Explores the use of video-based multimedia simulations for teaching functional skills to persons with developmental disabilities and discusses future considerations, design issues, and implications. Considerations address the importance of appropriate role modeling and the combination of video-based simulation and in vivo training to foster…

Reviews of evaluation reports on 12 adult basic education (ABE) and 5 basic living skills programs were used to draw conclusions about the effectiveness of those programs. Findings indicate that ABE programs show promise for decreasing recidivism. (JOW)

While rhetorical theory has long been concerned with the epistemological foundations of rhetorical abilities, the full potential of the structuralist perspective is far from realized. The study of speech acts and inventive processes discloses the underlying logic of linguistic performance. A speech act is conceptualized in terms of the…

The article reviews the literature on teaching cooking skills to mentally retarded students. The lack of research which assesses procedures for teaching food preparation skills is discussed as are the need for training in natural settings, the costs involved in teaching cooking skills, and the need for more thorough baseline assessment. (Author/DB)

The self-care (or latchkey) arrangement has emerged in the 1980s as a topic of interest to parents, practitioners, and policy makers. Reviews major policy issues and questions about self-care. The following topics are covered: the meaning of self-care, consequences of self-care for children's development, policy implications, and resources for…

Problems in the public school education of profoundly mentally handicapped students and findings of recent research on the teaching of this population are discussed. Early educational intervention is one key to reducing the effects of retardation. Basic daily living skills, such as communication and grooming, should be taught through systematic…

Describes contextual therapy, which proposes that many childhood sexual abuse survivors grow up in an interpersonal context that fails to transmit the capacities needed for effective daily functioning. Contextual therapy retains trauma-focused interventions as one component of a broader framework aimed at helping survivors develop adaptive…

Examines the relationship between depression symptomatology and functional impairment among white and African American elderly people. Results indicate that although African American elderly people were more impaired in the performance of daily living activities, they did not experience higher levels of depression. However, African Americans did…

Chess is an interactive, authentic, three-dimensional activity that naturally supports and encourages marginalized students in successful transitions. Chess can also help educators gain a wider understanding of what it means to be, and who is perceived to be, intelligent. Discusses eight specific ways in which chess can be beneficial in an…

Draws on research concerning the components of sense of place, the rootedness of college students to their hometowns, and categories of environmental competence. Offer insights to camp staff into fostering sense of place and the emotional attachments to camp that comprise place attachment, and to developing environmental competence among campers…

This review explored the literature on programs for students with learning disabilities incorporating self-advocacy components into secondary-to-post-secondary transition programs. An evaluation of self-advocacy components is presented to determine to what extent such self-advocacy skills as knowing one's rights, effective communication skills,…

Discusses Foster McMurray's critical retrospective essay, included in the second edition of Arthur Bestor's "Educational Wastelands: The Retreat from Learning in Our Public Schools." Disagrees with McMurray's conception of liberal education and maintaining the centrality of the academic disciplines. (PS)

Considers well-being of children who are home alone during part of the day. Addresses questions parents, researchers, and family life educators may have about self-care. Reviews five related research studies defining the self-care arrangement, the number of children in self-care arrangement, the number of children in self-care, impact of self-care…

The possibility is raised of teaching reasoning strategies to students with learning disabilities using a curriculum designed around reasoning by analogy. The research base for such instruction is summarized. These principles of critical thinking are illustrated through examples including reading the newspaper, counseling situations, and content…

Presents a review of David K. Brooks' generic life-skills taxonomy. Discusses implications of a life-skills taxonomy in terms of its theoretical and practice fit with key features of mental health counseling. Argues that a life-skills approach based on developmental theory and research provides a practical framework to deliver effective treatments…