Young adults with intellectual and other developmental disabilities acquire vocational skills with video prompting

Students with intellectual and other developmental disabilities often require substantial support to acquire the skills needed to secure work experience and paid employment. Prior findings suggest that video prompting is likely to be an effective and feasible strategy for establishing such skills. To evaluate this possibility in a special education transition program, we examined the effectiveness of a video prompting procedure in teaching 8 young adults with developmental disabilities to perform job-related tasks (doing laundry, checking in to work, vacuuming, stripping bed). The intervention was effective with all participants. The skills maintained over 3 months, and the participants performed the tasks accurately in a new setting with different materials. Participants were reportedly satisfied with the intervention and deemed it easy to use.     

Using a Person-Centered Approach in Community-Based Instruction for Adults with Developmental Disabilities

Instruction is a variable that has enhanced community access for adults with developmental disabilities. Community-based instruction emerged as an especially useful format to teach individuals daily living and work skills in the settings where skills would be used. As advocacy and self-advocacy for individuals with developmental disabilities increased, professionals recognized the importance of empowerment and self-determination in gaining community access. Adult education that incorporates the values of person-centered planning will evolve beyond what has traditionally been viewed as community-based instruction. This article describes the characteristics of community-based instruction designed to enhance not only community access, but also the participant's overall quality of life.     

Enhancing Counselor Supervision Through Compassion Fatigue Education

Compassion fatigue has been documented as an occupational hazard in counseling. Providing education to interns on compassion fatigue and protective factors, such as self‐care, can normalize struggles experienced by interns. Supervision provides a relationship to build skills to help prevent compassion fatigue. Interns should understand counselor developmental phases and the necessity of self‐care plans. To instill this knowledge, supervisors should focus on the purpose of supervision, activities of supervision, counselor developmental phases, and compassion fatigue education.     

Revitalizing Academic Advisement

Academic advisement has traditionally been thought of as limited to such routine functions as course registration and academic record-keeping. Advisement, however, should be redefined so that developmental functions are central. It would then perform a much-needed service in higher education, for students need assistance in planning academic programs and integrating academic, career, and life goals. Faculty and advisors will need to learn some unaccustomed roles (counselor, advocate, and guardian) as well as some new skills. With appropriate support, however, acceptance of developmental advising will be possible.     

Beyond Wealth and Health: The Social Environment as a Protective Factor for Cognitive Development of Children in Nicaragua

ABSTRACT

We examine the contributions of the environmental context on cognitive development in a representative sample of children (24–59 month-olds) in Nicaragua. Multivariate regression models revealed that children who experienced high levels of structure in the home, encountered more social interaction, and were enrolled in early education programs, exhibited higher cognitive skills. These factors were related to, but better accounted for, variability in children’s skills than the socio-economic endowment of the home or maternal education levels – the two most commonly used proxies to quantify children’s early contexts. Results from this study provide validation of the relation between children’s proximal early social environment and cognitive outcomes in a novel context. The results also provide motivation for deeper empirical investigation in the specific aspects of the home environment that may be central to providing resilience to low wealth populations, and to reducing inequality in developmental skills.     

A new approach for training infant intervention specialists

This paper describes a new approach to training infant specialists. A joint Master's degree program, based in graduate schools of public health and education, emphasizes cross-disciplinary coursework in maternal and child health and special education. The program emphasizes the importance of forging crucial linkages among the different disciplines and agencies that care for handicapped and at-risk infants. The program emphasizes improved skills in assessing, planning, and intervening on behalf of infants at risk for developmental delays or with severe or multiple handicaps; the ability to work with families; and the ability to develop and appraise community resources.     

A component analysis of behavioral skills training with volunteers teaching motor skills to individuals with developmental disabilities

This study included a component analysis of behavioral skills training (BST) for teaching volunteers how to use this training method to support individuals with developmental disabilities in a physical education program. In an alternating treatment design embedded within a multiple baseline design across five participants, the number of BST steps that volunteers completed correctly while teaching four motor skills was measured. In the initial training phase, each motor skill was taught to volunteers using a specific component of BST (i.e., instructions, modeling, rehearsal, or feedback). In subsequent training phases, BST components were combined to teach the volunteers the motor skills for which they did not reach a predetermined mastery criterion (a score of four correct responses across two consecutive trials). Maintenance was assessed. Results indicated that individual components of BST alone were sufficient for volunteers to meet the mastery criterion; however, the full BST framework was necessary for skill maintenance. Strengths, limitations, and recommendations for future research are discussed.     

Integrating fundamental movement skills in late childhood

The study examined how children of different ages integrate fundamental movement skills, such as running and throwing, and whether their developmental status was related to the combination of these skills. Thirty children were divided into three groups (G1 = 6-year-olds, G2 = 9-year-olds, and G3 = 12-year-olds) and filmed performing three tasks: running, overarm throwing, and the combined task. Patterns were identified and described, and the efficiency of integration was calculated (distance differences of the ball thrown in two tasks, overarm throwing and combined task). Differences in integration were related to age: the 6-year-olds were less efficient in combining the two skills than the 9- and 12-year-olds. These differences may be indicative of a phase of integrating fundamental movement skills in the developmental sequence. This developmental status, particularly throwing, seems to be related to the competence to integrate skills, which suggests that fundamental movement skills may be developmental modules.     

The effect of communication deficits on anxiety symptoms in infants and toddlers with autism spectrum disorders

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are life-long developmental disorders characterized by impairments in the development of reciprocal social and communication skills, abnormal language development, and a restricted repertoire of behaviors and interests. While it has been known for some time that children with ASD can evince elevated rates of anxiety symptoms, little research has been conducted on whether deficits in communication skills affect the range of anxiety symptoms in infants and toddlers with ASD. This study represents a first attempt to determine whether deficits in communication skills have an effect on the expression of anxiety in infants and toddlers with autistic disorder and pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified. Seven hundred thirty-five infants were evaluated with respect to the nature and extent of anxiety symptoms and developmental functioning. Both receptive and expressive communication skills appeared to play a significant role in the manifestation of anxiety symptoms.     

Correlates of adolescent parenting

A self-selected sample of 177 teenage parents participated in a study of the correlates of teenage parenting. An ecological model of the predictors of parenting behavior was used to define factors which potentially influence teenage parents' parenting skills as measured by the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME). The factors tested include level of punitiveness toward child rearing, knowledge of developmental milestones, level of depression, perceived social support, parental age, and parental race. The results of a stepwise hierarchical regression analysis found that parental race, punitive attitudes toward child rearing, and parental age were statistically significant predictors of total HOME scores. The older, white adolescent mother with less punitive attitudes toward child rearing and child discipline scored the highest on parenting skills. The relevance of these findings to program planners and service providers involved in teenage parent support and education programs is discussed.     

Promoting Student Cognitive Development

This study focused on a theoretically grounded counselor preparation curriculum that was designed to enhance the moral reasoning and cognitive complexity of students as well as teach them the basic skills and theories of counselor education. The curriculum for the counselor training was rooted in a teaching–learning framework that included conditions for facilitating cognitive–developmental growth and skill and theoretical training components. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the developmental effects of the counselor training program as measured in 2 domains of cognitive development: conceptual level and level of moral reasoning. The participants were assessed at 3 different times: prior to entering the counseling program, 1-year into the program, and the month marking the completion of their 2nd year in the program. The Paragraph Completion Method (PCM) and the Defining Issues Test (DIT) were used as estimates of cognitive–developmental level. Analysis of the results revealed a significant gain for the group on the PCM between the 2nd and 3rd assessments and a positive but nonsignificant trend for the DIT.     

Developmental changes in the linguistic performance correlates of reading achievement

The present study evaluated the hypothesis that measures of linguistic skills differentially contribute to the variability in reading achievement at different ages. Linguistic skills that develop earlier and are more important for earlier phases of reading were predicted to contribute more to the variability of reading achievement at earlier ages (5–7) than at older ages (10–12). Conversely, linguistic skills that develop later and are more important for later phases of reading were predicted to contribute more to the variability in reading achievement at older ages (10–12) than at younger ages (5–7). To test these developmental hypotheses, measures of language skills with different developmental rates were administered to cross-sectional samples of disabled and nondisabled readers at three mean ages: 5.5, 8.5, and 11 years. Reading group differences were apparent at each age on measures assumed to develop earlier, thus failing to confirm the first prediction. However, these measures may not have been sensitive to linguistic skills important for beginning reading. Reading group differences on measures of later developing language skills were apparent only for older readers, thus confirming the second prediction. The latter age-dependent relationships provided additional evidence for developmental changes in the linguistic correlates of reading achievement.     

Comprehensive employment preparation for adolescents with developmental disabilities: an empirical paradigm

This paper presents a comprehensive employment preparation intervention for adolescents with developmental disabilities. Vocational preparation is viewed in terms of the development of job and related psychosocial skills. The Comprehensive Employment Preparation program is designed to help youth and young adults with developmental disabilities acquire the skills necessary to prepare them for effective functioning as self-sustaining, working members of society. Substantial research indicates that social, problem-solving and employment-seeking skills are significant factors in attaining and maintaining employment. At this time, relevant literature clearly reveals that progress is being made in assessing individual deficiencies and programs for development of improved social competency. Future policy and research issues are reviewed.     

Teaching Pedestrian Skills to Individuals with Developmental Disabilities

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effectiveness of most to least prompting on teaching pedestrian skills to individuals with developmental disabilities. Five individuals with developmental disabilities were taught three different pedestrian skills, all related to crossing the streets, using simulation activities on a road model in the gym of their school. A multiple probe design across behaviors was used to evaluate the effects of most to least prompting. The results of the study revealed that most to least prompting was effective in teaching pedestrian skills. The subjects learned each of the skills and managed to generalize these skills to the actual city traffic.     

Medical student dreams about medical school: The unconscious developmental process of becoming a physician

This paper is a report on a collection of almost four hundred dreams of medical students and postgraduate trainees with the manifest content about medical training. It is a unique dream collection from a defined population that experiences a developmental sequence of observable, reality events. The reality events appear in the manifest content of the dreams along with their symbolic alterations. The dreams are used as a psychodynamic database. The data may illustrate which reality experiences seem psychologically formative, their emotional developmental sequences and their specific emotional content. This is a pilot project exploring whether dream material collected from a discrete task group might give information about a group's emotional adaptation. The dreams seem to show an unconscious developmental process in response to medical training and becoming a physician that unfolds in overlapping stages as trainees learn to master skills and tolerate care-giving responsibility for human life. A progressive, unconscious hero-healer fantasy seems to form. It becomes elaborated in masochistic and then sadistic fantasies. These fantasies are evoked by, and used as a defense against, inevitable but painful anxieties of emotional adaptation to medical education experiences.     

School enrolment and executive functioning: A longitudinal perspective on developmental changes,the influence of learning context,and the prediction of pre-academic skills

The present two-year longitudinal study addressed developmental changes in different aspects of executive functioning (i.e., inhibition, updating, and cognitive flexibility) in a sample of 264 children aged between 5 and 7 years. Of special interest were issues of developmental progression over time, the influence of learning context and the predictive power of executive functions and school context for emerging academic skills. The results revealed pronounced improvements in all executive measures, both over time and as a function of age. For the learning context, small and age-dependent effects on executive skills were found. Inhibition uniquely contributed to the prediction of aspects of emerging academic skills, over and above chronological age and language skills.     

How infant appearance informs: Child care providers' responses to babies varying in appearance of age and attractiveness

Research suggests that an infant's attractiveness influences adult's judgments of its developmental competence, such that less attractive infants are considered to look older than more attractive infants. To assess the effects of knowledge of age on these attractiveness-based attributions, 90 staff members of licensed child care centers judged specific developmental skills and rated the global developmental competence of 6-month-olds, based on the infants' facial appearance. Knowing an infant's actual age modified relations between attractiveness and expectations of maturity. Caregivers who knew the infants' ages estimated that unattractive infants were capable of relatively few specific skills in some areas of development, but they nevertheless rated those infants to be relatively competent in their development. Without information about age, caregivers often rated less attractive infants to be lower in competence, although they judged these babies to be older, with a larger number of specific skills. Training implications for improving caregivers' judgments are discussed.     

Modification of Cognitive-Behavioral Techniques in the Treatment of a Five Year-Old Girl with Social Phobia

Social phobia is a debilitating anxiety disorder that often goes undetected in young children, but can be effectively treated with cognitive-behavioral interventions. For children and adolescents, treatment usually includes education, social skills training, cognitive restructuring, relaxation training, and exposure. However, for very young children who present with social phobia, it is necessary to adapt treatment to the developmental level of the child. A case illustration demonstrates the way in which cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT) was modified for the treatment of a five year-old girl with social phobia. Several modifications were made, including utilizing novel exposure techniques and emphasizing parent management training in order to promote generalization of treatment gains outside of session.     

Reading in callosal agenesis

It has been suggested that deficits in explicit phonological processing are causal in developmental dyslexia. Deficits in such skills have been reported in developmental phonological dyslexia, though not in developmental surface dyslexia. The reading performance of two children with callosal agenesis, who have been previously shown to have impairments on rhyming tasks, are reported. Neither child is dyslexic in the traditional sense, since word reading levels are appropriate for age. However, both children have impaired development of the phonological reading route despite normal lexical skills. The pattern of their reading is therefore comparable to developmental phonological dyslexia. Problems in explicit phonological processing may be causal in the failure to establish an efficient phonological reading route but this is insufficient to create difficulty with word recognition itself. The corpus callosum may be essential for the normal development of a phonological reading route.