple…

Describes a school-based curriculum for children with profound and multiple learning difficulties in community schools. Considers issues which schools will face as the children are integrated into the community. (RJC)

The paper presents an overview of the interdisciplinary team approach for providing services to multihandicapped learners (3 to 18 years old). The model was developed to alleviate problems encountered by educational personnel serving the multihandicapped in a rural state. The model incorporates a local and a state interdisciplinary team. The two…

This article presents a model for efficient assessment of young children with visual impairments or multiple handicaps. The approach has team members simultaneously observe various aspects of a child's functioning to gain an understanding of the child as a whole. (Author/DB)

The Saginaw Valley (Michigan) Special Needs Clinic serves visually impaired children and adults, multiply impaired low vision persons, and developmentally disabled persons with vision problems and is based on a client-centered concept involving health professionals, rehabilitation specialists, special educators, consumers, and social agency…

This report describes activities and accomplishments of a four-year project to develop a doctoral program at the University of Kansas Medical Center to prepare teacher educators, researchers, supervisors/managers, and clinicians in programs in either deafness or learning disabilities and in a combined deafness and learning disabilities program.…

A team programming approach that uses parents and professionals to select unified programming goals for severely/multiply disabled students, provide direct and indirect related services, integrate programming methods, and monitor student progress is described. Program philosophy and overall functional assessment-curriculum organizes team members…

This paper explains the interdisciplinary team concept blended with the family-centered approach in a psychiatric setting and applies the approach in a case study of a family with a child diagnosed with mental retardation, autism, and severe behavior problems. Practical suggestions for implementing such a family-centered/interdisciplinary team…

A school district in Nanaimo, British Columbia (Canada) implemented a transdisciplinary team to provide services for students with multiple handicaps. The team comprises a special education teacher, speech/language pathologist, physiotherapist, occupational therapist, and teacher aides. This paper describes team member roles and responsibilities,…

This paper summarizes the results of a symposium on assessment procedures at the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind, a residential/day school for children with sensory impairments. Experience with top down assessment utilizing a wholistic approach is emphasized. First a brief description of assessment in the parent infant program is given. Then…

Project CoNECT (Collaborative Network for Early Childhood Training) provided preservice and inservice training to help multidisciplinary personnel better serve young, severely handicapped children. The project, which was divided into three subcomponents, utilized univerisity-based training as well as field-based training. In Subcomponent I,…

Four interdisciplinary programs for the developmentally disabled are described: (1) a paraprofessional degree training program; (2) supported employment for institutionalized adults; (3) a service/research program in the area of communication technology and training for nonspeaking persons; and (4) a communication skills program for persons who…