Given recent increased attention to teacher evaluation, it is imperative to understand the expertise teachers need to educate students with severe disabilities. In this grounded theory study, the authors interviewed nine special education faculty who specialize in severe disabilities about the job-related skills and qualities exhibited by expert…

Physical fitness is an important marker for health. In this study we investigated the feasibility and reliability of health-related physical fitness tests in children with moderate to severe levels of intellectual disability. Thirty-nine children (2-18 yrs) performed tests for muscular strength and endurance, the modified 6-minute walk test (6mwt)…

Background: People with intellectual disabilities are thought to have a reduced capacity for understanding death. Drawing on cognitive theory, researchers have suggested that those with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities mainly perceive loss as a mismatch between past and present experiences. However, very little research has…

This is a report of a service improvement pilot project undertaken at an inpatient autism service for adults with intellectual disabilities and severe challenging behaviours. Within the service, a key facet of the care pathway was the use of a biopsychosocial case formulation. Formulation meetings were led by psychology and involved a full…

Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) outcome data from the Rehabilitation Services Administration were used to examine age as a predictor of employment outcomes for transition-age youth with significant disabilities. Employment outcomes were examined with regard to type of VR case closure achieved and wages earned. Age at application for VR services was…

Literacy is traditionally narrowly conceptualised as a set of skills related to accessing and generating written or printed text. For children designated as having severe learning difficulties (SLD), who are unlikely to develop these "conventional" literacy skills, such a conception implies their semi-literacy or nonliteracy. Although conceptions…

This report describes a project that uses existing data sets to describe the population of students with significant cognitive disabilities and known or suspected dual sensory loss. It includes students with suspected dual sensory loss because students with significant cognitive disabilities are reported to have unidentified sensory loss (Erickson…

This article addresses the challenges educators face when attempting to find a balance between both functional and academic skill instruction for students with severe, multiple disabilities including motor impairments. The authors describe a strategy that employs embedded instruction of early numeracy and functional motor skills during physical…

This case study explored how multiple educational personnel in a middle school identified as an exemplar of inclusive education defined and provided students with severe disabilities access to the general education curriculum. Data sources including a questionnaire, interviews, observations, observation reflections, and artifacts were collected…

Background: A cohort of 11 patients with an intellectual disability and a psychiatric diagnosis present severe behavioural disorders in psychiatric hospital of Quebec in 2009. Control-measure use for this clientele has now been reduced. How do management personnel, families and care teams explain the changes? What clinical interventions did…

Introduction: Observable dementia symptoms are hardly studied in people with severe/profound intellectual (and multiple) disabilities (SPI(M)D). Insight in symptomatology is needed for timely signaling/diagnosis. This study aimed to identify practice-based observations of dementia symptoms in this population. Methods: Care professionals and family…

Background: Active support is an effective intervention to support engagement of residents with intellectual disability in group homes. This survey explored resident characteristics of the people supported by organisations implementing active support, the provision of active support, its procedures and systems, and resident engagement in…

For more than a decade, federal legislation has been characterized by increasing standards of accountability for learning for all students. With the passage of No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, and the reauthorization of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) of 2004, schools are now accountable for special education…

More than five million children in the United States have a parent suffering from a severe mental illness and these children have specific experiences and needs, particularly in school. Children of mentally ill parents are at greater risk of being neglected and of developing psychological, social, emotional, and behavioral problems. They often…

This paper examines a case study of a severely physically disabled man, Ralph, in terms of his interaction with his carers. He communicates using various systems of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC, such as symbol boards and high-tech devices), the vocabulary for which has mostly been selected for him by others. The starting point…