Teaching supported employees with severe mental retardation to solve problems

Teaching adults with developmental disabilities to problem solve using electronic flowcharts in a simulated vocational setting

Teaching job-related problem-solving skills may increase the likelihood that individuals with developmental disabilities obtain and maintain employment (Kaye et al., 2011; Peck & Kirkbride, 2001; Unger, 2002). In this study, we evaluated the use of electronic-based flowcharts on an iPod Touch as a form of self-instruction to increase problem solving skills with 2 men diagnosed with developmental disabilities. An instructor implemented behavioral skills training (BST) to teach the participants how to use an electronic flowchart to solve one problem and then evaluated the participants' use of electronic flowcharts to solve other types of problems, including those that required more than one solution. Results showed increases in problem solving skills across at least 2 problems that were not associated with BST and increases across all problem exemplars with verbal reminders and feedback. These findings have important implications for increasing independence on the job and decreasing intrusive and costly supports for those with disabilities.

Effects of a problem-solving strategy on the independent completion of vocational tasks by adolescents with autism spectrum disorder

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have few employment opportunities and a lower job quality than individuals of typical development. Social deficits and lack of independence may contribute to underemployment and unemployment of individuals with ASD. The ability to solve problems might ameliorate some of these barriers. We taught four adolescents with ASD a problem-solving strategy (i.e., use of a textual activity schedule) to assist with independent completion of vocational tasks in the face of three types of problems (e.g., missing or broken items) and nonproblem situations. Following introduction of the problem-solving strategy, all four participants independently completed the tasks when a problem was presented and responding generalized to untaught vocational tasks.

Multiple Exemplar Training: Some Strengths and Limitations

In successful multiple exemplar training, a set of exemplars that sample the range of stimulus and response topographies is trained, and the full range of performances results. Examples abound in experimental psychology and include abstraction and concept learning, responding to relations, identity matching, rule following, behavioral variability, responding to wh-questions, describing past events, learning sets, and continuous repertoires. Thus, behavior analysts often allude to a history of multiple exemplar training to account for different generalized performances. It is easy to see how a strategy of multiple exemplar training can work with many types of performances, even performances that involve relations between objects or events. However, there appear to be at least two exceptions, where direct multiple exemplar training does not work well: (1) when there are no physical dimensions at all along which generalized performances can emerge, and (2) when the relation between a stimulus and an effective response is complex. Interpretation of the latter type of cases in terms of mediated generalization is outlined and discussed. An experimental and conceptual research program should produce an account of the general limits of multiple exemplar training, and guidelines for the most effective training for generalized skills.

Teaching Persons with Severe Disabilities to Use Self-Instruction in Community Settings: An Analysis of Applications

Community instruction for individuals with severe disabilities rarely incorporates programming for independence. This article reviews and analyzes investigations of the effects of self-instructional programs on increasing the independence of persons with moderate or severe mental retardation in integrated environments. The conceptual role of self-instruction in promoting behavior change is discussed and variations in self-instructional teaching approaches are analyzed. Overall, the feasibility of teaching persons with severe disabilities to self-instruct to promote acquisition, generalization, and maintenance across diverse skills is supported. Methodological issues related to investigations of self-instruction are discussed, recommendations for implementing self-instructional programs are provided, and directions for future research are proposed.

Review of Research on Self-Management Interventions in Supported Employment Settings for Employees With Disabilities

Self-management strategies involve the use of antecedent cue regulation, self-monitoring, self-determined consequences, or a combination of any of these techniques to facilitate job-skill acquisition, maintenance, and generalization. The purpose of this article is to review the empirical literature related to self-management strategies in supported employment settings for individuals with disabilities and offer guidelines for implementation. Best practices, limitations of current research, and needs for future research are offered.

Implementing Cognitive Behavior Management Programs for Persons with Autism

Cognitive behavior modification (CBM) is a technique that allows students with exceptionalities to function independently in schools and communities. It has been widely used with persons with mild to moderate disabilities; more recently, this technique has also been applied successfully with students with autism who exhibit a range of skills. This article provides an overview of the literature on the effectiveness of CBM for persons with classic autism and higher functioning autistic disorder. In addition, guidelines for implementing a CBM program are presented.

An Alternative Method for Quantitative Synthesis of Single-Subject Researches

The purpose of the present study is twofold: (a) to compare the validation of percentage of nonoverlapping data approach and percentage of data points exceeding the median of baseline phase (PEM) approach, and (b) to demonstrate application of the PEM approach in conducting a quantitative synthesis of single-subject research investigating the effectiveness of self-control. The results show that the PEM had higher Spearman correlation with original authors’judgment than PND did. The results of applying the PEM approach to synthesize the effect of self-control training on academic and social behavior showed that the treatment was highly or at least moderately effective.

Empowerment Issues in Services to Individuals With Disabilities

"Empowerment" has become a widely used term in discussions of disability and rehabilitation issues. However, the term has been given a confusing variety of meanings and interpretations. The meanings and some conflicting views of empowerment are reviewed. We argue that there is a great deal more clarity regarding how disability services currently limit empowerment than about what empowerment is, and we outline five core features of disability services which are said to be disempowering. Elements of a service system that overcome these limitations and promote empowerment are presented. Incorporating these elements will require a more radical restructuring of current service systems than many have supposed.

The effectiveness of psychosocial and vocational training for mentally challenged in a day care centre

BACKGROUND

A growing number of mentally challenged individual are being excluded mainly from the educational process because of a presumed inability to learn.

AIM

The study is aimed at identifying the efficacy of psychosocial and vocational training for mentally challenged in a day care centre.

METHODS

The sample for the study consisted of 30 clinically diagnosed mentally challenged children (N=30, boy=18, girl=12), who are enrolled in Ashadeep day care centre. Methods employed were a semi demographic questionnaire and Vineland Social Maturity Scale to assess the improvement of the child across the various subscales in the pre post test sessions. Correlation coefficient and t-test was used to compare the profile of the children across both the sessions.

RESULTS

Age of onset of therapy and the duration does not have significant effect on the outcome, but 'higher the IQ' more positive outcome can be seen. The subscales do not correlate when it comes to affecting each other. Girls showed much poor outcomes than boys in the self0help general subscale.

CONCLUSIONS

The study ascertained the fact that education and training of the mentally subnormal child is also possible, and psychosocial and vocational training lead to improving the social competence of the child.

A review of correspondence training: Suggestions for a revival

Doing what is promised or accurately reporting what has been done increases with correspondence training. Early research showed that training produced positive correlations between saying and doing, but did not always produce useful generalized correspondence to new, untrained say-do sequences (Baer, 1990). Recent research (reviewed here in detail) questioned early procedures and introduced new issues: functional criteria, functional verbal responses, baseline measures, and response chains in correspondence training. Correspondence research was almost abandoned after 1992. This review suggests new procedures and directions to revive this important research area. Specific suggestions are to combine correspondence procedures with similar features from ongoing research in compliance and self-instruction; consider important guidelines for future research derived from recent studies; consider interactions between applied and basic research with correspondence issues; compare correspondence between different participant cohorts; examine the use of descriptive and functional terms; examine punishment procedures; and provide a behavioral analysis of the relations between verbal and nonverbal behaviors related to correspondence.

Employment and self-management: a meta-evaluation of seven literature reviews

Efforts focused on teaching individuals with intellectual disabilities to manage their own affairs have evolved over the past 30 years. Self-management strategies, in particular, hold much promise when the goal is to promote self-determination. In this article, the authors describe trends in the evolution of self-management strategies by analyzing seven literature reviews. The authors conclude with thoughts related to jump-starting an intervention that has appeared to lose momentum, namely, self-management.

The effects of multiple-exemplar self-instructional training on high school students' generalized conversational interactions

A multiple-baseline-across-students design was used to investigate the effects of multiple-exemplar self-instructional training on the acquisition and generalization of conversational interaction of 4 high school students with mental retardation. The multiple-exemplar component of the model consisted of (a) several peers without disabilities teaching the use of a self-instructional social skills strategy across diverse examples of conversational interactions and across two settings and (b) assessing the generalized effects of training across additional peers and one setting. Findings indicated that peers were effective in teaching the multiple-exemplar strategy and that peer training was associated with systematic increases in generalized conversational interactions with familiar and unfamiliar peers with and without disabilities in an additional setting. Social validation data indicated that following multiple-exemplar training, all participants' performances approximated those of general education students and was judged by others to have improved.

Enhancing independent time-management skills of individuals with mental retardation using a Palmtop personal computer

Achieving greater independence for individuals with mental retardation depends upon the acquisition of several key skills, including time-management and scheduling skills. The ability to perform tasks according to a schedule is essential to domains like independent living and employment. The use of a portable schedule prompting system to increase independence and self-regulation in time-management for individuals with mental retardation was examined. Twelve people with mental retardation participated in a comparison of their use of the technology system to perform tasks on a schedule with use of a written schedule. Results demonstrated the utility of a Palmtop computer with schedule prompting software to increase independence in the performance of vocational and daily living tasks by individuals with mental retardation.

Self-management of instruction cues for occupation: review of studies with people with severe and profound developmental disabilities

Helping people with severe and profound developmental disabilities acquire and maintain constructive occupation is an objective of great practical importance. During the last 15-20 years, studies directed at this goal have largely relied on five strategies of self-management of instruction cues. Those strategies consist of the use of (1) picture cues presented on sets of cards, (2) picture cues stored in computer-aided systems, (3) object cues attached to cards, (4) verbal cues stored in audio recording devices, and (5) self-verbalizations. This paper reviews the aforementioned strategies and discusses their overall effectiveness and their suitability (practicality). The paper also points out some relevant issues for future research.

Overview of supported employment

This article traces the emergence of supported employment as a result of philosophical changes in expectations for persons with disabilities, based on scientific developments that challenged traditional service-delivery models. Supported employment program characteristics also are reviewed, and the influence of applied behavior analysis is outlined. Finally, areas for future research in supported employment are discussed.