The Rural Institute: Center for Excellence in Disability Education, Research, and Service, is one of sixty-four Centers for Excellence in Disability Education across the nation. It is an inter-disciplinary organization that promotes full participation in rural life for individuals with disabilities. The Rural Institute accomplishes this goal by…

This handbook for parents is part of a packet intended to aid educators, families, and adult service providers to facilitate the transition from school to adult life in the community for students with both cognitive disabilities and visual or dual sensory impairments. Emphasis is on preparation of students for adult lifestyles through transition…

This report details the outcomes of a study conducted in response to concerns about the impact of workforce development and welfare reform upon persons with disabilities being served by community rehabilitation programs. Twenty-three focus groups involving over 200 individuals were held in 13 different cities across eight states. Participants came…

Categories of age-related disabilities are described. The goal of rehabilitation is to enable elderly individuals to continue living at home with some independence. In rural areas, this goal can be attained through rehabilitation in the community by nurses, volunteers, the elderly themselves, and family members; provision of appropriate assistive…

This paper describes a community-based substance abuse prevention program utilizing a cognitive-behavioral curriculum to children and adolescents affected by a substance use disorder in a parent or caretaker.

Holt High School (Michigan) has implemented a school to work transition for its 1,200 students, including 120 students with mild to severe disabilities. The Holt Transition System is based on a taxonomy of five domains: student development, student-focused planning, interagency collaboration, family involvement, and program structure and…

This manual offers practical guidelines validated by research for applying instructional strategies to adults with mental retardation who are learning community-based tasks. It provides a sequenced strategy for: (1) selecting person-centered instructional goals; (2) developing quality task analyses of community-based, chained tasks; (3) selecting…

This final report describes the activities and outcomes of a federally funded program that was designed to address the shortage of qualified early intervention personnel in rural areas of Kansas and adjacent states. Forty-seven early childhood special education (ECSE) students were supported with stipends during the three years of the project.…

In the study reported on here, the authors used computer-based video instruction (CBVI) to teach 3 high school students with moderate or severe intellectual disabilities how to order in fast-food restaurants by using an augmentative, alternative communication device. The study employed a multiple probe design to institute CBVI as the only…

Six high school students with multiple disabilities, including mental retardation, were taught community living skills through the establishment of a shopping service for people who were elderly or who had disabilities. Students increased their competence in community survival skills and also experienced a new role as helper. (JDD)

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a multimedia computer-based instructional program with four middle school students with moderate/severe mental retardation in establishing match-to-sample skills and generalizing those skills to the natural setting (a grocery store). In vivo probes found mean and median duration to find target items…

This final report describes activities and accomplishments of Project EPIC (Effective Partner Interaction in the Community), a 3-year federally supported project in Georgia to facilitate the establishment and implementation of effective educational practices with students having deaf-blindness. The project was designed to expand students' present…

This paper reviews the research and attempts to identify instructional techniques and settings to promote generalization of appropriate work-related social behavior in individuals with mental retardation. First, it provides a definition of transition and discusses the importance of training for generalization, discrimination, and maintenance.…

This report discusses the community-based resources that may be available to regular and special education teachers serving visually impaired students in rural areas. It notes the national shortage of teachers qualified to teach children with visual impairments and suggests that rural teachers will have to devote some effort to seeking out…

This handbook supplement, for adult service providers, is part of a packet intended to aid educators, families, and adult service providers to facilitate the transition from school to adult life in the community for students with both cognitive disabilities and visual or dual sensory impairments. Emphasis is on preparation of students for adult…