A paper titled "Planning for the Future of a Severely Handicapped Autistic Child" by K. Stokes is presented along with the reactions of three parents of adolescent or young adult autistic children. (SBH)

The article describes the payment mechanisms currently available to reimburse workers with severe disabilities for work performed. The advantages and disadvantages of competitive employment at or above minimum wage, competitive employment below minimum wage, contracted employment through a rehabilitation agency, and self-employment are discussed.…

The importance of transdisciplinary research is noted, and guidelines emphasize planning and cooperation among team members. Recommendations address ways to break down disciplinary barriers and view the coordinator's role as facilitator. (CL)

Forty-three language intervention studies published during the 1970s were critically analyzed. Findings indicated that, in general, studies have not paralleled current psycholinguistic thinking. Only 34.8% of the studies were successful in increasing the communicative competence of their severely handicapped subjects. (Author/CL)

Comparisons of the nature and frequency of the instructional interactions and work-related behavior of 15 workers in nonsheltered vocational environments with 15 in sheltered environments revealed that the workers in sheltered environments engaged in significantly more instructional interactions with supervisors and exhibited significantly fewer…

The report describes the activities and accomplishments of Phildelphia's Urban Model Project, a federally funded model demonstration program designed to effect changes in services for students with severe disabilities. As a result of this project, a majority of these students are currently attending regular schools along with their chronological…

A strategy for selecting what to teach, known as the Markaling strategy, is based on an environmental philosophy of curriculum selection. Commonly used approaches are reviewed, including the developmental approach, the basic skills approach, the eliminative approach, and the environmental adaption approach. (Author/CL)

Research and practice suggest that the application of orientation and mobility (OM) services to severely multiply handicapped learners is a useful approach. Future assessment, instruction, and personnel preparation activities are presented as they relate to the development of services for a range of people who have mobility limitations. (Author/CL)

Practices of 43 states were surveyed to identify policy patterns characterized as integrative or nonintegrative. Integrative policy patterns had fewer categories of handicaps, more college-based training programs for teachers of severely handicapped students, and teacher certification standards which require regular educators to have some special…

A young adult with severe disabilities was taught to initiate, sustain, and terminate an Atari video game. A multiple probe design across these three skills clusters was used to validate the instructional package. Instruction consisted of total task presentation with teacher praise for correct task step performance and a gradually increased…

Three children with severe and multiple disabilities (8-25 months old) were provided contingent learning experiences via electromechanical apparatus. Results indicated that all three children increased the frequency of the target behavior. The data are equivocal as to whether or not children showed an awareness of the response-contingent feedback.…

Four high-school-age students with autism and severe disabilities were trained to initiate and sustain social interactions with nondisabled peers at two community job sites. Results showed that all Ss acquired a chain of social break behaviors using one peer trainer. (Author/CL)

Social and nonsocial behaviors of 72 severely handicapped preschoolers were assessed. While clear social behavior differences emerged between more and less accepted children, equally powerful differences were noted in certain nonsocial skills and attributes: physical attractiveness, toy play skill, level of disruption in class, and athletic skill.…

The article reports results of interviews with 91 teachers in schools for students with severe learning difficulties. Findings are reported on teacher experience and training, curriculum, recordkeeping, overall aims, assessments in use, and help from other professions. (CL)

Level of agreement between employers and classroom teachers of secondary level severely handicapped students as to employment requirments was compared. While employers and teachers were found to strongly agree as to entry-level job requisites, no significant correlation was obtained between responses of these employers and a sample from a previous…