The purpose of this study is to examine improved life quality indicators of older adults with developmental disabilties who are actively participating in the Senior Facilitation Program, a program designed for seniors with developmental disabilities which allows them to make individual choices about their leisure pursuits.

This study compared verbal and nonverbal residents of Intermediate Care Facilities-Developmental Disabilities-Habilitative type (IFC-DD-H) on self-determination. The residents were compared using an adapted version of the Association for Retarded Citizen's (ARC) Self-determination scale.

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1978 S37 / Master of Science

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1984 P74 / Master of Science

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1985 D69 / Master of Science

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1985 M667 / Master of Science

This study investigated the effect of an eight-step cognitive strategy on verbal math problem solving performance of six learning disabled adolescents. The research was conducted in an applied setting by the investigator, the students' learning disabilities teacher. The cognitive strategy was designed to enable students to read, understand, carry out, and check verbal math problems that are encountered in the general math curriculum at the secondary level. A multiple baseline across individuals design permitted demonstration of the effectiveness of the strategy. Conditions of the experiment included baseline, treatment, generalization, maintenance, and, for two students, retraining. During treatment, students received strategy acquisition training over three sessions. When the students demonstrated verbalization of the eight strategy steps from memory, strategy application practice and testing commenced. Utilization of the strategy and improved performance were measured by scores on tests of two-step verbal math problems. The number of correct responses and the number of minutes taken to complete each test were recorded on graphs. Visual analysis of the data indicated that this eight-step cognitive strategy appeared to be an effective intervention for this sample of students who had deficits in verbal math problem solving. Overall, the students demonstrated improved performance on two-step verbal math problems with four of the six students generalizing the use of the strategy to three-step problems. Four students maintained improved performance over a two-week lapse in instruction and practice. Substantial increases were noted for the amount of time required to complete the verbal math problem solving tests immediately following strategy acquisition training. Completion time rapidly stabilized to an acceptable level. This study has implications for an alternative teaching methodology that focuses on cognitive strategy training to improve verbal math problem solving for learning disabled youngsters. Future research could offer evidence of the applicability of cognitive strategy training to other populations and further delineate the characteristics of students who do and do not benefit from cognitive strategy intervention.

Previous studies have demonstrated the use of momentary time-sampling methods for the objective measurement of naturally occurring events (Zarcone, Iwata, Rodgers & Vollmer, 1993; Shore, Lerman, Smith, Iwata & DeLeon, 1995). These studies have provided information about observed levels and characteristics of direct care services, supervision, resident activity and facility conditions. The present study evaluated the utility of these assessment procedures in a residential facility for developmentally delayed adults. The procedure was further evaluated for sensitivity to changes relative to an intervention designed to increase staff and client interaction. A multiple baseline design was used to assess a data collection procedure in the context of intervention in four residences on a state facility campus. Intervention included the use of scheduling, modeling and performance feedback. Results indicate an overall increase of staff and client interaction and demonstrate the utility of the assessment procedure for the evaluation of multiple, on-going activities as well as intervention effects.

The purpose of this study was to explore the developmental characteristics of young children (ages 11-60 months) with prenatal substance-exposure. A developmental rating scale, the Developmental Checklist (DC) of the Developmental Observation Checklists (DOCs) was utilized. The DC measures the domains of language, motor, social/behavioral, and cognition, as well as overall developmental status.

Autism is a lifelong handicapping disorder that occurs on a continuum of severity. Children who show mild autistic behaviors but do not meet the criteria for a diagnosis of autism are often called autistic-like, but it is not known if their development and functioning are similar to that of autistic children. A follow-up study was done on 35 autistic and autistic-like children who were an average of 3 years of age when initially seen. Initial test scores indicated that the children were similar on measures of intellectual/developmental functioning, receptive vocabulary, and adaptive functioning. Approximately 4 years later they were evaluated again. Using the Childhood Autism Rating Scale, the children were divided at follow-up into three groups: nonautistic, mildly/moderately autistic, and severely autistic. Most children made gains on intelligence tests and displayed a diminishing number of autistic symptoms. Changes in nonverbal intelligence, adaptive functioning and receptive vocabulary scores depended on group membership. The results are discussed in relation to the reported stability of cognitive functioning in young autistic children and the implications for clinical practice, early intervention, and research on attachment. The nature of the syndrome of autism is also discussed, particularly in its relation to the milder, atypical children. The superior follow-up status of the autistic-like as compared to the autistic children raises serious questions about including the two groups in the same syndrome.