Established the longitudinal factorial construct validity of the Quality of Life Scale designed originally to measure the well-being of students in Australian high schools. Results for 5,932 secondary students (1993) and 8,269 students (1999) support the factorial construct validity of the measure. (SLD)

This article comments on the previous article (Holburn, 2002), that argues misapplied approaches of person-centered planning can be remedied through scientific practices. It cautions against testing person-centered planning like a drug to establish its causal power and stresses person-centered planning as a way to improve the odds that change will…

A comparison of 14 Australian adolescents with mild intellectual disabilities and 13 typical adolescents found no significant differences between the groups on community usage and lifestyle patterns. The discussion promotes the inclusion of community factors when investigating community integration of adolescents with a disability. (Contains…

This study explored perceptions of nine adults with cognitive disabilities and/or autism regarding barriers and solutions experienced due to problem behavior and elicited suggestions for improving quality of life while reducing problem behavior. Emergent themes included communication difficulties, need for privacy and personal decision making, and…

The study found that quality of life of 46 mentally retarded individuals was impacted by the funding source used to support their community-based residential programs. Clients in programs using Medicaid funds were less active and involved in life than were clients living in programs funded by non-Medicaid state sources. (Author/JDD)

Describes the differences which divide the social ecology movement and the Deep Ecology Movement. Discusses how each views population ecology, politics, natural resources, and ecological living. Calls for a unified ecological movement. (CW)

Describes the nature of technology. Summarizes the claims of the anti-technologists, such as Marcuse and Ellul, and the moderate pro-technologists, such as Ferkiss, Mesthene, Brooks and Bowers, National Academy of Engineering, Norman, and Weizenbaum. Provides 79 references. (YP)

Observations and interviews with six young adults having moderate and severe mental disabilities, as well as with their employers, parents, residential service providers, and teachers, were conducted to determine their degree of satisfaction with their jobs in integrated workplaces. Certain consistent behaviors were identified that indicated job…

This article discusses the reasons for poverty among children in both two-parent working poor families and single-parent families. (Author/YP)

Adults with mental retardation (n=392) involved in self-advocacy groups completed the Life Choices Survey. Findings indicated that this group indicated more choice opportunities than most adults with mental retardation and that total choice availability varied with level of disability and type of living arrangement but not by age or gender.…

Long-term follow-up of 167 child and adolescent victims of abuse found that most subjects suffered from more than 1 kind of abuse or neglect. A combination of physical neglect, physical abuse, and verbal abuse had the greatest impact on children, affecting such things as their enjoyment of living and hopes for the future. (Author/DB)

This survey of 110 adults in 24 states examined how adults with visual disabilities arrange transportation, what they perceive to be sources of frustration regarding their nondriving status, how nondriving affects their lifestyles, and the understanding demonstrated by others of the logistical and psychosocial impact of being a nondriver.…

Israeli adults (n=52) with intellectual disabilities who resided in community apartments were found to be more independent and to experience more choice-making opportunities than group home residents (n=68). The groups did not differ in age, gender, or level of intellectual disability, suggesting that the variation between groups is probably…

Born in 1939 and raised in southwestern North Carolina, banjoist Raymond Fairchild discusses music, religion, the mountain life of his youth, education, racism, and politics from the unique perspective of one who "never did go to school enough to mess up none of my work." His firm belief in a self-made, self-educated person is reflected…

This paper questions the claim of the Warnock Report (a report on special educational needs by Great Britain's Department of Education and Science) that educational aims are the same for all children. The paper discusses the place of knowledge in the educational aims, preparation for personal autonomy, distinction between autonomy and…