The study evaluated the effects of self recording alone and of additional self-management techniques in improving the ability of adults with mental retardation (N=9) to self-direct daily living activities. All subjects improved their performance in task completion suggesting that self-recording alone may be effective in improving task completion.…

A home safety assessment and training methodology for mothers with mental retardation was evaluated. Although the overall number of implemented safety precautions increased, the variability of results among the four mothers suggests additional training or support services are needed. (Author/DB)

The study with four adults with moderate and severe mental handicaps found that both backward and concurrent chaining training strategies were equally effective in teaching use of a fast food restaurant and a supermarket. (Author/DB)

Two studies evaluated the use of either in vivo training or simulation prior to in vivo, as methods for training 8 students (ages 10-19) with moderate disabilities to cross streets and to use public pay telephones. Results suggested that prior simulation training did not appear to either facilitate or inhibit later in vivo instruction. (DB)

The study evaluated the use of simulated instruction on vending machine use as an adjunct to community-based instruction with two moderately retarded children. Results showed concurrent acquisition of the vending machine skills across trained and untrained sites. (Author/DB)

The article reviews the literature on teaching cooking skills to mentally retarded students. The lack of research which assesses procedures for teaching food preparation skills is discussed as are the need for training in natural settings, the costs involved in teaching cooking skills, and the need for more thorough baseline assessment. (Author/DB)

The study examined the perceptions of 106 handicapped and nonhandicapped high school juniors and seniors concerning the vocational, leisure, domestic, and school skills they considered important and used frequently. Handicapped students were more likely to consider specific vocational skills as important than were nonhandicapped students.…

Three adolescents with moderate mental handicaps were taught bedmaking skills through a technique which involved dividing the entire chain into sections, teaching the first section in a total cycle fashion, and adding instruction on subsequent sections in a forward chaining manner. The technique promoted skill acquisition and substantial…

This study found both constant time delay and a most-to-least prompting strategy were effective in teaching 4 moderately mentally retarded 18-year-olds to operate a washing machine and dryer.The constant time delay procedure, however, was more efficient in terms of instructional time and number of instructional errors. (Author/DB)

Residential specialists (N=759) in public and private facilities for mentally retarded adults were surveyed to identify the skills that they consider essential for mentally retarded adults to function in different residential settings (unsupervised apartment, supervised apartment, and group home). Significant differences were found among settings…

Two studies involving a total of five individuals with moderate mental retardation were conducted to investigate the effects of teaching the "One-More-Than" money counting technique. Results indicated the effectiveness of the technique in producing money counting skills that generalized to nontrained amounts and making community…

The pyramid training model was evaluated as a means to teach six supervisors and aides working with profoundly retarded adults the training skills of increasing assistance prompt hierarchy and specific praise in developing clients' daily living skills. Providing training to supervisors resulted in improved training skills for them and subsequently…

The study evaluated the community social integration of six moderately retarded men residing in a group home. Results of intensive observation indicated that the men's interpersonal and social development skills were very limited and that they had very poor communication skills and limited interactions in the community. (Author/DB)

Parents (N=202) of students with severe/profound disabilities were surveyed concerning their children's educational programing in four curricular domains: domestic, community, vocational, and leisure. Parent satisfaction with programing was high. They rated the domestic domain as most important, the vocational next, the community third, and…

This study, with six high school students with moderate to severe disabilities, found that students who received concurrent sequence training demonstrated better generalized performance in three nontrained grocery stores than students who had received serial sequence training, once training criterion was attained though training required more…