Frequent Versus Non-frequent Prompts and Task Performance in Persons with Severe Intellectual Disability

Abstract

This study extended the evaluation of frequent vs non-frequent prompts to support task performance with people with severe intellectual disability. Three participants were involved in the study. The data indicated that the frequent prompts strategy promoted higher levels of on-task behaviour and correct responding for 2 participants and on-task behaviour for 1 participant. The relation of these data with previous findings and their implications for daily occupation programmes for persons with severe developmental disabilities are discussed     

Should subjects be forewarned of the possible psychological consequences of filling out a PTSD questionnaire?

In 1993 Albach investigated the long-term consequences of sexual abuse on psychological health. A group of abused women a a control group of nonabused women were asked to fill in a questionnaire assessing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). For ethical reasons, the abused women were warned that filling in the questionnaire might be emotionally stressful. The control group did not receive this warning. The abused women scored higher on the questionnaire than the nonabused women. The warning they received may have influenced their reports. Our experiment investigated this. 101 psychology students were divided into two groups, one who received a warning and a control group who did not. The hypothesis was that people who had been previously warned would score higher on a PTSD questionaire than people who had not. There were, however, no significant differences in mean PTSD scores and no known initial differences between groups.     

Eye- and mouth-opening movements replacing head and hand responses in a microswitch program for an adolescent with deteriorating motor condition

This study assessed the possibility of replacing head and hand responses (no longer feasible) with minimal movements within the microswitch-based program of an adolescent with deteriorating motor condition and multiple disabilities. The new movements, i.e., eye- and mouth-opening, were introduced individually and then combined through the simultaneous availability of the related microswitches. Data showed the participant acquired the new movements (responses) successfully and retained them at a 2-mo. postintervention check. Mood improvements, i.e., increases in indices of happiness, also occurred through the program. The conclusion was that a person with deteriorating motor conditions may be able to revitalize a microswitch-based occupational program and retain a constructive engagement if new, feasible responses are identified.     

A brief account of statistical tests for single-case research with persons with developmental disabilities

Education and rehabilitation research with persons with developmental disabilities is often based on single-case designs (with small numbers of ordinal data points collected at irregular intervals) and relies upon graphic display and visual inspection of the data. This paper (a) provides a brief account of some statistical tests, which may serve to supplement the visual inspection process and (b) underlines some of their strengths and limitations to help education and rehabilitation personnel make a reasonable choice among them.     

The memory of concentration camp survivors

This study is concerned with the question whether extremely emotional experiences, such as being the victim of Nazi concentration camps, leave traces in memory that cannot be extinguished. Relevant data were obtained from testimony by 78 witnesses in a case against Marinus De Rijke, who was accused of Nazi crimes in Camp Erika in The Netherlands. The testimonies were collected in the periods 1943–1947 and 1984–1987. A comparison between these two periods reveals the amount of forgetting that occurred in 40 years. Results show that camp experiences were generally well-remembered, although specific but essential details were forgotten. Among these were forgetting being maltreated, forgetting names and appearance of the torturers, and forgetting being a witness to murder. Apparently intensity of experiences is not a sufficient safeguard against forgetting. This conclusion has consequences for the forensic use of testimony by witnesses who were victims of violent crimes.     

Stimulation and microswitch‐based programs for enhancing indices of happiness: a maintenance assessment

This study assessed whether stimulation and microswitch‐based programs maintained their positive impact on indices of happiness over time. Three people with multiple disabilities, who had participated in a study comparing these programs, continued to be exposed to them over a maintenance period of 5 or 6 months. Maintenance data showed that the frequencies of indices of happiness increased or remained unchanged for two participants and declined for the third. The frequencies of microswitch activations were higher for two of the participants and largely unchanged for the other. Procedural aspects of the study, implications of the findings, and relevant issues for new research are discussed. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A man with multiple disabilities using a head‐turning response to reduce the effects of his drooling

A man with multiple disabilities was taught to perform a head‐turning response to activate optic sensors embedded in a small spongy structure at his shoulder and produce preferred stimuli. By touching the spongy structure with chin and mouth (i.e., to activate the sensors), the man would clean these areas thus curbing the effects of his drooling. Data showed that the man increased the frequency of his head‐turning responses and reduced drooling effects (chin wetness) through the intervention and a 3‐month follow‐up. Forty university students, who were involved in a social validation assessment, indicated that the intervention was suitable and enjoyable to the man, had a social/educational function, and represented an approach that they supported. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.