This literature review examines the effects of self-instructional programs on increasing independence of persons with moderate/severe mental retardation in integrated environments. The article discusses methodological issues, research needs, and recommendations for program implementation. The feasibility of using self-instruction to promote…

Four adults with moderate/severe disabilities were taught to request objects by using the manual signs "want" or "please" plus an object label sign, within the context of familiar activities in which needed objects were missing. All participants acquired a generic requesting response, and three acquired an explicit requesting…

Reviews theoretical arguments from a longitudinal study of 1 Dutch child (age 3;8.13 at start) for considering production as a source of input for analysis and presents empirical evidence supporting the output-as-input hypothesis for the blending of the Dutch words "wats" and "iets." Evidence suggests the child analyzed his own…

Three students (ages 12 and 13) with developmental disabilities and severe behavior disorders were taught independent purchasing skills. To bypass the need for money computation skills, discrimination between three stimulus classes of frequent purchases (vending machine snack, convenience store snack, lunch) were trained. Two students mastered the…

The effects of multiple-exemplar self-instructional training on acquiring and generalizing conversational interaction was studied with four high school students with mental retardation. It was found that nondisabled peers were effective in teaching the multiple-exemplar strategy and that training was associated with increased generalized…

This article highlights the importance of parents as intervention agents for young children with special needs. It describes individualized training in behavioral strategies for parents, explains procedures for helping parents gain skills that foster their children's development, and suggests that parents will maintain the skills and generalize…

Five children (27 to 47 months old) with mild to borderline levels of mental retardation were given a milieu language intervention program of 3 or 4 small group training sessions weekly. Results indicated the training had a clear facilitative effect on the acquisition and generalized use of common nouns and verbs by four of the subjects.…

A problem-solving strategy to prevent work injuries, involving temporary use of cue cards, was successfully taught in a supported employment setting to nine adults with mild to moderate mental retardation. Interviews and staged generalization assessments before and after the 12-week training indicated trainees generalized their new problem-solving…

This study evaluated effects of a multifaceted training procedure on acquisition and generalization of social behaviors of 9 language-disabled deaf children (ages 8-9). The intervention involved child training as well as supervision, feedback, and goal setting by teachers and staff. Results indicated increases in appropriate target behaviors which…

This paper outlines a model of cognitive functioning and remedial direction, based upon an information integration approach and work in neuropsychology. The approach, used primarily with low-achieving and learning-disabled students, utilizes "bridging tasks" which are paired with specific global cognitive tasks to promote generalization…

Two studies are reported in which supervisor observations of teachers' performance rate and accuracy were found to result in positive changes in teacher performance and the behaviors of their severely handicapped students (ages 6-21), when compared with baseline supervisor observations that did not specify rate and accuracy feedback. (Author/JDD)

This study focused on the validation of Generalizable Reasoning Skills assessment instruments with students with disabilities in secondary vocational programs. Results indicated that student self-ratings, teacher ratings, and a performance test were internally consistent and precise measures of reasoning skills for some uses but that most…

This study of two primary-grade students with learning disabilities and behavior problems found that an instructional package incorporating videotaped self-assessment, self-modeling, discrimination training, and behavioral rehearsal helped the children acquire cooperative classroom behaviors and generalize and maintain those behaviors. (Author/JDD)

Four adults with brain injuries were trained to use written checklists that identified potential in-home hazards. The checklist alone was sufficient to increase appropriate responses to many hazards, and individualized task analyses, subsequently faded to natural conditions, remediated the others. Generalization occurred to some degree, and skills…

A retrospective review of 51 studies from 22 journals (1976 to 1990) concerning generalization of social skills training with preschool children was conducted. Strategies employed by the most successful studies were identified, such as addressing functional target behaviors; using prompts, positive reinforcement, and feedback strategies; and…