Carolyn W. Green

A behavioral approach to identifying sources of happiness and unhappiness among individuals with profound multiple disabilities.

This investigation evaluated a behavioral means of identifying sources of happiness and unhappiness among individuals with profound multiple disabilities. Indices of happiness and unhappiness were defined, and a corresponding observation system was developed and implemented with five students in an adult education classroom. Each student was observed while participating in two separate classroom activities. Results indicated the definitions and the observation system reliably identified different frequencies of happiness and/or unhappiness indices for each student across separate activities. Results are discussed regarding routine use of the observation system to evaluate classroom activities for effects on student happiness as a measure of quality of life. Future research needs are discussed in terms of determining means to alter certain classroom procedures that are accompanied by indices of student unhappiness.

Training basic teaching skills to community and institutional support staff for people with severe disabilities: A one-day program

Shortcomings in the technology for training support staff in methods of teaching people with severe disabilities recently have resulted in calls to improve the technology. We evaluated a program for training basic teaching skills within one day. The program entailed classroom-based verbal and video instruction, practice, and feedback followed by on-the-job feedback. In Study I, four undergraduate interns participated in the program, and all four met the mastery criterion for teaching skills. Three teacher aides participated in Study 2, with results indicating that when the staff applied their newly acquired teaching skills, students with profound disabilities made progress in skill acquisition. Clinical replications occurred in Study 3, involving 17 staff in school classrooms, group homes, and an institution. Results of Studies 2 and 3 also indicated staff were accepting of the program and improved their verbal skills. Results are discussed regarding advantages of training staff in one day. Future research suggestions are offered, focusing on identifying means of rapidly training other teaching skills in order to develop the most effective, acceptable, and efficient technology for staff training.

Training Human Service Supervisors in Aspects of PBS Evaluation of a Statewide, Performance-Based Program

If many people with disabilities are to experience the benefits of positive behavior support (PBS), personnel in human service settings must be well versed in the values and practices of this approach. We describe a curriculum and methodology used to train supervisors in aspects of PBS on a statewide basis. The curriculum incorporated values of person-centered planning, ecologically valid practices, and principles of adult learning in conjunction with competency- and performance-based training. Selected components of the curriculum were initially evaluated experimentally with 12 supervisors. Observations during role-play activities and on-the-job applications indicated that the supervisors acquired the skills addressed in the training. Subsequently, the entire curriculum, which targeted 26 sets of skills related to PBS and involved 4 days of classroom training and 1 day of on-the-job training, was implemented with 386 supervisors across the state of South Carolina. Eighty-five percent of the supervisors successfully completed the training by demonstrating pre-established mastery-level performance for each set of skills. Acceptability measures suggested that all the trainees found the training useful, and 99.6% reported that they would recommend the training to other personnel. Results of the project are discussed in terms of the importance of training supervisors as one component of a systems-change process to enhance the practice of PBS on a large-scale basis.

A comprehensive evaluation of a train-the-trainers model for training education staff to assemble adaptive switches

We evaluated a train-the-trainers program for training education staff to assemble adaptive switch mechanisms. The adaptive switches were designed to assist persons with severe mental and physical handicaps in operating various electrical apparata. In Phase 1, a five-step training program (written and verbal instructions, modeling, performance practice and feedback) was used to train four teachers to assemble an adaptive switch. Also in Phase 1 social validity data were collected which supported the importance of adaptive switches for persons with severe physical impairment, as well as the need to train switch assembly skills to human service personnel. In Phase 2, the four teachers used the same five-step training program to train 22 teacher assistants to assemble an adaptive switch. Acceptability measures indicated that training was well received by the teachers (trainers) and assistants (trainees), and time efficiency measures indicated an average of less than two hours of training time was necessary for every two trainees. Effects of the training program were replicated in Phase 3 with two staff from another school. Results of the program are discussed in regard to using a train-the-trainers model as a means of upgrading staff skills, and helping reduce the gap between educational technology presented in the professional literature and that reflected in routine service settings.

Identifying Work Preferences Prior to Supported Work for an Individual with Multiple Severe Disabilities Including Deaf-Blindness

We evaluated a pre-work assessment for predicting task preferences during supported work with an individual who has profound mental retardation as well as deafness and blindness. The assessment method included specific components for familiarizing an individual with visual and auditory impairment with available work tasks. The individuals task selections were compared for three work tasks drawn from his future job duties. Results of the workers choices, once he began his supported job in a publishing company, indicated the pre-work assessment predicted tasks that the worker preferred to perform during his routine job. Results are discussed regarding the benefits of determining work preferences prior to beginning supported work. Areas for future research are also noted, focusing on developing additional procedures for matching individuals with deaf-blindness with preferred work activities.

Evaluating the Functional Utility of Congregate Day Treatment Activities for Adults With Severe Disabilities

Many adults with severe disabilities spend considerable amounts of time in segregated day programs. We evaluated the degree to which these programs support purposeful and age-appropriate activity. Observations in 100 congregate community and institutional program sites indicated that approximately half of consumer time was spent in purposeful activity, 75% of which was age-appropriate. In 20% of the sites, though, most activity was age-inappropriate. These results, which were similar across community and institutional settings, are discussed in terms of respective program administrators evaluating their supports through comparisons with activity involvement in other programs and the need for changes in programs providing primarily age-inappropriate activities.

Reducing Individualized Job Coach Assistance Provided to Persons with Multiple Severe Disabilities in Supported Work

Although technology exists for supporting people with disabilities in a variety of work situations, demonstrations of the technologys utility generally have not involved individuals with multiple severe disabilities in community jobs. We evaluated a program for reducing job coach assistance provided for three individuals with multiple severe disabilities who worked in a publishing company. Initially, observations were conducted to determine the job steps for which each worker received assistance in terms of a job coach completing aspects of the steps for the worker. Each job step receiving assistance was then reviewed to determine if the assistance could be reduced by teaching the worker additional skills or by modifying the environment to compensate for physical disabilities. Once the instruction and modifications were initiated, reductions occurred in the amount of work completed by the job coaches for each worker. Work activity and quality continued at a high level for each worker, although productivity decreased. The latter results appeared due to reductions in work completed by job coaches and not to changes in each workers work rate. Results are discussed regarding the possible impact of reducing job coach assistance on work opportunities for this population of potential workers. Suggestions for future research focus on developing additional means of increasing independence of workers with multiple severe disabilities.

Naturalistic Observations of Classrooms Serving Severely Handicapped Persons: Establishing Evaluative Norms.

A naturalistic, observational analysis was conducted of 43 self-contained classrooms serving severely handicapped students. The primary focus of the observations was on levels of on-task student performance and student involvement in functional educational tasks. Results indicated that during designated instructional periods, slightly less than half of all student time was spent on-task. When students were on-task, almost two-thirds of their time involved nonfunctional instructional tasks. Results are discussed in terms of establishing norms for evaluating and improving educational services for the severely handicapped. Additionally, future research directions are noted, with a particular emphasis on investigating means of assisting educators in providing more useful teaching tasks for severely handicapped students.

A Comparison of Supported Work versus Center-Based Program Services on Selected Outcomes for Individuals with Multiple Severe Disabilities.

The effects of supported work versus center-based program services were evaluated with four individuals who have multiple severe disabilities. Each week the individuals participated in supported work placements in a publishing company and in a center-based program within an adult education department at a residential center. Systematic observations were conducted in multielement fashion of the degree to which the individuals displayed alert and active behavior, were involved in purposeful activity, and exhibited indices of happiness in both programs. Results indicated that most individuals displayed more alert and active behavior and were involved in more purposeful activity during supported work than during the center-based program. Two of the individuals also displayed more indices of happiness during supported work, whereas two individuals showed no consistent differences in happiness indices across the two types of programs. Possible reasons for the beneficial effects of supported work are discussed, with an emphasis on potentially different expectations for the participants and staff in supported work versus center-based services, as well as differences in the proficiency with which staff performed their duties. Areas for future research are offered to provide more detailed determinations of the relative benefits of supported work for people with multiple severe disabilities.

Changing Less-Preferred Duties to More-Preferred: A Potential Strategy for Improving Supervisor Work Enjoyment

ABSTRACT We evaluated a strategy for making highly nonpreferred work duties more preferred as a potential means of enhancing work enjoyment among supervisors in a human service setting. Repeated preference ratings and rankings were completed by 4 supervisors during baseline to identify their most disliked work tasks. These tasks were then altered by soliciting each supervisors opinion regarding why the respective task was so disliked and what could be done to make the task more preferable, removing disliked stimuli associated with the tasks, and adding liked stimuli during completion of the tasks. Following the task alterations, ratings of task likeability increased for all 4 supervisors. Preference rankings of target tasks also increased, including from rankings as among the least preferred tasks to among the most preferred tasks. All supervisors rated the task-alteration process as making their quality of work life better, and all chose to continue the intervention. These results occurred without any observed decrease in work quality. Results are discussed regarding the potential contribution of behavioral interventions with subjective concepts, such as enjoyment, that are viewed as important by the general populace. However, qualifications with relying on verbal reports also are noted.