Determining the most effective prompting strategies to be used for individuals with significant intellectual disability can assist in the acquisition of skills, reduction of errors, and avoidance of prompt dependency. However, few studies have directly compared the effects of different prompting strategies to determine which are the most…

Social interactions may positively influence developmental and quality of life outcomes. Research in persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) mostly investigated interactions with caregivers. This literature review focuses on peer interactions of persons with PIMD. A computerized literature search of three databases was…

We studied the effectiveness of an individually-tailored leisure program implemented by direct care staff in a residential program for 28 adults with severe to profound intellectual disability using a multiple baseline design across two homes over a 1.5 year baseline and treatment period followed by another nearly 1.5 year maintenance phase. The…

Little is known about the effects of participation in inclusive settings on student self-determination. In this exploratory study, we examined the association between students' inclusive school and community activities and the self-determination skills of active involvement in IEP activities and use of selected self-determination strategies.…

Curriculum content is an essential component of the field of special education for students with moderate and severe disabilities. This study updates the twenty-year curriculum content review by Nietupski, Hamre-Nietupski, Curtin, and Shrikanth (1997) and provides an overview of the last 15 years of research on this topic. A hand search of ten…

We compared multiple-stimulus without replacement (MSWO) and paired-stimulus (PS) procedures to assess stimulus preferences of adults with developmental disabilities. Stimulus preference rankings for six food items obtained by the two procedures were positively correlated for all participants (M = 0.72, range 0.41 to 1). However, four participants…

Effective practices in student data collection and implementation of data-based instructional decisions are needed for all educators, but are especially important when students have severe intellectual and developmental disabilities. Although research in the area of data-based instructional decisions for students with severe disabilities shows…

There is a paucity of treatment literature for significant and intractable behavior problems in adults with autism and mental retardation. Four adults with autism, severe to profound mental retardation, and serious, long-term behavior problems participated in an accommodation training program as an adjunct to more traditional behavioral and…

The effects of a pica exchange procedure were evaluated on the pica of a female with severe mental retardation. A BAB design revealed that the pica exchange procedure was effective at reducing the occurrence of pica. In addition, the pica exchange procedure was effective throughout six increasingly more difficult response effort conditions.…

The use of a handheld prompting system by four students with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities to independently transition between an ordered chain of tasks was examined in a community vocational setting. Effectiveness of the handheld prompting system was assessed using a multiple-probe design across participants. Analysis of the data…

Attitudes of teachers (N = 96) and paraprofessionals (N = 48) working with students with intellectual disability (ID) towards the new definition of ID (Luckasson et al., 1992, 2002), was examined. The main innovation of the new definition of ID is the cancellation of the four ID levels, suggesting an optimistic view, especially towards individuals…

Until recently in the Netherlands, students with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) rarely made use of the educational facilities available. As a result of a new law passed in 2003, an increasing number of students attend school. A specific curriculum has been developed, but no knowledge has been gained regarding the…

Federal mandates as well as the National Science Education Standards call for science education for all students. IDEA (2004) and NCLB (2002) require access to and assessment of the general curriculum, including science. Although some research exists on teaching academics to students with significant disabilities, the research on teaching science…

Functional analysis was used to determine the possible function of inappropriate spitting behavior of an adult woman who had been diagnosed with profound mental retardation. Results of an initial descriptive assessment indicated a possible attention function and led to an attention-based intervention, which was deemed ineffective at reducing the…

The single-stimulus (SS) preference assessment procedure has been described as more appropriate than the paired stimulus (PS) procedure for "lower functioning" individuals, but this guideline's vagueness limits its usefulness. We administered the SS and PS preference assessment procedures with food items to seven individuals with severe or…