Interviews were conducted with 32 American Indians with disabilities in Cibola, McKinley, and San Juan counties, New Mexico. The study sought to identify the needs of northwest New Mexico American Indians with disabilities with regard to independently carrying out daily living activities. With an average age of 49, interviewees frequently reported…

This document provides descriptions of employment interventions as a resource for use in initiating or expanding employment services for individuals with disabilities. The document presents abstracts of 40 employability/employment interventions and practices currently in use by independent living programs throughout the United States. The…

This report presents findings of an investigation by the New York State Commission on Quality of Care for the Mentally Disabled into the programmatic and financial practices of the Independent Living Center of Amsterdam (ILC/A), a New York institution which receives two-thirds of its monies from Medicaid to provide services to individuals with…

The current standard in providing residential services for individuals with severe disabilities favors serving small groups of people with similar levels of assistance needs in ordinary housing units, which are owned or leased by nonprofit agencies, funded by a mix of federal and state funds, and employ shift workers who provide professionally…

YOUTH DARES (Dynamic Alternatives for Rehabilitation through Educational Services) believes there are three major environments youth come into contact with or that impact on their development: the family, the educational system, and the "street." An element missing from all of these environments is youth participation. A fourth…

This manual presents a method of teaching cooking to nonreaders. The language of the method consists of visual symbols, such as drawings of bowls, spoons, and ingredients, and color. The "Simply Great" method consists of three basic formats: the one-step booklet, the full-page format, and the simply written for the student with some…

Ten multihandicapped high-school students in the Dayton (Ohio) Public Schools were trained using a curriculum of independent community social skills, focusing specifically on restaurant skills, travel skills, shopping skills, self-care skills, and skills for visiting a business or government agency. The students made weekly trips into the…

This report describes Boise Group Homes, a program in Boise, Idaho, which integrates people with severe disabilities into community life. The report is based on a site visit, which included visits to group homes, interviews with program staff, and review of program documents. Three areas of promising practices reflect the values and commitment of…

The participant's manual contains training materials for a national conference on mobilizing resources and fund raising in agencies concerned with promoting independent living for people with disabilities. Preliminary materials include the conference agenda, background information about the trainers, organizational information on Independent…

A sample of 52 occupational therapists and 4 assistants rated 21 daily living skills in terms of their importance to the functioning of chronic mentally ill persons. Factor analysis showed no relationship between therapists' characteristics and perceived value of skills. Clustering of skills may suggest different levels or categories that may…

This study investigated the relationship between use of light rapid or light rail transit (LRT) systems by persons with severe visual impairments and independence in orientation and mobility. It found that orientation and mobility training on LRT systems would resolve many of the difficulties that users encountered. Modifications to improve…

The costs of providing residential services for persons with mental retardation in 160 group homes, 130 family homes, and 41 apartments in Michigan and Nebraska were found to vary more by type of living arrangement than by resident level of need. Within professionally staffed arrangements, costs varied largely as a function of staffing levels.…

Disabled persons may receive needed personal assistance from spouse, parents, other family, or a hired assistant (possibly shared) who is compensated by cash or barter. Disabled persons in rural areas rely heavily on family members and face overwhelming locational, financial, and attitudinal barriers to independent living. (SV)

This study of autonomous functioning in 100 adolescents with learning disabilities found that subjects differed significantly from a nondisabled comparison group in execution of management activities involving use of community resources and self-management but found little or no differences on self and family care, recreation, and social and…

Interviews with 32 caregivers of a son or daughter with a developmental disability found that families were more likely to have done financial planning than planning for decision making or community living. Barriers to future planning included lack of information in the service community and lack of understanding among professionals on what should…