Postsecondary students with disabilities underutilize career services (CS) and report systemic barriers when trying to do so. Disability resource (DR) professionals rarely have the experience to advise students on employment issues such as internship opportunities, disclosure during interviews, and how to obtain workplace accommodations. Research…

Provides basic information about disabled students for school support personnel: bus drivers, custodians, food service personnel, and school secretaries. Defines disability terms in layman's vocabulary. Addresses maintenance of least restrictive environment, basic skills for dealing with disabled students, and specific responsibilities of each…

This newsletter theme issue focuses on the value of supervision in developing personnel in programs for infants with disabilities and their families. The first article, titled "Learning through Supervision and Mentorship To Support the Development of Infants, Toddlers and Their Families" (Emily Fenichel), is an essay explaining the thinking of the…

Describes transdisciplinary (TD) team model as holistic approach for identifying and educating young migrant students with special needs. Describes differences between TD and multidisciplinary team models. Describes half-day TD assessment of child. Assesses TD approach regarding student needs, staff training, ongoing staff development, and child…

Developed as part of a project to integrate youth with disabilities into regular recreational and leisure activities, this report focuses on the role of the community leisure facilitator (CLF), defined as a professional, friend, family member, or volunteer who assists individuals with disabilities to enjoy the same leisure pursuits as other…

An instrument was developed to obtain data relevant to why minorities with developmental disabilities drop out of the service delivery system in Wisconsin. The questionnaire, after being pre-tested and revised, was sent to agencies, organizations, and schools, and to individuals with developmental disabilities who agreed to participate in the…

This study extended the limited research on the utility of tactile prompts and examined the effects of a treatment package on implementation of a token economy by instructional assistants in a classroom for students with disabilities. During baseline, we measured how accurately the assistants implemented a classroom token economy based on the…

This report analyzes and documents the ways that existing educational service systems have successfully modified their roles in order to improve school-to-adult-life transition services for students with disabilities. The report is based on findings from development of a model cooperative transition services system, which revealed that new roles…

As schools move toward including greater numbers of students with special needs in general classroom settings, and as teachers increasingly seek to provide effective accommodations and adaptations, the roles of paraeducators as support personnel will assume greater importance. Nevertheless, while paraeducators are critical to the success of…

This article reviews research examining expanding roles of paraprofessionals in special education; their efficacy, based on student outcomes and educators' perceptions; empirical bases for training; and training models. Conclusions are drawn concerning the expanded role of paraprofessionals, lack of efficacy data, and lack of systematic training.…

A manual for training paraprofessionals to provide home intervention and instruction to mothers of handicapped infants and preschool children is presented. The following objectives of the Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, project are described: teaching mothers about child development; obtaining information about each child and the child's environment; and…

This handbook is designed to provide introductory information for the paraprofessional, the general educator, and the special educator to enable a better understanding of roles and responsibilities in the inclusive classroom and to enable them to work as a team. Specific instructional strategies that are useful when considering how to provide…

This module presents information for training paraprofessional school staff on providing cross-cultural support services to individuals with disabilities and their families. Both a facilitator's edition and a student's edition are provided. Chapter 1 offers an introduction to diversity and direct service and includes sections on terminology and…

This report discusses the outcomes of three surveys that investigated the role of paraeducators in New York City schools, the skills and knowledge needed by paraeducators, and the skills and knowledge required by teachers to supervise and work effectively with paraprofessionals. The surveys indicate the need to improve the ability of…

The fourth in a series of federally supported modules for training paraprofessional school personnel who work with students with disabilities, this module presents principles and techniques of behavior management. Both a facilitator's edition and a student's edition are provided. Chapter 1 introduces the concept of behavior and the role of the…