More than 67,000 preschoolers with disabilities across five states were examined for disproportionate special education eligibilities using risk ratios (RRs). Results indicated children classified as American Indian (RR = 2.25) and Black (RR = 1.64) were disproportionate in one state, whereas children classified as Asian, Hispanic, and White…

The article describes assessment, planning and training for people with multiple disabilities and visual impairment (MDVI). The ImPAct MDVI project, an EU Comenius programme, addressed concerns expressed by teachers of children and young people with MDVI as to how they are expected to integrate the diverse curriculum elements and particular skills…

One in every five Americans lives with at least one disability or disorder, including both the obvious, such as those requiring the use of a wheelchair, and the less evident ones, such as eating disorders or Asperger's syndrome. Those responsible for teaching disabled students and providing services and support for them need ready access to…

Nationally, a significant number of children with disabilities attend Catholic schools across the country. The National Center for Educational Statistics shows that during the 2001-2002 school year, 2.2% of students attending parochial, private and diocesan schools were placed into special education programs (U.S., 2001). Although Catholic schools…

This study examined the effectiveness of an intervention package that included visual accommodations, daily preference assessments, and naturalistic instructional strategies on the accuracy of choice-making responses for three participants with visual impairments and multiple disabilities. It also examined the participants' ability to maintain and…

Nine children with complex communication needs and concurrent vision and hearing losses participated in an intervention program aimed at increasing intentional prelinguistic communication. The intervention constituted a pilot, descriptive study of an adapted version of prelinguistic milieu teaching, hence referred to as A-PMT. In A-PMT, natural…

The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is an augmentative and alternative communication program (Frost & Bondy, 2002). Although PECS has been effectively used to teach functional requesting skills for children with autism, mental retardation, visual impairment, and physical disabilities (e.g., Anderson, Moore, & Bourne, 2007; Chambers &…

Enabling persons with intellectual or multiple disabilities to carry out personal care tasks (such as washing and dressing) independent of guidance from parents or staff members and without prolonged interruptions is often difficult, particularly with persons whose disabilities also include visual impairments. Attempts were recently made to curb…

This paper introduces educators to CHARGE syndrome (CS), a multiple anomaly developmental syndrome that is usually accompanied by some degree of hearing and visual impairment. We describe the defining medical characteristics of the syndrome, and following this, outline the behavioral features commonly seen in individuals with CS. Throughout, we…

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and the Individuals with Disabilities Improvement Education Act of 2004 stress the importance of giving every child access to the general education curriculum. The Reading First program, under the No Child Left Behind Act, aimed to establish evidence-based literacy instruction for all students in kindergarten…

Although the term deaf-blind implies a complete absence of hearing and sight, in reality, it refers to children with varying degrees of vision and hearing losses. The type and severity differ from child to child. The key feature of deaf-blindness is that the combination of losses limits access to auditory and visual information. Children with…

The goal of the User-Centered Digital Library Project, conducted by the National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM) at WGBH, was to adapt the Teachers' Domain online digital library to enable teachers and students with disabilities to more readily use the resources in science classrooms. NCAM added accessibility features such as captions and audio…

"The Condition of Education" is a congressionally mandated report that provides an annual portrait of education in the United States. This document includes information from "The Condition of Education 2009" about children and youth with disabilities. The number and percentage of children and youth receiving special education…

A basic need for a child is to belong to a group (Maslow, 1970). Groups help children: to develop relationships and to foster individual mental health (Johnson and Johnson, 1989); and disabled and non-disabled children, when given assistance, can develop relationships with each other (Sideris, 1998). But there are very few opportunities in Cyprus…

Differential reinforcement procedures were combined with momentary restraint conditions to reduce the stereotypic behaviors of three visually impaired, severely disabled students (7-10 years old). Procedures were carried out in a classroom setting by classroom staff. (Author/CL)