Lewis Polsgrove

A Survey of Assistive Technology Applications in Schools and Recommendations for Practice.

The Analysis of Technology Assistance for Children (ATAC) project was undertaken in recognition of the severe limit in information on current practices in field applications of assistive technology. Specifically, the ATAC project focused on investigating three problem areas: (1) the status of assistive technology in educational and related settings with school-age children with disabilities; (2) the benefits and barriers associated with using assistive technology for these youngsters; and (3) the effects of assistive technology use. A major aspect of the project involved a general survey of assistive technology use in special education classrooms across three states: Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee. This article presents the results of this effort, and discusses the implications in regard to improving practices in the field.

Disabilities, Developmental Handicaps, and Substance Misuse: A Review

Although increased attention has been directed toward the special risks for substance misuse of persons with disabilities, there continues to be a paucity of epidemiologic data detailing prevalence and potential etiologies for use. This review describes the research problems contributing to the limited findings in the field. The risk factors of special relevance to persons with disabilities are discussed, and the data related to specific disabilities are presented. A hierarchy of research needs is suggested, along with several working hypotheses concerning substance use/misuse and persons with disabilities. Finally, current issues impacting intervention and treatment services in this field are discussed.

Self-Control: Methods for Child Training.

This article reports results from field research on training children in methods of behavioral self-control—an effort that has developed from interest in the generalization and maintenance of behavior and from concerns raised by educational “humanists.” Presented are concepts related to the process and acquisition of self-control, a research review, and a discussion of the implications of the research for training teachers and exceptional children.1 Two research and training procedures were identified: self-management methods and cognitive methods. Several self-management studies have concluded that children may maintain appropriate behavior following a training period in which external controls are gradually yielded to them. In most studies, however, because competing external stimuli were uncontrolled, children may have improved their ability to identify these rather than developed self-control. Although laboratory research suggests that cognitive training methods are potentially powerful, this has not been clearly demonstrated in field studies.2

Reflections on the Past and Future

On such occasions as retirement I suppose its appropriate to trace the unique succession of events that brought one to this particular point in time. Were engaged at this moment because of our common interest in children whom many dont understand and often outright reject. Deep within us is some germinal basis for this attachment. Looking back, I realize that even as a youngster I was curious as to why people behaved this way or that. Much of human behavior, including my own, seemed illogical, incongruous, and unpredictable. Perhaps because of this fascination I was naturally drawn to the mysterious field of psychology. I began my career as a clinical psychologist testing patients and children with various types of psychoses, personality, affective, and learning disorders in hospital, outpatient, and school settings. These experiences, I came to realize, were largely without clear purpose, and my interest turned to the treatment of childrens emotional and behavioral disorders. Toward this end in 1966 I took my first direct services job as a counselor of young soft adjudicated delinquents, at a state-run treatment facility. There, I learned about the nature of adult-child power relationships, and the necessity for basing interventions on good science. The institution where I worked was headed by two social workers. There was no treatment program, per se. The superintendent, an adherent to Eric Ericksons ideas of fostering basic trust, believed in relationship building. The assistant superintendent of the camp was impressed with Maslows hierarchy and saw therapy mostly as a matter of meeting the kids needs for acceptance and security. Curiously, while neither of these men had experience working with children with emotional and behavioral disorders, they were staunchly opposed to reward systems believing instead that the children knew how to behave appropriately and would choose to do so as they developed feelings of security. When the children were destructive or showed anti-social behavior they were restricted to their cottages and from participating in recreational activities although we had no recreation program or equipment. We counselors were expected to serve as positive role models, to provide care and acceptance, and as the assistant super described it, hit them with good doses of reality when they misbehaved. Early one morning I got to see their ideas in action. Around 1 a.m. I received an urgent call from the super to come to the camp some 17 miles away. As I drove onto the grounds, I witnessed an unforgettable spectacle. About 30 boys were engaged in an outright riot. Several had climbed high up on the water tower that stood in the center of the facility. Others had found their way to the roofs of the cottages and were cursing and raining gravel down on the staff, which were, in turn, cursing and threatening them with restrictions. Three or four kids were busily kicking in windows. A couple of the older boys had broken into the supers office, taken the keys to the State pickup and were driving it around the grounds. The super was chasing kids right and left cursing them loudly; occasionally, hed catch one and hold him in an effort to calm him down. The assistant super had taken a few down to the cafeteria to make them sandwiches in a frantic attempt to meet their basic needs. Fast forward to February 2002: A student in school psychology has come by my office to enlist my help in developing an anger control program for a class of third graders [!] She was working with a local teacher who had three boys who refused to do any work, largely roaming the classroom all day terrorizing the other kids. The leader of the pack, Mark, had been suspended from school five times already that school year. I expressed doubt that an anger control program would work without any external contingencies and suggested that we first try to get their behavior under control with a class-wide token program and probably a good time-out system. …

A Rumor of Paradigm Shift in the Field of Children's Emotional and Behavioral Disorders.

This article is a response to David Elkinds “Behavioral Disorders: A Postmodern Perspective” (this issue). We suggest that Elkinds claim that a paradigmatic shift has occurred in the field of emotional and behavioral disorders is unwarranted, since multiple paradigms influence this area rather than a single monolithic view. Furthermore, we point out that Elkinds argument lies outside of the framework for understanding scientific paradigms proposed by Thomas Kuhn. Finally, we argue that postmodernism lacks the intellectual coherence and heuristic integrity necessary to qualify as a paradigm. We therefore find postmodernism without merit in advancing our understanding of emotional and behavioral disorders, clarifying issues facing the field, or improving practices.

A Computer-Based Spelling Program.

A microcomputer spelling program that shows promise as a tool to ameliorate spelling problems of LD students

Use of Microcomputers in Training Special Education Teachers.

In a 1982 report, the Office of Technology Assessment observed that modern society is undergoing profound technological and social changes brought about by what has been called the information revolution. This information revolution has already created major demands for changing education practices and will undoubtedly alter the face of education in the future. The microcomputer is one of the prime movers of the revolution. While the computer has long been capable of facilitating classroom instruction, providing teacher training, and assisting school management and administration, until recently, the expense of computer technology has prevented the wholesale utilization of this resource. Recent advances in the computer industry, however, have resulted in the production of relatively inexpensive commercially available microcomputers that are readily accessible to teachers and students. Although microcomputers appear to have major implications for training special education teachers, there is virtually no empirical information available to guide efforts in this area (Rieth & Semmel, 1979). The available information related to the effectiveness of computer-based instruction in higher education, however, is encouraging. In this paper, we briefly review research on the effectiveness of computer-based instruc