The paper presents a rationale for including choice-making as an important skill area for persons with severe disabilities. Behavioral approaches of conceptualizing choice-making are identified, and procedures are suggested for teaching choice-making skills, integrating opportunities for exercising them, and fostering choice-making skills through…

A specially adapted microcomputer has enabled a 15-year-old severely disabled girl with cerebral palsy to participate in a mainstreamed seventh-grade class. Her parents insisted that her individualized education program specify access to an in-school computer. (CL)

Evaluation of Play Unit for the Severely Handicaped (PUSH) designed for the living room of a residential area used by 16 severely retarded multiply handicapped persons revealed that the impact of the unit was individualized and diverse, and that the responsiveness of the environemt's components appeared to be important. (CL)

A man with cerebral palsy recounts his experiences as a young child and notes the frustrations in not being able to communicate other than by indicating "yes" or "no." He used a headpointer, typewriter, and communication board before finally experiencing the freedom of an electronic communication system with speech output. (CL)

A feasibility study of Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS) in a multicategorical preschool demonstration project pointed to the relevance of the method for improving implementation effectiveness of individualized education programs with severely impaired preschoolers. However, there were serious limitations for using GAS as a measure of program impact.…

The article addresses some of the primary problems in augmentative communication systems and aids for severely handicapped nonspeaking children. Selection and assessment factors include cognitive, physical, linguistic, and environmental aspects. (Author/CL)

The author criticizes the positions of the American Acadamy of Pediatrics, the court, and the President's Commission on Medical and Biomedical and Behavioral research regarding the application of section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to newborns with severe birth defects. (CL)

Student preference of sensory reinforcers was investigated using three mentally retarded, multiply physically disabled males (four-seven years old). Results suggest that severely disabled students have individualized preferences for various sensory reinforcers. (Author/CL)

Instructional development, particularly for the severely and profoundly handicapped, should stress the delineation of clearly stated functional goals and objectives and the use of systematic instructional strategies to facilitate the acquisition and generalization of target skills. (Author)

The study compared training in two language systems for three severely handicapped, cerebral palsied, nonvocal adolescents: the Bliss symbol system and an iconic picture system. Results showed that students learned iconic symbols faster, maintained higher percentage of iconic pictures, gave more correct responses during generalization probes for…

The article presents an empirical orientation for defining the least restrictive environment (LRE) for children with severe handicaps. The focus is on empirical analysis of both individual placement outcomes and general programmatic arrangements. (Author)

Using a learning strategies approach, the article outlines specific procedures to promote acquisition and generalization of learning strategies in LD adolescents. First, students are taught a specific strategy in isolation before being asked to apply it to controlled materials and later, to transfer the strategy to regular class content. (Author)

Teachers of severely handicapped students can organize their classrooms to maximize individualization by designing a schedule for each adult (therapist, aide, etc.) and student; developing meaningful individualized educational programs; and by using a folder system to communicate specifics of each instructional activity. (CL)

A teacher of severely and profoundly handicapped students shares tips for encouraging communication skills and appropriate behavior. Among tips are to encourage and set up home exercise programs, ask other students if a student's reply is correct, and use a time to signal when an activity is to begin or end. (CL)

The field tested, data based, criterion referenced curriculum includes procedures for individualized education programs, data collection and recording, formative and summative evaluation, a transdisciplinary component, as well as a comprehensive discussion of content and methodology. (Author)