Objectives: The present study evaluated a new smartphone-based program to help 12 participants with intellectual disability plus visual and motor impairments to self-regulate their stimulation input (thus avoiding their dependence on staff) through simple non-verbal responses. Method: Nonconcurrent multiple baseline designs across participants…

Students with multiple disabilities (MD) and concomitant impairments in domains such as vision and communication may experience restrictions in social interactions throughout their school days. These restrictions may be due in part to the intrinsic characteristics and skills of the students with MD, as well as potential barriers from communication…

The present study used a multiple probe across behaviors design, with an embedded alternating treatments design to compare the effects of two modified communication systems, the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) and a speech generating device, on requesting for a child with multiple disabilities, including autism and visual impairments.…

Joint attention is developmental skill that is typically acquired through visual input during the first year of life in typically developing children. Children with visual impairments develop joint attention through alternate senses such as tactile and auditory input (Baron-Cohen, 1995) and show joint attention behaviors unlike those of typically…

One of the benefits of physical activity in people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) is an increase in alertness. This study investigated the effect of a power-assisted exercise intervention on alertness and the relationship of this effect to the level of additional motor and visual impairments in people with PIMD. A…

Children's skill level in using a spoon facilitates increased independence during mealtimes and greater control over the pace and quantity of food intake, which has important implications for health and self-determination. Children with severe multiple disabilities, including cognitive and visual impairment (VI), require intensive instruction to…

Individuals with disabilities display problem behaviors frequently. This case study presents an analysis of the extent to which one student's pattern of multiple problem behaviors and the potential efficacy of Conjoint Behavioral Consultation (CBC) as a model for linking families, schools, and special education settings to address educational…

The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) program used to teach functional requesting and commenting skills to people with disabilities (Bondy & Frost, 1993; Frost & Bondy, 2002). In this study, tangible symbols were added to PECS in teaching requesting to four students (ages 7-14) with…

These two studies assessed adapted orientation technology for promoting correct direction and room identification during indoor traveling by persons with multiple (e.g., sensory, motor and intellectual/adaptive) disabilities. In Study I, two adults were included who had severe visual impairment or total blindness and deafness and used a wheelchair…

The article describes assessment, planning and training for people with multiple disabilities and visual impairment (MDVI). The ImPAct MDVI project, an EU Comenius programme, addressed concerns expressed by teachers of children and young people with MDVI as to how they are expected to integrate the diverse curriculum elements and particular skills…

This study examined the effectiveness of an intervention package that included visual accommodations, daily preference assessments, and naturalistic instructional strategies on the accuracy of choice-making responses for three participants with visual impairments and multiple disabilities. It also examined the participants' ability to maintain and…

Nine children with complex communication needs and concurrent vision and hearing losses participated in an intervention program aimed at increasing intentional prelinguistic communication. The intervention constituted a pilot, descriptive study of an adapted version of prelinguistic milieu teaching, hence referred to as A-PMT. In A-PMT, natural…

The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is an augmentative and alternative communication program (Frost & Bondy, 2002). Although PECS has been effectively used to teach functional requesting skills for children with autism, mental retardation, visual impairment, and physical disabilities (e.g., Anderson, Moore, & Bourne, 2007; Chambers &…

A basic need for a child is to belong to a group (Maslow, 1970). Groups help children: to develop relationships and to foster individual mental health (Johnson and Johnson, 1989); and disabled and non-disabled children, when given assistance, can develop relationships with each other (Sideris, 1998). But there are very few opportunities in Cyprus…

Many children with severe or multiple disabilities, including those with visual impairment, are limited in their ability to communicate. "Communication" is defined as how a person exchanges information about his or her desires, needs, knowledge, and perceptions with another person. Communication can be verbal, written, or nonverbal, such…