Six adults with severe disabilities were taught to purchase coffee in a community restaurant using a 46-step task analysis, a prompt hierarchy of least to greatest prompts, and social reinforcement. Ss demonstrated competencies equal to non-handicapped customers and maintained these skills at a two- to five-month follow-up. (Author/CL)

The advantages of LOGO, a computer language, in the education of severely handicapped students are seen to include ease of programing and widespread use. Videotapes have been developed to help teachers use the approach. (CL)

Special learning environments for severely handicapped students can seldom be justified. Specially designed and often extravagantly costly physical space, which does not provide adequate opportunity for the generalization of functional skills to unmodified settings, should be viewed skeptically. The use of natural environments, without expensive…

A response to an article (EC 160 670) questioning the justification of special learning environments for severely handicapped persons comments on the importance of autonomy and choice--two features lacking in the traditional institutional environment. (CL)

As part of an evaluation of services for mentally retarded adults in Britain, comparisons were made between preproject and project residential units. People with more severe handicaps lived in units with less homelike environments, more institution-oriented management practices, and less community involvement than facilities occupied by less…

The paper presents a rationale for assessing and intervening with severely impaired preschoolers in the natural environment, identifies three prerequisites for language training (content and motivation, reinforcing social and physical environment, and a communicative repertoire), and examines two levels of intervention. (CL)

A coordinated home and school planning process via a transdisciplinary model is designed to serve severely/profoundly handicapped students in functional curriculum areas. Planning begins with identification of needs, constraints, and resources, and formulation of student objectives. (CL)

Presented is a case study of a 19-year-old female with hydraencephaly (a condition marked by excessive accumulation of fluid in the cerebral ventricles) who was conditioned on three occasions to increase eyeblink rate with tactile reinforcement. (CL)

An accessible interior and an imaginatively developed site allow the Harris Hillman School to further the growth and self-sufficiency of severely involved multiply handicapped students. (Author)

The case study analyzes the family situation in which parents of an institutionalized severely brain damaged son cannot agree over the child's return for the summer. The two daughters and the parents were helped to discuss the situation and improve their communication. (CL)

Activities using Logo, a programing language, have been successful in helping severely physically disabled students as well as autistic children express themselves. (CL)

One hundred and twenty potential employers in food service and janitorial/maid service were surveyed. Subjects suggested 70 survival skills necessary for employment of severely handicapped persons. Five skills were unanimously agreed upon, including following one instruction at a time, demonstrating basic addition skills, and keeping one's hair…

Language training for severely developmentally delayed children in the home should be as undisruptive as possible and should use natural training contexts, emphasize functional responses, and provide natural reinforcers or consequences. After identifying the communicative contexts, teaching the response is accomplished through reinforcement,…

During training of cognitive and motor skills, the effects of massed, distributed, and spaced trial sequencing were evaluated relative to performance of 11 severely handicapped students (5-19 years old). Results supported the addition of distributed trial sequencing to the technology of instruction for severely handicapped learners. (Author/CL)

The author, a severely disabled adult, comments on his experiences talking to handicapped adolescents on career and daily living topics. He stresses the value of adult role models and suggests where community resources may be found. (CL)