Use of Integrated,General Education,and Community Settings as Primary Contexts for Skill Instruction for Students with Severe,Multiple Disabilities

Four students with severe, multiple disabilities learned to use four to five new skills at critical moments within age-appropriate activities. Instruction was provided only at moments critical to the continuation of the activities when natural cues and consequences delineated the need for the target behaviors. This method of intervention was combined with a more traditional package of antecedent prompt-fade procedures and, in a few instances, time delay. The purpose of the study was to analyze the effects of instruction given only at natunal critical moments on the acquisition of basic sensory, motor, social, and communication behaviors. A multiple baseline design across skills within separate activities for four participants was employed. Fifteen of 17 skills were acquired to criterion. In addition, "learning to learn" effects occurred within each activity as instruction of new target behaviors was introduced. The outcomes are important for the participant population because they document the effect of integrated educational models for teaching the most basic skills. Discussion of the motivation provided by activity routines in general education and community settings, as well as interpretation of data when participants have the most severe disabilities, is presented.