Ian Pumpian

A Strategy for Developing Chronological-Age-Appropriate and Functional Curricular Content for Severely Handicapped Adolescents and Young Adults

The paper points out the inappropriateness of the typical bottom-up or norm-referenced curricula offered to severely handicapped adolescents and young adults. As an alternative, it is proposed that curricula for this population teach chronological-age-appropriate functional skills in natural environments. Functional skills, natural environments, and chronological-age-appropriate skills are defined in this context. A six-phase curriculum-development strategy is constructed based on these concepts. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of this strategy for traditional curricular content and service delivery for severely handicapped adolescent and young adult students.

Longitudinal Transition Plans in Programs for Severely Handicapped Students

• As we enter the 1980s it is astounding to be able to report that most severely handicapped students in the United States are actually receiving direct educational services. This is in dramatic contrast to the situation that existed prior to the passage of Public Law 94-142, The Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975. If we assume that in the near future alI severely handicapped students from birth through 21 will be receiving direct educational and related services, the critical issues will then be focused upon factors related to location, nature, substance, and quality. The relevant questions will then become: Are the best available educational practices being utilized? Are critically needed services provided in the least restrictive or most habilitative environments? Are the students being systematically prepared to function as independently and productively as possible in the most varied and constructive nonschool and postschool environments?

Changing Jobs: An Essential Part of Career Development

Supported employment, by definition, assumes the need for ongoing support. Despite this, assumptions inherent within regulations and policies of federal and state rehabilitation systems appear to be at variance with this definition: Job placement is viewed as final and support is temporary. Consequently, retraining and replacement services following the termination of a job are an afterthought, job change is equated with failure, and retraining is a reaction to this failure. In contrast, models of career development for the general population assume that changing jobs is an integral part of career development. In this paper we have applied this more normative view of career development to the rehabilitation system and the provision of supported employment.

Parent and Caregiver Impressions of Different Educational Models

Parental support for educational innovation has been described as essential in school change. This study examines parent and caregiver perceptions of educational opportunities for students with severe disabilities. Parents and caregivers from two high schools were interviewed. One high school uses an inclusive service delivery model, while the other uses a special day class model with limited mainstreaming. The data suggest that interviewees support inclusive schools and believe that their children are acquiring new skills. Questions remain regarding the balance of community-based Instruction and the amount of teacher training provided.

Outcomes for students with severe disabilities: Case studies on the use of assistive technology in inclusive classrooms

If outcomes for adults include valued membership in their community and work environments, then schools must assume responsibility for providing opportunities for meaningful participation and relationship-building among all students. A full range of supports and services, including the use of assistive technology, are required if students with severe disabilities are to realize these outcomes. Three case studies, illustrating the use of assistive technology in supporting students with severe disabilities in general education classrooms, are described and analyzed in this article.

To Pay or Not to Pay: Differentiating Employment and Training Relationships through Regulation and Litigation.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (1938), administered by the U.S. Department of Labor, utilizes criteria established in landmark Supreme Court cases to distinguish nonpaid instructional work experiences from paid employment. Special Education teachers involved in developing jobs for students with disabilities should understand this distinction in order to prevent problems that could accrue from providing employment-related instruction without pay, when payment may be required. Recent federal appellate and district court cases have interpreted these earlier Supreme Court cases and regulations, leading the U.S. Departments of Education and Labor to revise their guidelines relating to community-based employment instruction. This paper provides a careful description of the underlying themes and legal parameters within which nonpaid training programs can operate through a review and analysis of this litigation. We also review recent U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Labor guidelines, in order to assist in the design and implementation of instruction that is both programmatically and legally sound.