TEACHING SUPPORTED EMPLOYEES WITH SEVERE MENTAL RETARDATION TO SOLVE PROBLEMS

Two individuals with severe mental retardation, employed by a janitorial supply company, were taught to use self-instruction in combination with multiple exemplar training to solve work-related problems. Use of the combined strategy resulted in generalization of the effects of independent variables, as well as generalization to nontrained problems. Use of the strategy is discussed in terms of promoting independent performance among supported employees.     

Further evaluation of prompt density,rate of reinforcement,and the persistence of manding

Previous research has evaluated the effects of prompt rates on the rate of communicative behavior. More recent research has suggested that dense prompting can result in communicative behavior that is more resistant to change. However, existing research has not considered the impact that higher response rates had on reinforcement rate, a variable known to impact response persistence. The current study systematically replicated previous research by evaluating communicative responding in contexts associated with dense- and lean-prompt schedules and extended existing research by (a) holding reinforcement rates similar across the two prompting schedules (lean and dense), and (b) evaluating the persistence of communicative responding in the contexts associated with each prompting schedule. The results for Experiment 1 clearly replicated and extended previous research. The results for Experiment 2 were equivocal and suggested that previous reinforcement history and response class size impacted outcomes.     

A review of behavioral procedures to teach motor skills to individuals with severe disabilities

Behavioral procedures are one approach to teaching or improving the fluency of motor skills of individuals with severe disabilities. This article provides a review of behavioral procedures by highlighting antecedents, consequences, and multifaceted techniques. Investigations are reviewed in each area according to (a) replicability of the intervention, (b) experimental control, (c) maintenance, (d) generalization, and (e) social validation. Practitioner implications address selection of reinforcers, reinforcement schedules, and teaching within meaningful routines. Future research recommendations highlight the need for documenting that stimuli are actually reinforcers. Additional research needs emphasize targeting maintenance, generalization, and social validation.     

ACADEMIC EFFECTS OF PROVIDING PEER SUPPORT IN GENERAL EDUCATION CLASSROOMS ON STUDENTS WITHOUT DISABILITIES

We studied the academic effects on peers without disabilities of serving as peer supports for students with disabilities in general education classrooms. Three peers were studied using a range of indicators, including academic engagement, coursework performance, and social validity assessments. Peers assisting a student with disabilities via curricular adaptation, assignment completion, and social facilitation constituted the multicomponent independent variable. We used withdrawal or multiple baseline designs to demonstrate positive benefits for peers for all measures used. In addition, follow-up data for 2 peers indicated that the positive changes associated with serving as a peer support were maintained for up to 2 months. Our results are discussed in relation to the possible academic and social effects of providing peer supports in general education classrooms for students with and without disabilities.     

THE EFFECTS OF CHOICE AND TASK PREFERENCE ON THE WORK PERFORMANCE OF ADULTS WITH SEVERE DISABILITIES

We evaluated the effects of choice versus the assignment of tasks of varying preferences on the work engagement of adults with severe disabilities. The combined results of two experiments suggest that the relative preference for a task may be an important variable in the effectiveness of choice for some individuals.     

Comparing interspersed requests and social comments as antecedents for increasing student compliance

Two students were alternately presented with interspersed high-compliance requests and social comments as antecedents to low-compliance requests. An initial comparison demonstrated similar positive effects on compliance for interspersed requests and social comments. A second analysis indicated that the effectiveness of social comments for increasing compliance was related to the time interval between social comments and low-compliance requests.     

Expressed Emotion In The Narrative Context of Family Photographs

This study aims to elucidate cognitive and contextual aspects of the EE (Expressed Emotion) concept. The EE levels of both parents of two first admission psychotic patients were rated from the Five Minute Speech Sample (FMSS), and the emotional responses were further analyzed in narratives of family photographs. The attribution model was found to provide an explanatory framework for understanding relatives' expressed emotions (EE) toward a family member suffering from psychotic disturbances. Four case reports indicated that family photographs induced parents to create narratives in which emotions, attributions, and strategies for coping with stressful aspects of the illness came forward as intertwined phenomena. The method can offer more comprehensive data for intervention strategies aiming to alter the prevailing atmosphere and interaction patterns within the high EE family.     

The Experience of Time in Acute Psychosis and Schizophrenia

From the narrative point of view the plot of a story configures time. In psychosis, when experiences remain unnarrated, experience being-in-time is also missing. Once experiences are given narrative form, they can be left behind as a part of individual's personal history, thus enabling present experiences to be narrated. Unnarrated experiences do not accumulate. Narrative history contains, however, enough redundancy to invite you to restory your past in a new way if you need to. Hence, from the narrative point of view, early, family- and network-centered intervention is of special value in cases of acute psychosis.     

THE UNIT PLAY MANAGER AS FACILITATOR OF PURPOSEFUL ACTIVITIES AMONG INSTITUTIONALIZED PROFOUNDLY AND SEVERELY RETARDED BOYS

Child care workers were trained in specified techniques (play manager routines) in an effort to increase purposeful activity among a group of profoundly and severely retarded institutionalized boys. A system of prompts, increasing the availability of toys and regular staff monitoring, were alternated with normal institutional routines in an ABA reversal design. On the average, activity level increased from 10% to a mean of 70% during treatment conditions. Correspondingly, stereotyped or harmful behaviors decreased from an average of 20% to 70% during treatment.