Recreational activities are an important part of anyone's quality of life, owing to the various benefits of participation (e.g., social, physical). For individuals with significant disabilities, engagement in leisure skills continues to be a low priority in many schools, which can adversely affect the level of school and community membership. This…

Students with visual impairment (VI) were taught to request using the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) and tangible symbols. Participants were four males with additional disabilities, 5 to 11 years old, who had little to no functional vision. A functional relation between PECS Phase 1 and requesting was established using a multiple…

A multiple probe design was used to examine the relation between teachers' use of the system of least prompts, contingent imitation, and praise, and the acquisition, maintenance, and generalization of pretend play by 4 children with disabilities. The teachers' use of the intervention package was functionally related to increases in the children's…

A constant-time-delay procedure was used to teach a generalized response to the lures of strangers to four preschool children with disabilities. Only after also providing in vivo training did instruction result in acquisition, maintenance, and generalization of the response with novel lures, strangers, and sites. (Author/DB)

Three adult subjects with mild mental retardation were trained in individualized social skills and then taught to self-monitor their behavior, initially using a self-monitoring device. Self-monitoring assisted in generalization of trained social skills across settings and people; however, maintenance results were variable. (Author/DB)

This study evaluated the "missing-item" language intervention with two moderately to severely retarded students (ages five and six) in a special class setting. The missing-item format produced effects in requests for targeted snack items and, after generalization training, a requesting repertoire that was durable and generalized across…

Twelve male students (ages 11-15) with autism were assessed on gross motor skills after a 6-week physical education treatment period with either a task variation condition (with maintenance tasks interspersed) or a constant task condition. The task variation condition was significantly more effective. (Author/JDD)

Four preschool boys learned to conduct self-assessments of their independent work behavior and compare their ratings with teacher ratings. The treatment produced immediate and substantial improvements in child behavior, and it was possible to systematically withdraw each treatment component while maintaining a high level of appropriate child…

This study, with 30 students with learning disabilities (grades 6-9) and 15 nondisabled students, found that instruction in a 5-rule summarization strategy significantly increased reading comprehension of expository prose. Strategy use was maintained over time, and students were reported to generalize its use. (Author/DB)

Thirteen learning disabled and 15 remedial high school students were taught reasoning skills using computer-assisted instruction and were given basic or elaborated corrections. Criterion-referenced test scores were significantly higher for the elaborated-corrections treatment on the post- and maintenance tests and on a transfer test assessing…

Comparison of "Distar Reading Mastery" and Addison Wesley's "Superkids" beginning reading programs with 81 children in transitional kindergarten special education classes found no significant differences at the end of the treatment year or at one-year follow-up. However, among children making the most gains, the Distar group…

Children (n=118) with severe/profound hearing loss were assessed on language and social skills when aged three-five years and again three-four years later. The study failed to obtain evidence of lasting gains associated with intervention during infancy, intensified programing, or direct instruction by parents. (Author/JDD)

The study with three sixth-grade learning-disabled students found that a self-instructional strategy to facilitate the generation, framing, and planning of argumentative essays had a positive effect on the students' writing performance and self-efficacy. Effects were maintained over time and transferred to a new setting and new writing genre.…

This study investigated effects of multiple-component behavioral self-management (BSM) interventions on math fluency and engaged time of five fourth-grade students with and without disabilities in general education classrooms. Students increased their math fluency and engaged time, and these continued to improve when the self-management…

Four fifth grade students with learning disabilities were taught a strategy to facilitate setting product and process goals, generating and organizing notes, continued planning during writing, and evaluating goal attainment. Strategy instruction had a positive effect on students' essay writing and knowledge of the writing process, and effects were…