Analysis of the functional and personal characteristics of 336 persons with mental retardation living in 181 small, specialized foster care homes and group homes found some differences in resident characteristics across facility type, including communication and toileting skills, age, and mobility. (Author/DB)

Thirty-six adults with moderate to severe mental retardation received either general case programming, rule learning, or attention control instruction in a table-setting learning task. General case programming and rule learning were successful in promoting generalized table setting. Only general case programming facilitated maintenance of…

The final report describes activities of the Improving Community-Based Instruction Project, which conducted research to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of training in community settings with individuals with severe disabilities. Three areas of research were undertaken: (1) studies of the influence of the location of instruction on the…

The California Adult Student Assessment System (CASAS) is a comprehensive educational system designed to enable adult educators to develop and evaluate a life skills curriculum for competency based educational programs. The system comprises the CASAS Competency List, the CASAS Item Bank, the User's Manual, the Curriculum Index and Matrix, and…

School mathematics is governed by a powerful tradition as regards both content and methods. In the first stage of the Alternative Course of Mathematics (ALM) project, an analysis is being made of the mathematics used in the everyday life of the community. By interviewing adults and children outside school, an analysis is also being made of the way…

Comparison of adults with mental retardation either with or without Down syndrome and under or over 50 years of age found a significantly higher rate of dementia only in Down syndrome subjects over 50. However, the observed incidence based on functional findings was substantially below the presumed 100% prevalence of neuropathological markers of…

Intended for researchers, policy analysts, and practitioners, the book provides a review of 176 documents (both published and unpublished) focusing on education, employment, and independent living outcomes across ten handicapping conditions. The first chapter provides an introduction to the project to review the extant literature on the subject.…

The Test of Practical Knowledge seeks to measure students' skills to handle everyday life situations by assessing three domains: personal knowledge, social knowledge, and occupational knowledge. This paper describes the administration of the test to students in grades 8 to 12, the summation of data, interpretation of scores, standardization,…

This study evaluated 3 models of personal competence in 180 students with mild and 143 students with moderate/severe mental disabilities. Results support the original Greenspan model that includes physical and emotional competence and practical, social, and conceptual intelligence, rather than the American Association on Mental Retardation model…

One principle of applied research is to design intervention programs targeted to teach useful skills to the participants (Baer, Wolf, & Risley, 1968), while structuring the program to promote generalization of the skills to the natural environment (Stokes & Baer, 1977). Proficiency in community skills (e.g., community navigation and…

Patients (N=165) under 75 who had suffered a stroke in the past 5 years completed a Sickness Impact Profile. Analysis of results indicated the influence of stroke on everyday functioning. Chronic psychosocial disabilities, independent of the degree of physical disability, were reported in fifty-two percent of the patients. This psychosocial…

This paper describes the development and standardization of a self-report measure, the Subjective Stress Index, for use by people with mild mental disabilities. Items were derived by people with disabilities from stressful events in their lives. The scale enables users to quantify the frequency and intensity of daily hassles and major life…

This study assessed the behavior of 41 4-through 8-year-olds with Williams syndrome. As expected, socialization and communication were relative strengths, whereas daily living skills and motor skills were relative weaknesses. Within socialization, interpersonal skills were stronger than play/leisure or coping skills. Adaptive behavior was not…

The study examined the relationship between probe and training conditions on performance of nine severely handicapped students on functional tasks in classroom and community settings. Findings led to the following recommendations to teachers: measures of student performance under natural or probe conditions should be evaluated in addition to…

Models of well being and human functioning have traditionally been based on empirical studies done with children and young adults. As part of an ongoing research program to develop and test a model of effective functioning and positive health in older adults, 31 elderly individuals (7 males, 24 females), with a mean age of 73.58 years, completed…