Students with significant disabilities typically experience poor postschool employment outcomes. However, when provided opportunities to work and engage within their communities, they can gain necessary work-specific and workplace social skills to improve outcomes. This article outlines a six-step model for community-based employment programs…

This guide is a set of strategies and key practices with the ultimate goal of supporting students with the most intensive behavioral needs, their families, and educators in their transitions back to school during and following the global pandemic in a manner that prioritizes their health and safety, social and emotional needs, and behavioral and…

This guide is a set of strategies and key practices with the ultimate goal of supporting students with the most intensive behavioral needs, their families, and educators in their transitions back to school during and following the global pandemic in a manner that prioritizes their health and safety, social and emotional needs, and behavioral and…

Alberta Education provides funding to school authorities to support the development and implementation of programming for students with severe disabilities. The "Handbook for the Identification and Review of Students with Severe Disabilities" presents case studies designed to assist school authority personnel with the identification and…

The article reviews needed qualities, problems, and sources of satisfaction for personal care attendants, paid employees who provide inhome physical assistance with activities of daily living to help severely disabled persons live more independently. (CL)

Children and adults with severe disabilities may have nutritional problems due to the effects of the primary disability (including such syndromes as phenylketonuria, galactosemia, and Hurler's Disease), effects related to medications (including anticonvulsants, tranquilizers, and laxatives), effects of food preferences (restrictive food…

Critical factors in community-based followup of severely disabled persons placed in competitive job sites include (1) availability of support staff, (2) maintenance data checks, (3) employer conferences, (4) client-coworker interaction, (5) postplacement problems, (6) related skill training, and (7) client advocacy. (CL)

The article offers guidelines for severely handicapped personnel preparation programs. Five areas which need to be addressed by such programs are addressed: need for the program, adequacy of resources to develop and maintain the program, staff needs and instructional integrity, program limitation, and a process for program evaluation. (SB)

The authors note that there are more questions than answers regarding the value of extended school year programs for students with disabilities. Questions include effects and cost effectiveness of summer programing. (CL)

In order to experience positive growth and fulfillment, parents of severely handicapped children need to move toward self-growth and acceptance of the child, facilitate productive consultation with professionals, and coordinate communication between agencies and services. (CL)

To establish and maintain community-based vocational training sites for moderately and severely handicapped students, trainers should emphasize intrapersonal skills with clients and employees as well as instructional skills to teach needed competencies. (CL)

Both segregated and desegregated school models for severely handicapped students are considered, and an individualized transition plan is proposed. Among the plan's major components are that it must be comprehensive, involve parents and guardians, require actual participation of both sending and receiving personnel, and include the focused…

The paper offers guidelines for estate planning, defined as the art of arranging one's affairs to best care for loved ones while, at the same time, minimizing transfer costs. An understanding of the basics of estate planning is essential if one is to provide for the future of a severely handicapped child. Definitions are given for federal estate…

The parent of a severely handicapped child encourages parents to prepare written care plans when leaving a child with others for a respite period. (DB)

The paper presents data suggesting that differential reinforcement procedures can be used to control multiple maladaptive behaviors of severely multihandicapped persons in group situations. Modifications of traditional differential reinforcement scheduling and interval calulations, are introduced. (Author/CL)