The first of two documents designed to provide training for paraprofessionals working with moderately and severely/profoundly handicapped students, the sourcebook provides information on preservice and inservice education. Narrative is presented and activities are described for the following preservice topics (sample subtopics in parentheses): role of instructional associate (paraprofessional's functions, relationship with teacher); advocacy (history of treatment of the handicapped, legal accomplishments achieved by advocates, deinstitutionalization, other current trends); student characteristics (student placement, types of handicaps); and school issues (program types, personnel, common procedures). Self-paced inservice topics include the following eight instructional units (sample subtopics in parentheses): classroom management (establishing a positive learning environment, establishing positive human interactions); the instructional process (informal assessment methods, programming); motor skills (trends in motor development, fine motor skills, fitness); communication skills (group language activities, hearing adaptations); social skills (development of identity); functional academic skills (developmental writing, functional math, termporal relations); personal autonomy skills (feeding, toileting, dressing); and home and community living skills (dishwashing, community mobility, consumer education, career education, safety skills). (CL)