Due to the diverse needs of young children at risk for or with developmental delays/ disabilities and their families, an interdisciplinary and collaborative team is required in schools to deliver family-centered, individualized early intervention/early childhood special education (EI/ECSE) services (Division for Early Childhood of the Council for…

As a result of the demanding 21st-century workforce, local education agencies are beginning to refocus and retool to ensure students with disabilities have the knowledge and skills to be productive adults and attain positive postschool outcomes. The skills 21st-century transition assessments address are relevant to teachers and students given the…

This article provides a description of the birth of The Odyssey Initiative. As teachers, this group of three, all educators, knew that there was outrage about the state of education in America. Griping about our nation's schools has almost become a pastime, and with very good reason. However, they found the solutions being offered to save our…

The Comprehensive Developmental Teams (CDT) program, a multidisciplinary approach to improving Head Start services to handicapped children is described. Reviewed are the team's tasks--to identify, screen, and assess the children's strengths and weaknesses in order to develop comprehensive programs of intervention, including provision of individual…

Described is the diagnostic teaching model developed by the Illinois Regional Resource Center to provide assessment and programing for children with unexplained handicaps. The model is explained to involve a multidisciplinary approach and to include six basic components: referals, information gathering, diagnosis, prescription, consultation, and…

Successful transition planning for students with disabilities from school into adulthood seems to be a complex and difficult process. The 1997 amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) promote the development of successful transition planning; however, research has shown that special educators are not likely to engage in…

This book presents an amalgam of early intervention ideas from the fields of education, occupational therapy, and physical therapy for children with developmental delays. An introductory chapter describes the approach's three theoretical bases: neurodevelopmental treatment (NDT), sensory integration, and Piagetian theory. Chapter 1 considers…

Five studies on child study teams are reviewed and their implications for training included in a modular approach, the Child Student Team Training Program. The CSTTP features six modules: (1) rationale for teams, (2) referral preparation and review, (3) IEP planning, (4) procedural considerations, (5) parent involvement, and (6) administrative…

This guide explains how occupational therapists and physical therapists collaborate with educators, administrators, and parents to help children with disabilities in Wisconsin schools acquire needed skills. Chapter 1 provides basic historical information about occupational and physical therapy in schools and introduces a collaborative model of…

The training manual is intended to meet the training needs of Head Start personnel and others working with preschool handicapped children who have not had formal training in special education. The book attempts to provide the basic concepts and practices of providing individualized instruction to preschool handicapped children as mandated by P.L.…

The presentation reviews the evolution of a summer special education assessment team. The interdisciplinary team grew from a due process specialist and occupational therapist to include a speech clinician. Their roles changed from processing students for special education to facilitating the transition of students and their families from private…

Service delivery issues leading to the development of Curriculum Based Vocational Assessment (CBVA) are reviewed; eight key steps (in the form of 38 questions) to CBVA implementation are identified. Intrinsic benefits such as maximizing the impact of assessment data on curriculum are noted. (DB)

Nearly 100 conference papers from the George Mason University annual conference on nontraditional and interdisciplinary studies are presented. The are grouped into 14 categories: (1) assessment of prior learning, which includes "Lifelong Learning: Integrating the Liberal Arts and Experience in Adult General Education" (J. Gary Bernhard) and…

Intended for college students, the document is a worktext on planning educational services for handicapped students. Each of three units includes narrative and learning experiences with information specified on required learning experiences as well as optional activities. Unit I focuses on historical and legal perspectives on services for the…

This handbook for parents explains how Wisconsin schools must go about finding, evaluating, developing programs for, and placing children with exceptional educational needs (EEN). Various state and federal laws and regulations (e.g., Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973) are cited. The first section covers identification of EEN children,…