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Active engagement is important in enhancing the quality of life of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities being served in residential programs. In addition, focusing on socially significant goals and communication is essential to ensure quality treatment. The following study examined the use of employee training in combination with positive reinforcement and in vivo coaching and modeling in a Behavioral Skills Training model to increase the efficacy and consistency of active engagement from direct care employees aimed toward clients with intellectual and developmental disabilities in a residential setting. The results of the current study demonstrated that direct care workers can be trained to increase active engagement with residents with developmental disabilities. Further, the study demonstrated that the instructional training method alone reflected a small increase in skill acquisition. However, more socially significant changes resulted from the establishment of the in vivo modeling component of Behavior Skills Training in relation to the skill development of direct care employees. / Psychology

Sensory integration techniques are a common treatment procedure among occupational therapists. The goal is to "apply" input that competes with input from problem behavior. Although this is a commonly recommended intervention, there is limited empirical evaluation with adults with intellectual disabilities. Therefore, we evaluated the effectiveness of occupational therapist-suggested sensory stimuli on the automatically maintained problem behavior of adults. Specifically, we compared the effects of non-contingent access to sensory stimuli and non-contingent access to highly preferred stimuli on the rate of problem behavior. Results suggested that, relative to highly preferred stimuli, sensory stimuli had either a limited effect on problem behavior, or in some cases, were correlated with increases in problem behavior. This suggests that sensory stimuli may not produce the same automatic stimulation as problem behavior. We will discuss implications for treatment, including methods for better identifying stimuli for use in the treatment of automatically maintained problem behavior.

Current state and federal legislation mandate public schools to provide a vast array of educational services for students with disabilities. Catholic high schools are, for the most part, exempt from laws requiring them to provide those same services. Although many Catholic schools attempt to assist students with disabilities, the students they are willing to accept and accommodate generally have learning disabilities categorized as mild to moderate, who may not need the scope and breadth of services available to them in public schools. However, they are bound by their identity as Catholic to include and embrace all members of the community. This qualitative study employed interviews of four administrators and eight teachers to assess the extent to which teachers and administrators at one coeducational suburban Catholic high school felt spiritually and professionally called to accommodate students with disabilities and to encounter the ways teachers and administrators at this school put the call of Catholic social teaching and the obligations of social justice into a relationship of care for students with disabilities. Findings indicated little formal preparation and infrequent professional development for teachers accommodating students with disabilities combined with inadequate resources. These deficiencies were countered by professionalism, passion, and a passionate call to care on the part of educators. The findings support the need for Catholic high schools to begin engaging in conversation surrounding the best ways to support and train administration and faculty to improve current accommodation practices and to expand their current offerings to students with disabilities.

<p dir="ltr">Students with an intellectual disability along with their family are constantly working on learning and building skills to be successful in the next stage of their life. The planning for “the rest of their lives” starts as early as 14-16 years old. This research will explore the difficulties of transition and skills that are required for the student to be a self-determined adult and have a smooth transition from school into their postsecondary adult life.</p><p dir="ltr"><br></p>

Latine children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) have poor access to healthcare, developmental therapy, and support services, and often experience poor care quality when services are accessed. Improving service quality for Latine families of children with IDD is critical to promote service engagement; however, little is known regarding how to improve their care quality. This mixed-methods research explored how service quality is evaluated, including the cultural and contextual processes underlying perceptions of care quality for Latine families of children with IDD. Twenty-six participants (10 Latina mothers, 16 service providers) completed qualitative interviews, and providers completed quantitative burnout-engagement measures. Study 1 used qualitative methods to identify indicators of positive service quality and offer guidance to promote service quality for Latine families of youth with IDD. The most important indicator of service quality was providers' ability to build trusting relationships with families, which included using effective communication approaches, creating connectedness, and demonstrating commitment to families. Trusting relationships were valued over providers’ clinical expertise and cultural background. Study 2 qualitatively explored the culturally-driven expressions of service satisfaction among Latine parents of children with IDD. Participants described how Latine parents use overt expressions to convey service satisfaction, while expressions of dissatisfaction are subtle and easy for providers to overlook. Latine parents’ subtle expressions of dissatisfaction are often guided by Latine cultural values (e.g., simpatía) that prioritize interpersonal agreeableness and family bonds. Study 3 used mixed-methods to characterize IDD providers’ work burnout-engagement profiles and how burnout-engagement affects service delivery. Quantitatively, providers endorsed experiencing elevated work-related exhaustion, meaningful involvement with families, and personal achievement within their service roles. Qualitatively, providers described how this burnout-engagement profile impacts their service delivery, including how work-related exhaustion limits their ability to provide quality care, particularly for underserved patient populations. Together, findings suggest that Latine cultural values regarding prioritizing friendly, courteous personal relationships shape Latine parents’ service preferences and behaviors, and that IDD service providers’ well-being affects service delivery quality. This research contributes to our foundational understanding of “service quality” while highlighting targets of future intervention efforts to improve care for Latine families of children with IDD.

Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur lärare och rektorer organiserar undervisningen för den integrerade grund-särskoleeleven samt vilka förutsättningar för inkludering som finns. Med hjälp av klassrumsobservationer och in-tervjuer söktes svar på följande frågeställningar: Hur organiseras undervisningen, vilka förutsättningar för inkludering finns, hur beskriver lärare och rektorer samarbetet mellan lärare, resurspersoner och speciallärare samt vilken kunskap om grundsärskolan finns på skolorna? Teoretisk förankring utgörs av Lundgrens ramfaktorteori (1972), relationell pedagogik enligt Aspelin (2013) samt de specialpedagogiska perspektiven, individperspektiv och relationellt perspektiv. De kvalitativa undersökningsmetoderna observation och intervju användes i studien. Observationer av undervisningen i klassrummet kompletterades med semistrukturerade intervjuer med lärare respektive rektor. Sammanfattningsvis pekar resultaten på ett stort engagemang hos främst lärarna i att skapa en bra organisation för elevernas undervisning. Överlag är undervisningen anpassad efter elevernas behov och förutsättningar. Lärarna beskriver att tid för planering och samarbete mellan lärare och mellan resursperson och lärare samt utbildning i grundsärskolans läroplan är bristfällig. Denna studie, om än slutsatser ska dras med viss försiktighet, pekar på att en del rektorer i grundskolan inte är tillräckligt insatta i grundsärskolans läroplan eller vad det innebär att undervisa en integrerad elev. Speciallärare med kunskap om grundsärskolan behövs därför i grundskolan så att integrerade elevers rätt till rätt utbildning utifrån grundsärskolans läroplan kan säkerställas samtidigt som de, utifrån inkluderingstanken, får vara socialt och pedago-giskt delaktiga (Nilholm &amp; Göransson, 2013). / The aim of this study was to investigate how teachers and principals organize teching for pupils with intellectual disabilities in ordinary schools, so-called integrated pupils. With the help of classroomobservations and interviews answers were sought to the following questions: How is the teaching organized, what conditions for inclusion exists, how do techers and principals describe the collaboration between teachers, assistants, and special teachers and what knowledge exists about the curriculum for pupils with intellectual disabilities? As theoretical framwork Lundgren´s Frame factor-theory, Aspelin´s relational pedagogy and the special educational perspectivs, individual and relational perspectiv were used. The qualitative surveymethods were observation and interview. Observations of classroom-teaching were supplemented with semi-structured interviews with teachers and principals. The results of the studie point to a great commitment among the teachers in creating a good organization for the pupils. Overall the teaching is adapted to the pupils needs and conditions.The teachers describe that there is lack of time for planning and collaborations between teachers and assistants. Education of the curriculum for pupils with intellectual disabilities is also insufficient. This study, although conclusions should be drawn with some caution, points out that some principals are not sufficiently familiar with the curriculum for pupils with intellectual disabilities. Special teachers with knowledge about this curriculum are therefore needed in ordinary schools. Based on the inclusive idea the pupils then can be more socionally and educationally involved in their schools.

Effective practices in student data collection and implementation of data-based instructional decisions are needed for all educators, but are especially important when students have severe intellectual and develop- mental disabilities. Although research in the area of data-based instructional decisions for students with severe disabilities shows benefits for using data, there is limited research to demonstrate teachers in applied settings can acquire the decision-making skills required. The purpose of this research was to demonstrate how teachers from five states acquired a set of data-based decisions implementation guidelines through online professional development. Recommendations for practice and future research are included.

<p>The aim of this study was to examine how teachers in special schools for children with mental disabilities add meaning to the process of assessing their pupils with a grading system. The study was carried out in a focus group that, during three qualitative dialogues, discussed the grading system in special schools in general and on the basis of the national school curriculum. The material was analyzed from a theoretical viewpoint taking into account both the French philosopher Michel Foucault’s perspective on empowerment and that of post-structuralism.</p><p>The results show that it is clearly problematic to assess children with intellectual disabilities. Due to the children´s differing conditions it is not possible to establish common knowledge goals and grades cannot be weighed in relation to the child’s level of knowledge. However, by considering the individual conditions of the children, formative assessment can be practiced and by avoiding not-passed grades all pupils in the special school can reach their individual goals and it is guaranteed that pupils always receive a grade that allows them to pass. The study also shows that the assessment still contains a comparative aspect; in fact, a comparative aspect is already incorporated in the assignment process to the special school which in Sweden bases on comparing the pupils intelligence level with that of other children of similar age. The goal-related grading system thus builds on a comparative system, in which children tested with a certain value from the normal test scale, are expected to not reach the curriculum goals and are then placed in a special school.</p><p>The results of this study also illustrate the consequences of grade assessment for children´s identity and future. The teacher´s handling of curriculum goals and grades results in the subjectivization of the pupils. Children are shaped to be learning subjects in an environment of discourses that segregates the children by labeling them as being different from normal. Both, pupils and personnel operate in a system of (ranked) power where disciplinary actions are part of a normalization process, a process that creates and is created by the prevailing ranking of power. The study shows that the assignment of grades in special schools and schools for children with mental disabilities is in itself part of a social process that singles out individuals who get diagnosed as intellectually disabled and that places them at the margin of society.</p> / <p>Syftet med denna studie har varit att undersöka hur pedagoger i särskolan skapar mening i betygssättningen av elever i denna skolform. Studien har genomförts i en fokusgrupp som i kvalitativa samtal vid tre tillfällen har diskuterat betygssättning i särskolan allmänt samt med utgångspunkt i grundsärskolans nationella dokument. Materialet har analyserats utifrån ett teoretiskt perspektiv med det poststrukturalistiska och Michel Foucaults maktperspektiv för ögonen.</p><p>I resultatet har det framkommit att betygssättning i särskolan är problematiskt. Elevers olika förutsättningar gör det omöjligt att ha gemensamma kunskapsmål och viktningen av betyg låter sig inte göras i förhållande till kunskapsnivån. Genom att ta hänsyn till de egna förutsättningarna kan formativ bedömning dock tillämpas och avsaknaden av ickegodkänt betyg gör att barnens individuella mål kan uppnås och ett godkänt betyg alltid garanteras. Analysen av materialet visar också att den jämförande aspekten i bedömningen finns kvar inte minst i själva mottagandet till särskolan, då det svenska systemet grundar sig på att elever föreslås skolformen särskola utifrån en jämförelse med jämnårigas intelligensnivå. Skolans mål- och kunskapsrelativa betygssystem bygger därmed på ett relativ jämförande ordning, där barn som testats och fått ett visst värde på normalskalan, förväntas att inte uppnå grundskolans mål och tas emot i särskolan.</p><p>Studiens resultat har också visat betygssättningens och särskolans betydelse för elevers identitetsskapande och framtid. Pedagogers hantering av kunskapsmål och betyg för med sig en subjektivering av elever där barnen formas till lärande subjekt i en miljö fylld av diskurser som vill särskilja dem som avvikande från det normala. Såväl eleverna som personalen själv verkar i en maktordning där disciplineringen är en del i en normaliseringsprocess, en process som skapas av och skapar den rådande maktordningen. Studien visar att betygssättningen i särskolan och den särskilda skolformen i sig är en del av den samhällsprocess som verkar för att sortera ut personer som får diagnosen utvecklingsstörning och som placeras i utkanten av samhället.</p>