Examines the effectiveness of conversational skills instruction in increasing the integration of workers with severe disabilities in supported employment settings. Results demonstrate that conversation script instruction and questioning asking instruction both increased workers' social interactions. (Author/JOW)

This paper defines natural workplace supports for individuals with severe disabilities and proposes a working model for future research and practice. Emphasis is placed on natural supports as an outcome of successful employment rather than a distinct model for support and as a contributing factor to the quality of life. (Author/CR)

This study explains the methodology of clique analysis and presents a study in which the use of clique analysis demonstrated that an employee with severe disabilities was perceived by co-workers as socially involved in the work setting at levels comparable to others in such areas as greetings and small talk, work-related conversation, and personal…

A study involving an adult with severe mental retardation and other disabilities found that the addition of a communication device, job coach social facilitation training, and eliciting co-worker support for social integration increased the social interactions of the employee in a supported employment setting. (Contains references.) (CR)

The Pioneer-Syracuse University Project was designed to help people with severe disabilities find community jobs and become integral participants in their work places, using on-site and off-site resources and supports from job personnel and other community members. Specifically, project staff who had directly trained and supported people with…

Measuring employment outcomes for persons with severe disabilities has gone from a focus on task performance in sheltered settings to measurement of a number of individual outcomes in supported employment settings. Measurement considerations for individual, group, and organizational variables are discussed. Use of more than one measurement…

Ways that 17 Massachusetts schools and 16 adult agencies promoted natural supports in employment of people with severe disabilities are discussed, along with the barriers they experienced. Results indicate wide use of some practices and confusion about the concept of natural supports and the role of service providers in facilitating involvement.…

This final report briefly describes activities of a project which developed and evaluated specific natural support intervention procedures to increase the social integration of employees with severe disabilities using single-subject, clique analysis, and social validation methodologies. The project resulted in the publication of 6 journal articles…

This monograph contains eight studies on supported employment and transition conducted by graduate students in rehabilitation counselor training programs. Chapter 1, "Income Allowance Policies of State Medicaid Agencies as Work Incentives or Disincentives for ICR/MR Residents" (James A. Mayer and others), found in a survey of six…

This project involved a national survey of Indian Health Sevice (IHS) agencies to assess the working environment, the extent to which IHS agencies employ and provide support services for persons with disabilities, and the need for program and consumer services to enhance the employability of American Indians with disabilities. A total of 676…