Currently recommended practice in supported work emphasizes training job skills to workers with severe disabilities while on the job. Early behavioral research indicated that skills needed in natural environments could also be trained in simulated settings. We compared job-site plus simulation training for teaching job skills to supported workers…

Four severely retarded females participated in a group instruction program involving designated trainer roles and both individual-directed and total group-directed procedures. Participants acquired the skills of stamping addresses on envelopes, successfully generalized the skill across an untrained type of envelope, and maintained the skill over…

Co-workers of three job trainees with mental retardation used coincidental training procedures while completing their own jobs. Coincidental training resulted in improved accuracy of salad-making skills, but skill acquisition was very slow; subsequently, a model and a quality-control check were added, resulting in higher performance levels. (JDD)