This study investigated the effectiveness of a multimedia program to teach three adolescent students with moderate intellectual disabilities to make purchases using a debit card and an automated payment machine (APM). Results indicated that the program was effective in teaching generalized operation of APMs with a debit card. (Contains…

Assessed effect of changes in minimum number of activities of daily living (ALD) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) limitations, types of help, and duration of disability required on size of population potentially eligible for home care benefits. Only 411,000 elders met restrictive disability criteria; over 4 million would qualify…

Examined family networks of 47 geriatric stroke patients for social supports and problems as they related to well-being after hospital discharge. After controlling for patients' medical status at discharge, social supports were not associated with any outcomes examined. Social problems explained additional variance in personal adjustment and…

This paper presents methods for visually impaired pedestrians assessing safety of street crossings in the absence of traffic controls, considering both limited detection ability and the difficulty of judging when approaching traffic is distant or slow enough to allow crossing. Alternatives for "uncrossable" streets and teaching methods are…

This study examined effectiveness of an instructional program designed to teach learning-disabled adolescents (N=70) to make better personal decisions. A pretest/posttest comparison design found that following instruction students showed better ability to both identify general schema for decision making and apply schema to novel problem…

This article describes how classroom discussion and field trips can be used to teach students with disabilities to engage in comparative shopping and informed choice making when they dine in fast food restaurants. (JDD)

This study found both constant time delay and a most-to-least prompting strategy were effective in teaching 4 moderately mentally retarded 18-year-olds to operate a washing machine and dryer.The constant time delay procedure, however, was more efficient in terms of instructional time and number of instructional errors. (Author/DB)

Learning disabled (LD) adults eligible for vocational rehabilitation were compared with LD high school seniors. Differences between the two groups included a significantly greater percentage of Whites in the adult group and more self-reported problems in such areas as daily living skills and vocational adjustment by the adults. (Author/DB)

Nighttime seat belt use by patrons of 10 taverns in two Canadian cities increased following an intervention consisting of police enforcement and the use of signs and posters. Separate observations of daytime seat belt use noted an increase in one city and maintenance at a high level in the other. (JW)

Safety belt use with and without addition of an incentive strategy was observed among 8,635 drivers at a drive-through restaurant. During the promotional campaign, average rate of belt use tripled compared to baseline following the introduction of a contingent reward (a large soft drink), and declined during followup. (JW)

Born in rural Tennessee, 15-year-old Billy Charles Barnett is proficient enough at hunting and fishing to support himself by teaching his survivalist skills to others. His economic well-being is threatened by required school attendance. Given the impoverished state of American education, society would not necessarily benefit from a lower dropout…

This study found that a videotape instructional package (involving viewing videotapes, on-site prompting, and reinforcement) was effective in helping 3 children (ages 8-9) with autism to acquire and generalize grocery purchasing skills in community settings. Skill acquisition was rapid and transferred to other settings. (Author/JDD)

An adapted version of the Scales of Independent Behavior (SIB) for administration to children with visual impairments is described, noting the rewording of task instructions, addition of comments, and deletion of inappropriate tasks. Results of a pilot study with 6 teachers of visually impaired students and a field evaluation with 15 similar…

Used data from Channeling Demonstration to investigate relationship between program participation, utilization of formal in-home services, and client satisfaction in elderly population. Age, being male, severe Activities of Daily Living dependency, living alone with no informal support, provision of basic case management services, and utilization…

The author of EC 604 294 examines the lack of training students receive in applying problem-solving processes to novel situations and explores the development of her interest in defining and operationalizing the concept of independent living skills in individuals with disabilities, especially deafness. (JDD)