Luanna H. Meyer

What Children Report and Remember: A Six-Year Follow-Up of the Effects of Social Contact between Peers with and without Severe Disabilities.

Various models and strategies to promote meaningful social interactions between children with and without severe disabilities have been reported in the special education literature. The reported outcomes associated with these efforts include positive effects on childrens attitudes toward disabilities, social competence, and social values (e.g., fairness and community caring). This is an investigation of what teenagers report and remember as a function of elementary school experiences involving different levels of social contact with peers with severe disabilities. Two self-report interpersonal measures were administered to 183 students without disabilities comprising social contact, exposure, and control groups. A subsample of 93 teenagers was interviewed about experiences and attitudes toward persons with disabilities and their memories from earlier school experiences. Analysis of the attitudinal data revealed significantly more positive attitudes, higher levels of current reported social contact, and more support for full community participation as a function of earlier social contact—although all children were relatively positive. The self-concept measure also revealed differences between subgroups of children as a function of gender and condition. The interview data with children in the high social contact group offer caveats for future inclusion efforts to avoid potential negative effects upon childrens personal relationships and social attitudes. Suggestions are made for future research to investigate the impact of inclusion on childrens socio-personal development and social relationships.

A Validation of Program Quality Indicators in Educational Services for Students with Severe Disabilities

References to “most promising practices” in educational programs for students with severe disabilities reflect a mix of social values as well as empirically validated instructional strategies. A literature search and polling of nationally recognized experts in severe disabilities was conducted to generate a listing of 123 items representing Program Quality Indicators. This initial listing was then rated by six groups (a total N = 254) representing various interests and constituencies: (a) behavior therapy experts, (b) experts in severe disabilities, (c) experts in deaf-blind, (d) mental retardation researchers, (e) state directors of special education, and (f) parents involved in advocacy efforts. Mean ratings for each item support the relative values of each of the indicators, and the results of factor analysis of the item ratings revealed five dimensions, which were valued differentially by the six respondent groups. Results are discussed in terms of future efforts to translate most promising practices into typical practices for students with severe disabilities in public school settings.

Science and Practice in Behavioral Intervention: Meaningful Outcomes, Research Validity, and Usable Knowledge

Many professional journals publish research reports of interventions for persons with developmental disabilities which traditionally have been expected to fulfill two quite different functions. First, this research literature is the scientific data base to support the validity of recommended most promising practices. Second, these same reports are expected to be a source of information to guide the efforts of practitioners to implement those most promising practices. In a parallel fashion, the experimental method has been used both to test intervention hypotheses in research studies and as an evaluation model for practitioners in evaluating applications in typical settings. This paper explores the extent to which it is reasonable or practical to expect conventional experimental methodologies and research reports to perform this dual purpose. Recommendations are made for research and practice that require multiple perspectives and approaches better suited to a human science.

The Role and Responsibilities of Teaching Assistants in Inclusive Education: What's Appropriate?:

This study describes a social validation of appropriate roles and responsibilities for teaching assistants (TAs) in inclusive classrooms. A self-report survey was rated by a sample of general education teachers, special education teachers, and TAs employed in urban and rural inclusive programs. Test-retest reliability of the survey was established for the TA sample. A factor analysis of all ratings suggested five major role components: (a) instructional; (b) school support; (c) liaison; (d) personal support; and (e) one-to-one in-class support. Statistically significant differences between mean group ratings indicate a lack of clarity regarding the appropriateness of these role components for TAs. We discuss how school districts might utilize our list to clarify TA job descriptions and shared understandings regarding roles and responsibilities among educational team members.

Alternative Strategies and Multiple Outcomes in the Remediation of Severe Self-Injury: Going “All Out” Nonaversively

This case study report describes the various treatments implemented over a 3-year period in an effort to reduce and eliminate multiple and severe self-injurious behaviors in a 45-year-old man who had been institutionalized and had exhibited these behaviors for the majority of his life. After baseline, an aversive procedure (contingent mechanical restraint) had been implemented and judged a failure by institution personnel. Subsequent intervention phases introducing community involvement and performance goals that emphasized functional activities in criterion environments and situations were associated with increasingly positive behaviors. Multiple outcome data are reported, including meaningful changes in targeted self-injurious behaviors, maintenance and generalization of those changes to integrated community environments at follow-up using available staff and resources, acquisition of new alternative skills, and placement in a supported apartment in the community with full-time work in a community job site. The procedures and the results demonstrate possible outcomes when nonaversive intervention procedures and community resources are utilized comprehensively as alternatives to aversive procedures focused upon only the immediate reduction of a single target behavior.

The effects of teacher intrusion on social play interactions between children with autism and their nonhandicapped peers

This study investigated the effects of two levels of teacher intrusion upon the behavior of elementary age children with autism and nonhandicapped peers during dyadic play interactions occurring in two special education classrooms. High versus low levels of teacher intrusion were contrasted in a mixed between- and within-subjects design counterbalanced for order across the two conditions. There were few differences in behavior across the two conditions, though the low-intrusion condition was associated with higher levels of toy contact, appropriate and inappropriate play, and lower levels of spontaneous verbalizations by the students with autism. There was no difference in the occurrence of excess behavior by condition. Results are discussed with respect to future investigations of effective teacher mediation to prepare children for positive peer interactions.

User-Friendly Measures of Meaningful Outcomes: Evaluating Behavioral Interventions.

This article describes principles and practices of data collection to evaluate the attainment of meaningful outcomes in educational services for students with severe disabilities and serious behavior problems. In contrast to a limited outcome such as a temporary change in one target behavior in a controlled clinical setting, an expanded definition of effectiveness would require evidence of a range of more meaningful outcomes for child, school, family, and community. Several user-friendly measures to document such outcomes are described, which were field-tested in an educational consultation project serving students with severe disabilities and challenging behaviors in integrated schools. The article concludes with a discussion of the advantages of an emphasis upon both meaningful outcomes and the use of measurement strategies that blend well and have high utility for typical schools while simultaneously increasing programmatic rigor and general school responsibility for what happens to students.

An Evaluation of Behavioral Interrelationships in Child Behavior Therapy

Although William James’s evocative metaphor for describing consciousness as a stream is still often quoted, the continuities of behavior that characterize everyday life seem equally noteworthy. In the early development of behavior therapy, or behavior modification, it was convenient to de-emphasize the descriptive complexity of the intermingling flow of individual repertoires, and concentrate instead on the identification of discrete behavioral events. This selective focus clearly served the field well, judging from the scientific and professional success of behavior modification. However, it imposed three conceptual restrictions on the field, all of which have become recognized in recent years.

Validation of the Assessment of Social Competence (ASC) for Children and Young Adults with Developmental Disabilities

The social competence of persons with developmental disabilities is generally regarded as predictive of community adjustment. This report describes the development and validation of a measure of social competence designed for use with individuals at all levels of functioning. The Assessment of Social Competence (ASC) represents both social functions and developmental hierarchies within those functions. Assessment progresses from the earliest manifestation of each function to mastery levels of performance as displayed by adults. Reliability and validity studies were conducted with large samples of children and youth (n = 140) and young adults (n = 161) with mental retardation and other disabilities. The results of these studies are presented, and a summary is provided of the strengths and limitations of the ASC. As an alternative to the predominant approach of direct observation of isolated social skill targets, the ASC offers a comprehensive and criterion-referenced assessment that could be useful in both descriptive and intervention social skill research.

A Consultation Model to Support Integrated Educational Services for Students with Severe Disabilities and Challenging Behaviors.

Students with severe disabilities who also exhibit serious behavior problems are a significant challenge to the provision of integrated educational services in neighborhood public schools. This report summarizes the components of a consultation model that utilizes locally available resources and expertise to support integrated school placements, along with specific efforts to remediate individual student needs. Follow-up placement information is presented for target students receiving project services during the 1986 to 1989 school years, including a description of both successful and unsuccessful outcomes. Procedures and results are discussed in the context of the need for consultation and additional support services for the school and home to help local education agencies achieve a zero reject model of services for students with challenging behaviors.