The application of technology to the problems of the elderly will reduce the costs of care by providing additional help to the elderly so they can remain independent and will enhance the quality of life. Technology is divided into health care technology and ecological technology. (Author/ABB)

Such everyday paper materials as cash register receipts, labels, travel pamphlets, and train schedules provide a wealth of excellent materials for teaching life skills and functional reading to multihandicapped hearing-impaired students. Possible activities include comparing grocery receipts and conjecturing about the shoppers and reading medicine…

The article describes the community learning program Fairfax County, Virginia, provides moderately and severely handicapped students to prepare them for eventual home and work environments. Covered are program structure, preparation, traffic and public transportation instruction, safety instruction, grocery store instruction, restaurant…

A cluster analysis grouping a sample of 153 hearing-impaired persons according to seven independent living skill variables indicated that a meaningful classification for living, work, and education could be achieved. Most of the high group and many middle group members could function at much higher levels if services were available. (Author/VW)

The effectiveness of a five-second time-delay procedure to teach three chained food preparation behaviors to four moderately retarded adolescents was evaluated within a multiple probe design across behaviors. The skills maintained over a three-month period and generalized from school to home for subjects completing the generalization probe…

A multiple-probe design demonstrated the effectiveness of a match to sample paradigm using tactile recipe cards, a positional tray, and systematic prompting in teaching a severely handicapped deaf-blind retarded woman the independent preparation of three breakfast foods. (Author/DB)

The paper details teaching methods that have proved successful in teaching money management skills to secondary special education students (e.g., use of real money, organization of money before counting, transitions when counting different bill denominations, instruction in various bill combinations, sequence of introducing coin combinations, and…

Recounts experiences studying Eliot's novel at an NEH summer seminar. (NKA)

Three moderately/mildly retarded adults were trained in adaptive community skills. Treatment involved instructions, performance feedback, social reinforcement, in-vivo modeling, self-evaluation, and social and tangible reinforcement. Rapid and dramatic improvements occurred soon after treatment began. Skills generalized to other shopping…

The objective template matching procedures of D. J. Bem were evaluated with 14 group homes for the developmentally disabled. Placement requirements were described in terms of minimum adaptive behaviors required, maximum maladaptive behavior tolerated, and required level of supervision. Environmental templates were developed and matched with client…

Reviews the Test of Practical Knowledge, a multiple choice test of "functional competency," noting that the test's task requirements are confounded by such factors as intelligence, achievement, social knowledge, and reading ability. (HOD)

An independent living curriculum builds skills in home management, money handling, on-and off-campus living, public transportation, and employment in secondary students at the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind. (CL)

A Life-Planning Program addresses the transitional needs of secondary-aged learning disabled students via a process of problem solving, goal settings, and goal implementation. Among seven guiding principles of the program is that life planning is taught as a cognitive process, the program is student managed, and instruction is limited to short…

The case study examines the implicit uneducability diagnosis for an individual who had not shown progress in over two years of training in eating skills. Following programing by a special training team, the S made variable but substantial progress. Results suggest that negative educability assessment based on performance in standard educational…

This study examined the congruence between the ratings of level of functioning (LOF) by parents of children with emotional and behavior disorders and LOF ratings by the professionals providing services to these children. Specifically, it examined the relationship of parent-professional congruence on LOF ratings to parent satisfaction with their…