This digest defines the term "severe disabilities"; lists some typical behavioral characteristics of individuals with severe disabilities, such as self-mutilation and lack of self-care skills; and outlines the educational implications of severe disabilities. The digest stresses the need for a multidisciplinary approach to education; the…

This digest defines students with severe handicaps, documents the benefits of integrating students with severe disabilities into regular classrooms, and outlines procedures for facilitating integration. It notes some issues associated with access and scheduling, areas in which additional support might be needed, ways to incorporate information…

Intended for both regular and special educators, the book outlines ways to promote integration between students with severe handicaps and their peers. The first of five sections includes an overview about students with severe handicaps as well as background information on the integration of severely handicapped students. Three chapters in section…

The research brief on community-based instruction for individuals with severe disabilities is based on a manual for practitioners titled "Designing Community-Based Instructional Programming" developed at the University of Utah. The manual stresses the importance of preparing students for community participation by providing instruction in the…

This digest explains how functional language instruction can be made useful for persons with moderate to severe disabilities who are also culturally and linguistically different. It further explains how vocabulary and cultural information of the Spanish-speaking student can be included in functional language instruction for students who are from…

This brief paper on promoting the self-determination of students with severe disabilities begins by identifying barriers to training in self-determination skills, such as a perceived lack of student benefit and insufficient staff training. The question of whether students with severe disability benefit from instruction to promote…

The report examines, from a cognitive developmental view, research on the teachable moment or critical learning period in handicapped infants. The author explains that developmental gaps are produced by a mismatch between the infant's readiness and opportunity to learn. Characteristics and educational implications of specific handicapping…

The document is a compilation of 15 fact sheets developed during 1980 by the ERIC Clearinghouse on Handicapped and Gifted Children. Fact sheets are single sheets which provide basic information in a question-answer format and include additional resources and references. The fact sheets have the following titles: "Sex Education for Retarded…

This 1992 edition provides basic information on all research projects funded by the Division of Innovation and Development, Office of Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education, through December 1991. Abstracts of 198 projects are separated into 10 sections according to the primary focus of the study. The 10 sections include:…