The paper reviews problems in the sheltered workshop concept and proposes a change of focus in the provision of occupational life preparatory services for individuals with severe disabilities. Among problems cited are a lack of efficient production and training technologies, a lack of trained community placement personnel, and a general lack of…

Mentally retarded adults' ability to express facial emotions of happiness, sadness, anger, and fear was investigated. Photographs of facial emotional expressions posed by 52 retarded adults were judged by familiar and unfamiliar nonretarded adults. Happiness and sadness were accurately posed most often. The ability of retarded adults to encode…

Systematic observations and ratings by self and others were part of an ethnographic approach to studying the self-concept of 48 severely to mildly mentally retarded adults in a sheltered workshop setting. Ss completed both the Self-Esteem Inventory for Adults and "The Way I Feel About Myself" Self-Concept Scale. Rehabilitation counselors completed…

Informal discussion groups, "rap groups", have been found to be an effective method for establishing rapport and understanding with mentally retarded adults in sheltered workshop settings. To investigate the use of rap groups as a field research approach with mentally retarded adults, four groups of 6 to 9 mentally retarded adults,…

The paper describes a system used in Nebraska in which vocational rehabilitation specialists determine who is a high need client and develop programs via a social-ecological or "person-environment" perspective. A high need client is defined as an individual who will require considerable staff support, intervention, and time. A three-phase study…