Ninety-seven developmentally disabled mentally retarded persons (aged 10 to 48 years) living in an institution, in group homes, or at home were trained in environmental language, speech, and reading skills using a game oriented multisensory approach. The evening tutorial program consisted of 20 sessions over a 6 month period. A pedagogic and task specific assessment methods were detailed to ensure replicability. Posttest data for 81 individuals treated and 109 in the control group showed improvement in the order of self help skills predicted (most improvement in speech and least in language). When the findings were analyzed according to living arrangements, a different order of effects was indicated (most improvement in Ss from institutions and least in Ss living at home), defending the importance of both settings and training methods to the normalization process. (Author/DB)