Evaluation results of a program (Infant School Program at New York University Medical Center) serving 40 multihandicapped preschool children over a 3-year period are given. Originally presented with accompanying slides, the paper lists goals of early childhood education and describes methods of data collection and program procedures. Ss were…

A new approach to behavioral control with individuals having both visual impairments and multiple disabilities stresses the use of positive intervention strategies, bases treatment on functional assessments of challenging responses, and emphasizes broad changes in the lifestyles of individuals. Case examples illustrate applications. (Author/DB)

Research conducted in an institutional living environment during times when program activities were minimal and clients were typically inactive showed that empirically based toy selection, construction, and modification, and environmental engineering to ensure convenient and constant material availability increased Ss' active engagement with toys.…

The staff of an apartment-based residential support program was taught to use behavior interruption strategies to elicit requesting functions from two women with deaf-blindness and developmental disabilities. Results found the strategies to be both quickly assimilated by the staff and effective in increasing request rates from the subjects.…

The case study describes various treatments implemented over a three-year period to reduce and eliminate multiple and severe self-injurious behaviors in a 45-year-old retarded and psychotic institutionalized man. Nonaversive intervention and community involvement was associated with positive behavior change and eventual community placement. (DB)

This case study evaluated an antecedent intervention for tantrums by a five year-old girl with cognitive, language, and motor problems. Functional assessment correlated tantrums with high-demand activities but not with novel staff. Intervention placed novel staff in charge of high-demand activities and successfully eliminated tantrums, which…

This review of behavioral research on teaching individuals with profound multiple handicaps found that behavior change has resulted from contingency management interventions, but the behavior changes cannot be described as beneficially affecting the individuals' quality of life. Explanations for this are offered, and suggestions for future…

An adolescent female with multiple handicaps and severely disruptive behavior participated in a functional assessment linked directly to specific revisions in her school curriculum. The assessment and intervention produced substantial and durable reductions in the student's longstanding and severe behavior problems. (Author/JDD)

This case study reports use of ignoring, positive reinforcement, passive restraint, and time-out in treatment of a 10-year-old girl with profound retardation and disruptive behaviors in home and classroom. Time-out was the most effective intervention with all three target behaviors, with improved behaviors maintained for at least six months.…

Thirty-eight institutionalized severely and profoundly retarded blind students (11 to 26 years old) were given a 100-session taped treatment program to increase vocal utterances both qualitatively and quantitatively. Ss made significant gains in quantity of utterances as reflected in a median test. (A categorization schema for quality of preverbal…

Review of claims for the effectiveness of the gentle teaching philosophy with people having severe problem behaviors and mental retardation finds that the methods were unsuccessful with seven of nine individuals. Although more research is needed, the review suggests that gentle teaching cannot be considered an ethically defensible treatment…

Presented are the final reports of a two-part project designed to measure the effect of an intensive inpatient developmental program on 40 young multi-handicapped children (18-36 months old) and their parents. Part 1 describes a system developed and tested to record and analyze changes in child functioning. Reported are results from…

This paper describes the program of a special school in British Columbia for youth with behavior disorders and either learning disabilities or intellectual impairments. Program components (behavior therapy, activity-based learning, and attachment development) and program sequence (assessment, formulation and implementation of a Growth and…