Although an important part of adult life, individuals with significant disabilities experience low rates of gainful employment. The purpose of this review was to summarize and analyze the literature on teaching vocational skills to individuals with significant disabilities. Sixty-two articles (with 75 experiments) included in this review were…

The authors culled evidence-based recommendations and guidelines for effective instruction from practice guides and national studies addressing the development of academic language in English Language Learners (ELLs). Working within the framework of the qualitative similarity hypothesis (Paul, Wang, & Williams, 2013), the authors used the…

Study design: A systematic review of the literature. Objectives: To investigate community participation of persons with an intellectual disability (ID) as reported in empirical research studies. Method: A systematic literature search was conducted for the period of 1996-2006 on PubMed, CINAHL and PSYCINFO. Search terms were derived from the…

The paper presents 24 suggestions for the employment of mentally handicapped individuals. Each suggestion is described briefly and considerations or actions are posed as applicable. Among opportunities listed are free labor market status plus additional support, selective placement, quota system (requiring a percentage of those hired be…

A review of problems faced by sheltered workshops for disabled persons (low placement rates in open employment, nonconsideration of individual needs, poor financial rewards) includes an outline of a habilitation model featuring improved staff training, production and wages, vocational and nonvocational options, organization of training, and…

This paper provides a historical overview of sheltered workshops and presents information about service innovations and mission expansion. The first workshop in the United States was the Perkins Institute, opened in 1837 for individuals with visual handicaps. This workshop was typical of "categorical" workshops that were established during this…

Disabled persons cannot be identified with precision. Because of this, there can be no single unambiguous count of disabled persons. However, the Social Security Administration surveys indicated that in 1966 and 1978, about 17 percent of the population considered themselves as having some degree of work disability. Severe work disability increased…

Mentally retarded persons in sheltered workshops in West Virginia were studied in order to determine their learning styles and how these learning styles related to the populations studied by Witkin and others. (Witkin classified learning styles as either field independent--i.e. task oriented--or field-dependent--i.e., oriented to the social…

These five papers deal with topics related to problems associated with transition from school to independent living for handicapped youth. "Individual Transition Plans: From Lip Service to Implementation" (Joseph Stowitschek, Cheryl Kelso) reports on a study to determine the extent to which individual transition planning is advocated by…

Sheltered workshops for severely disabled persons should be reformed to emphasize job placement, transition to more independent work environments, and retraining and replacement of workshop staff. A national policy on the employment of disabled persons focusing on supported employment, least restrictive work environments, and career development is…

A national conference on autism, attended by agency staff, organization staff, advocates, and parents of children and adults with autism, consisted of paper presentations, site visits, and small group reports and recommendations. This volume of proceedings includes papers with the following authors and titles: (1) "An Overview of the…

A research review and a study of residential and sheltered workshop care staff (N=20) attitudes toward sexuality, marriage, and parenthood of mentally retarded persons indicated staff ambivalence and conservatism. Teaching techniques for use by care staff and counselors in sex education programs for mentally retarded persons are presented. (CB)

This document contains 16 papers that were scheduled to be presented at a conference (which was canceled) on approaches and programs for helping developmentally disabled persons to be more self-sufficient. The book is divided into three sections: (1) unmasking vocational abilities, (2) enhancing functional independence, and (3) medical and…

The employment alternatives available to disabled workers in various countries throughout the world were compared. Using a six-level model in which level 1 designated no employment and level 6 indicated competitive employment with no accommodation or shelter, the researchers examined the following employment practices: competitive employment…