Obscene verbalizations in an individual with traumatic brain injury were treated using stimulus fading as the singular form of intervention. Results of a functional assessment revealed the obscenity was maintained by negative reinforcement. Stimulus fading (the gradual reintroduction of instructional demands) produced immediate and substantial…

Nine hours of videotape of an integrated eight-year-old deaf child of hearing parents, in social and instructional settings, were analyzed using a Vygotskian model. Analysis focused on: the frequency, amount, and kinds of interactions; the means of communication; the importance of context; the use of eye contact; and repair/avoidance of…

Learning environment research should take into account postpositivist ways of thinking to assist students and teachers to construct a more emancipatory learning environment. A critical perspective could lead to research playing a larger role in the transformation of science classroom learning environments. Presented a case study of a middle school…

Used a constructivist teaching/learning approach to improve first year preservice primary teachers' confidence in, and attitude to, teaching science. Benefits reported were ownership of knowledge, development of pedagogic skills, and the use of group work to develop ideas. Concerns raised included uncertainty when exploring knowledge for…

Two cases are reported to illustrate the ways in which standardized tests fail blind children. Other assessment devices are recommended to allow a child to demonstrate how he or she makes sense of the world, such as observational techniques, interviews, structured teaching, exploration, and play. (Author/JDD)

Comparison of two strategies for reducing drooling in two adults with moderate mental retardation found both the use of brief cues and the use of flexible cues equally effective for Subject 1 but the use of flexible cues more reliably effective with Subject 2. Neither subject achieved independent skill without the use of cues. (DB)

Examines preimmigration education of Mexican immigrants using an ethnographic case study of a rural Mexican primary school. Discusses the implications of a high-quality national curriculum and instructional methods emphasizing teacher direction, verbal interactivity, and group orientation for immigrant students in American schools. (FMW)

This case report provides a phonological investigation of the speech of an eight-year-old autistic boy. Speech was elicited using delayed imitation, object naming, and a connected speech sample. The subject's use of phonological processes resulted in extensive homonymy which contributed to severely reduced intelligibility. Both typical and unusual…

This case study of a woman with profound mental retardation and a history of severe self-injurious behavior (SIB) found that the dramatic decrease in SIB following Naltrexone administration was maintained through placebo and no drug phases and at six-month follow-up. Findings are discussed in terms of endogenous opioid system theories of SIB. (DB)

Analysis of family and medical histories of 5 children (ages 11 to 16) with autism and hyperlexia and 5 sex-matched and IQ-matched children (ages 9 to 15) with autism but no hyperlexia suggested that children with autism and hyperlexia represent part of the continuum of autism rather than a specific syndrome. (Author/DB)

This paper presents a method for distinguishing between extinction and punishment effects. In extinction and punishment, different schedules of reinforcement or punishment are in effect when a given proportion of responses is blocked. Response patterns in treatment of hand mouthing in an adult with profound mental retardation suggest that a…

This article reviews the developmental profile of a child with autism during the first 3 years of life. Analysis of home videos showed how the child appeared to make progress up to 12 months followed by decreases in social interaction, communication, and language. Discussion suggests that this particular profile is one of the possible pathways…

Studies of American Sign language including functional magnetic resonance imaging of deaf signers confirms the importance of left hemisphere structures in signed language, but also the contributions of right hemisphere regions to sign language processing. A case study involving cortical stimulation mapping in a deaf signer provides evidence for…

Macau, as a society, is a crossroads where East-West encounters have been taking place for centuries. This paper examines some of the contemporary issues and implications for moral education. After a brief introduction to the social background of Macau, the paper describes the characteristics of Macau's education in general and the development of…

The clinical inference process in test interpretation is described so that people can more easily communicate about it, teach it, and learn it. Chapter 1 compares different levels (concrete, mechanical, and individualized) of interpretation of the same test. Chapter 2 offers examples of an often-neglected kind of data necessary for individualized…