This study reports on nonmedical expenditures and opportunity costs in maintaining a child or young adult with serious developmental disabilities in the home or residential care and discusses policy implications for assisting families. The paper makes proposals concerning the scope of health care, family-centered care, programs for young adults,…

This article reviews five categories of critical characteristics of high-quality secondary-level vocational instruction programs that increase the likelihood that students with severe disabilities will obtain paid community employment upon graduation. Categories include location of instruction, curriculum, instructional strategies, transition…

This paper defines "inclusion," discusses ways to think about curriculum related to inclusive education, presents a process of curriculum development to assist teams in including students with disabilities in regular classrooms, and provides specific curricular strategies and tools to assist in the curriculum development process for…

This paper describes an early intervention model demonstration project providing center- and home-based instruction to children with severe/profound handicaps, aged birth to three years, and their parents. The social reciprocity model used, participating children, daily activities, and evaluative findings are discussed. (Author/PB)

Findings of a study in which four elementary general-education teachers commented on the inclusion of students with significant disabilities within general-education classrooms indicated that children with disabilities were described and observed as full classroom members. Difficulties were related to designing and implementing appropriate and…

A study investigated parent and sibling perspectives on the inclusion of 21 children with moderate or severe disabilities. Both parents and siblings believed the children were capable, wanted to have the children around typical peers as much as possible, and had general satisfaction with the amount and type of inclusion. (Contains extensive…

A study examined the perspectives of 77 caregivers on how much they valued major curriculum skills areas for their children (ages 3-28) with disabilities. Parents of children with moderate, severe, and mild disabilities indicated the highest priority for self-help functional life skills, followed by community-based functional life skills.…

This study uses a case study of a woman with profound mental retardation and severe cerebral palsy to illustrate uses of speech recognition systems to allow choice making and environmental manipulation that increase her sense of personal control and independence. Guidelines and recommendations for choosing a speech-recognition product and…

A review of 48 studies on the use of sight-word methodology to teach functional reading to individuals with moderate and severe disabilities found that sight-word instruction has been highly effective with this population. New strategies have included feedback procedures and applying constant time delay. A persistent limitation of the research is…

Discusses a study of microcomputers use by adults who have severe learning disabilities. Describes a method for profiling adult training centers with respect to their microcomputer usage. Evaluation results indicate the crucial role of center managers in managing resources, support systems, staff involvement and the organization of the…

This article reviews the studies that used microswitches and speech output systems with people with severe/profound intellectual or multiple disabilities during the 1986-1999 period and discusses the encouraging research findings and the economic practicality of these two forms of technology. Research needs are addressed. (Contains references.)…

This article discusses a teacher's successful experiences in using facilitated communication with individuals with severe autism and other disabilities. The facilitated communication enabled the students to express their feelings, engage in reading activities, and progress academically. The lessons the teacher learned from her students are…

This paper explores elements of interagency cooperation through a case study of one family in Australia with a severely disabled child over a two-year period. It critically examines strengths and weaknesses of interagency communication and the role of the parent in coordinating a variety of medical, educational, therapeutic, and child-care…

Individuals (n=178) in community sites involved with persons having severe disabilities were surveyed concerning attitudes toward the social acceptability of commonly used training techniques, including antecedent, consequence, and data collection techniques. Groups of respondents differentially rated the social acceptability of the techniques.…

The introduction to this special issue introduces each of the following 11 research-based articles, all originally presented in November 1999 at the 23rd annual conference of the Teacher Educators for Children with Behavioral Disorders. The articles cover a variety of research and practice issues relative to the education and treatment of children…