Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities

An international survey of professionals in the field of mental retardation was conducted to determine significant research priorities in the education of students with mild retardation. A total of 67 individuals responded to the survey which represented 83.7% of those contacted. Among the issues rated most highly were two clusters: vocational, career education and post-school adjustment and long term effects and generalization of effects of programs. Implications of the survey data are discussed and recommendations are provided.

Incidence of obesity was determined for a sample of 337 mentally retarded children drawn from a population attending a large urban school system. An obese condition was identified in over 22 percent of the sample. Presence of obesity was not related significantly to sex, age, mental retardation level or race. Based on available comparative data, obesity does show a higher incidence among retarded children than nonretarded children. The present sample closely resembled the population from which it was selected allowing some generalization of the findings.

This article overviews two different strategies to incorporate in teaching mentally retarded employees to maintain their work behavior. The first strategy, prevalent in the employment literature, incorporates cues produced and managed by change agents (externally-produced cues). The second strategy actively enjoins the subject in an attempt to ultimately rely upon the subject's management of his/her own behavior (externally and self-produced cues). This article reviews the value of each approach with a discussion of future areas of research.

A combination multiple probe and alternating treatments design was employed to determine the effects of the timing of simulated training, relative to in vivo training, on the community fast food restaurant performance of two students with severe handicaps. The results indicated no differential effects of simulation immediately prior to, versus 1 1/2 hour prior to, in vivo instruction. Maintenance data suggested skill retention as much as seven weeks following program completion.

A system of supervisory feedback for appropriate interactions with clients was instituted on a cottage for 31 mentally retarded children. Both staff and client behavior improved following the implementation of the feedback system but control was not demonstrated because performance did not deteriorate when the feedback contingency was withdrawn. Direct care staff reported favorable reactions to the feedback system.

The present study examined interpersonal antecedents for self-injurious behavior of retarded individuals. Subjects included eight children living in a residential state facility. Naive observers coded self-injurious behavior and five interpersonal behaviors for 120 minutes in each of four settings (lunchroom, outside, classroom, dormitory). Initial analyses indicated no systematic differences in self-injurious behavior or antecedents across settings. Therefore, data for antecedent events were collapsed across settings. The total percent of each interpersonal behavior and the percent of behaviors prior to self-injurious behavior were tabulated. Analyses comparing these two percents indicated that, relative to total occurrence, self-injurious behavior occurred significantly less following positive interpersonal antecedents and more following the absence of interpersonal antecedents. Implications of the results are discussed.

The development of a microcomputer assessment system to assist staff who work with developmentally disabled persons is described with respect to establishing its reliability (internal, interrater, and intrarater), validity, utility, and cost effectiveness. Using the system, in less than one hour, nonprofessionals generated an in-depth, comprehensive individualized 5-10 page behavioral assessment which required one quarter the cost of traditional assessments and was judged superior in quality by administrators, client advocates, and direct care staff.