Shows how one school district uses a series of four three-day workshops to give students a feeling for what it is like to be disabled and an awareness of the frustrations and barriers that confront mainstreamed students. (RL)

This project at Western Illinois University is a two-semester, participation-based, competency program designed to train undergraduate and graduate students to work with handicapped infants and preschoolers in a variety of service delivery settings. One of seven Dean's Grant programs for PL 94-142 training described in this issue. (Author/SJL)

Discusses the legal obligation of distributive education teachers under the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 and the Vocational Education Amendments of 1976, mainstreaming, characteristics of special needs students, implications for instructional modifications, and the need for teachers to develop a positive attitude toward these…

Officers of school administrative associations (who were themselves principals) wanted principals to have more responsibility for planning, coordinating, and evaluating special education programs. The study was based on responses to a matrix defining 27 operational and decision-making responsibilities in special education, as real or ideal. (GDC)

Teachers trained with the revised Utah State University Self-Concept Protocol Program showed significant increases on six of twelve program-related behaviors. Although no gains in self-concept were made by handicapped children, there was evidence for differential effectiveness of the program for learning disabled and emotionally handicapped…

The author describes the use of Muppet-like puppets to demonstrate in a regular classroom what it's like to be handicapped and to illustrate the nature of positive peer relationships between disabled and nondisabled children. (SBH)

The article describes American University's Laboratory Science and Art Program, an elementary teacher in-service education program which develops and implements a science and art curriculum for blind, deaf, emotionally disturbed, and normal students in a mainstreamed setting in Washington, D.C. (DLS)

A few tips for helping students who are designated as disabled integrate into the regular school setting socially as well as academically are offered to administrators and teachers. (KC)

The author addresses the problems of P.L. 94-142 (the Education for All Handicapped Children Act) which hinder efforts to provide programs for handicapped students. Considered are problems in child identification, student placement, mainstreaming, individualized education programs, in-service education, and attitudes of teachers and…

A disabled student and an associate professor of architecture illustrate from their own experience at the University of California, Berkeley, the role of the university in helping all its members move into a larger world of relationships where categories like "able-bodied" and "handicapped" need not define these relationships.…

This study compared state disparities in the diagnosis of students with learning disabilities. It found that state prevalence of learning disability was moderately explained by demographic and sociopolitical factors (unlike four common physical disabilities) and that these same factors strongly predicted the extent of mainstreaming and the size of…

Discusses a survey of 115 high school students who are deaf or hard of hearing, which examined the pros and cons of mainstreaming. Results found that center schools offered a stronger representation of deaf culture and that more residential students than mainstream students were satisfied with their school experience overall. (Author/CR)

Highlights scenarios showing the importance of school districts making clear distinctions between comprehensive and coherent practices in building inclusive schools, rather than simply adding students with disabilities without knowing how the organization of schooling needs to change. Presents recommendations for building successful inclusive…

Examines the role of democracy in education and its importance in early childhood education programs, including benefits to children. Discusses implications for early childhood education programs that include children with disabilities, makes suggestions for promoting democracy in inclusive early childhood environments, and identifies…

Explored the perceptions of general education teachers regarding their needs to successfully teach students with disabilities. Surveys of K-8 teachers asked what information they felt they needed to more effectively teach students with special needs. Results indicated that teachers felt their primary needs focused around information about children…