This commentary focuses on four common issues of concern that affect special education research in different countries: how philosophies, laws, and ethics influence special education research, how policymaking and research affect each other, how research topics are selected, and who conducts special education research with what methodologies.…

Presented are findings of a study to monitor programs for the educable mentally retarded (EMR) in California, with emphasis on the numbers of racial and ethnic minority students placed in EMR classes. The document is divided into six sections: an introductory section explaining impetus for the study; Section II with background information on the…

To clarify the factors interacting with poverty which make families more likely to abuse and neglect their children, interviews were conducted with families indicating neglect only (n=246), neglect and abuse (n=106), and abuse only (n=28). Interviews conducted with the maltreating group were compared with a group of poverty level nonmaltreating…

TO STUDY WHETHER TEACHING TYPING TO EDUCABLE MENTALLY HANDICAPPED STUDENTS WOULD RESULT IN IMPROVING ACADEMIC WORK, GREATER VISUALIZATION SKILLS, AND BETTER SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL ADJUSTMENT, THE EXPERIMENTAL HALF OF THE 14 MATCHED PAIRS OF CHILDREN 10 TO 13 YEARS OF AGE WITH MEASURED IQ'S BETWEEN 50 AND 80 WERE GIVEN 2 TO 3 YEARS OF TYPING INSTRUCTION.…

IN A 3-YEAR STUDY OF THE PERFORMANCE OF BLIND COLLEGE STUDENTS, 53 COLLEGE BOUND SUBJECTS IN THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP (MEAN AGE OF 19 YEARS) RECEIVED A 10-WEEK TRAINING COURSE BEFORE ENTERING COLLEGE. THE COURSE CONSISTED OF A BASIC PROGRAM TO AID BLIND HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES TO PREPARE FOR COLLEGE THROUGH PERSONAL ADJUSTMENT AND ORIENTATION…

AN OCCUPATIONAL DAY CENTER FOR MENTALLY RETARDED ADULTS WAS ESTABLISHED TO PROVIDE COMMUNITY SERVICES FOR RETARDED PERSONS WHO LIVE AT HOME AND, ALTHOUGH BEYOND SCHOOL AGE, ARE UNABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN SHELTERED WORKSHOP ACTIVITIES. THE STAFF INCLUDES A DIRECTOR, A SOCIAL WORKER, FIVE INSTRUCTORS, A TRAINING SUPERVISOR, AN OFFICE WORKER, AND A…

THIS IS A METHODOLOGICAL STUDY TO DETERMINE IF RELIABLE AND VALIDLY COMPARABLE DATA CAN BE OBTAINED FROM SCALES DESIGNED FOR USE WITH HEARING IMPAIRED, VISUALLY IMPAIRED, AND NON-IMPAIRED HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS. THE MAJOR INSTRUMENTS ASSESSED SELF CONCEPT OF ACADEMIC ABILITY. IT WAS CONCLUDED ON THE BASIS OF CROSS-VALIDATION AND OTHER ANALYTICAL…

TO ASSESS THE SHORT RANGE EFFECTS OF PARTICIPATION IN A SPECIAL SCHOOL PROGRAM ESTABLISHED IN 1963 FOR PREGNANT SCHOOL AGE GIRLS, INTERVIEWERS IN 1965 OBTAINED INFORMATION FROM 109 GIRLS WHO HAD ATTENDED THE PROGRAM IN ITS FIRST YEAR, 123 GIRLS WHO HAD BEEN REFERRED BUT HAD NOT ATTENDED, AND MOTHERS OF THE GIRLS. THE SPECIAL PROGRAM FOCUSED ON…

A discussion of research in the area of retardation influenced by recent developments in psycholinguistics, the problem of language assessment, and the problem of language training, first considers a review by D.R. Olson on language, the concept of transformational grammar, syntactic structure of sentences, the acquisition of linguistic meaning,…

In order to determine problems encountered and factors relating to successful attendance of deaf students at regular colleges, a self administered questionnaire was mailed to 992 persons. The 653 usable responses were divided into five groups for comparative analysis: Group A, those who graduated from a regular college (224); Group B, those who…

A 2-year project constructed a work study program for educable mentally retarded (EMR) high school students. The first phase developed courses of study, instructional materials, and teaching procedures; the second phase established a functional vocational training program in five high schools with approximately 150 EMR seniors (IQ range 53 to 78,…

In order to determine the differential ability of mildly retarded school children to profit from coaching on non-verbal, non-academic reasoning problems and to study their problem solving and conceptual behavior, the Raven Coloured Progressive Matrices Test was given to 72 educable students (IQ 55 to 80) in socioeconomically homogeneous suburban…

A demonstration program of early rehabilitation services integrated into school programs for educable mentally retarded junior and senior high students is described. Aspects considered are objectives, community and school setting, students involved, school instruction and work experience, personnel, and community relationships. The discussion of…

A project was designed to provide therapy for disadvantaged children in New York City nonpublic schools who have the additional handicap of defective speech. Effectiveness of speech teachers in providing therapy services was evaluated. The measurements of effectiveness were determined from the following: trained speech pathologists' observation of…

To develop a simple, inexpensive technique to quantify speech comprehension of pupils (aged 7 to 13) in special schools for the deaf, the verbal responses to pictures by 111 pupils were judged for intelligibility by untrained listeners. Pupils were asked to identify 30 pictures; their taped replies were judged by listeners who wrote down what they…