The purpose of this current study was to evaluate the use of a stimulus equivalence paradigm to teach emerging adults with developmental disabilities to accurately estimate portion sizes. This study also aimed to integrate nutritionally recommended foods to incorporate a socially significant component to promote health related behaviors. Three emerging adults with various developmental disabilities participated in this study. A pre/post-test embedded in a multiple baseline design across food was used to demonstrate experimental control. Results of this study indicated that all participants exhibited accurate portion size estimations following stimulus equivalence direct training trials and test of untrained relations. When asked about their perceptions of the training methods through a social validity questionnaire participants indicated that this training method were effective and acceptable. Limitations and directions for further research are also discussed.

No description available.

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of the procedures described in the PEAK-E curriculum in teaching addition skills to children with developmental disabilities. In the present study, three participants were taught to match sample addition problems (A) to a number of pictures (B) corresponding to the sum of A (A-B), and to match sample pictures (B) to textual numbers (C) (B-C). They were then tested to see if they could match sample addition problems (A) to with the textual numbers (C) that were the solution of the addition problems A (A-C). Following mastery of the A-B and B-C relations, none of the participants were able to demonstrate the derived transitive A-C relation. An additional training phase was conducted across all participants whereby two of the five stimulus classes were provided “equivalence” C-A training (matching the textual number C to the equation A), after which all of the participants were able to demonstrate the derived transitive A-C relations across all stimulus classes without direct training of any of the stimulus classes. The results expand on previous research evaluating behavioral approaches to teaching math skills by showing how the development of equivalence class can result in the untrained emergence of novel math skills. Keywords: Stimulus Equivalence, PEAK, Addition, Autism, Developmental Disabilities

The Never-Knowns is a novel about a high-intensity behavioral group home for adults with severe to profound developmental disabilities, its residents, and the staff who are employed there. Focusing on plural protagonists, no single narrative is ever fully realized or resolved, leaving only a cryptic aggregate of experiences, revelations, and trauma. In a typical suburban neighborhood, much like any of us grew up in or now live, there is a house down the block that no one discusses openly. This house seems like all the rest, well landscaped and tidy. Although three times a day much coming and going of college-aged kids and ne’er-do-wells whispers of something covert, obscure. This house is many things to many people; a workplace, or home, or burden, or profit, or prison. An unfortunate, absurd one-act play echoes infinitely for those kept here. Constance is a thirty-something disabled woman who wakes every morning by sprinting nude in a wondrous fury toward the first person or thing she can destroy. Malcolm is a new staff member who snorts meth and masturbates in his car during shift breaks. Terry is a twenty-five year old deaf mute who believes his clothes dresser is God and always knows exactly how many feet are between him and every other place he’d rather be. Jake is a veteran staff member who has finalized his plans to take all the residents of the house deep into a forest and abandon them. Using disjointed, prolix, and often dissonant approaches to storytelling, The NeverKnowns seeks to convey the perspectives of developmentally disabled individuals who possess few or no language skills, and who are so far detached from their own existence that their iv understanding and interaction with the world is simultaneously grotesque, beautiful, and confounding

The Federal law mandates that free appropriate public education is available to eligible children with disabilities throughout the United States through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). It ensures that special education and related services are provided in the least restrictive environment. A transition plan is also required to be established for all students with an Individualized Education Program (IEP) before they turn 16. For students with high-incidence disabilities, the transition plan focuses primarily on academic access and accommodations and successful movement into postsecondary education. Other postsecondary areas also include competitive employment, independent living, and community participation. However, students with high-incidence disabilities continue to exhibit poor postsecondary outcomes compared to their peers despite having the potential to be successful and receiving the current level of support available. These youths need help in functional performance areas such as life skills which are not addressed in the school-based setting and significantly impact the transition to adulthood from an employment and independence perspective. Studies have also shown that students with disabilities continue to have significantly less involvement than their peers in areas related to employment, independent living, and community inclusion. Occupational therapy practitioners (OTPs) have the skills and knowledge that may contribute to improved postsecondary outcomes for these students, yet the majority of school-based OTs do not work with transition age-youth or address goals related to transition planning. The role of occupational therapy in the transition team is not well-defined and limited by the guidelines of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and significantly decreases as the youths in the high-incidence category get older and closer to graduating from high school. Furthermore, there is the misconception that OTPs are limited to being providers of adaptive equipment, handwriting/fine motor activities, or sensory integration. Following a literature review of the potential role of occupational therapy in transition, this paper proposes a model for an OT-led community-based intervention transition program focusing on life skills training. Skills for Exceptional Adult Life (SEAL) is an interprofessional collaboration program designed for high-incidence youths with developmental disabilities who do not receive comprehensive interventions that address life skills, vocational skills, and self-perceived confidence. According to the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain and Practice, 4th edition (AOTA, 2020), areas of occupation include activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, rest and sleep, education, work, play, leisure, and social participation.

Abstract Children with developmental disabilities are a particularly vulnerable population with complex, unique needs. In order to ensure that these clients are achieving the best quality of life possible, they typically require an array of community support services where social workers will often intersect with them in a variety of settings and roles. Therefore, there is a substantial need to ensure that student’s entering the workforce as newly qualified workers have some familiarity and exposure to what presenting issues these children are facing as well as the different techniques and tools available to engage with and assess them. This study examined California State University School of Social Work student’s preparedness, willingness, and eagerness to work with children who have developmental disabilities. It utilized a quantitative approach with a questionnaire that was distributed via the Qualtrics system to student’s emails. A total of 80 social work students participated in the study and answered questions regarding their demographics, familial and curriculum exposure to developmental disabilities, their work experience, and their perceived levels of preparedness, willingness, and eagerness to work with children who have developmental disabilities. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the student data collected. The social work curriculum provided to students in the program is designed with the intent to prepare them for working with a diverse population that have a variety of needs, which will include individuals who have developmental disabilities. In order to effectively do this, it is recommended that courses offer more comprehensive lesson plans exploring not just a definition-based approach to developmental disabilities, but also incorporate elements of effective engagement, advocacy, and assessment methods.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 113-120).

The thesis deals with problems of creating maps for people with developmental disabilities. After analysis, it was necessary to admit that types of maps intended for people with developmental disabilities do not exist. Therefore, it was suggested to do our own cartographic work in co-operation with schools for students with developmental disabilities. It ought to make working with maps easier, especially for students attending schools for people with developmental disabilities. Three charts of the Czech Republic were created in scale 1 : 2 000 000. Subsequently a plan of Zlín was created in scale 1 : 4 000. The whole thesis is connected with issues of developmental disabilities, special education, especially educating of students with developmental disabilities. The main aim is joining creation cartographic work with intellectual level of people with developmental disabilities.

No description available.

The purpose of this study is to use life story as a method to describe a former student’s, with her main schooling in the special school, thoughts of life during and after school, as well as the social relationships she has had and has access to. An overarching objective is to contribute to the field of knowledge from a young adult’s perspective. The study is qualitative with a life story approach. In the analysis, Bronfenbrenner’s ecological development model is used. The empirical data consists of transcriptions of conversations and instant prints from Facebook. The study is retrospective, but the study also captures the present day when the informant’s perception of life in the present day is also described. The informant perceives its later school years as more positive than earlier years. The result shows that the availability of social relationships was significantly higher during school in comparison to life as a young adult. The result also shows that the informant’s experience of the support of important adults is predominantly negative.