The National Foundation for Educational Research surveyed 77 local education authorities, 268 special schools, and 23 inservice training institutions in England and Wales concerning support services for integration of special needs students. The survey obtained information on local authority services, links between ordinary schools and special…

The Harpersbury Hospital School in Hertfordshire, England, developed a curriculum of "mothering," or intensive, structured interaction teaching, to promote development of language, cognition, and sociability in pupils with severe and complex learning difficulties. The process approach is based on the critical learning that infants experience while…

Precision teaching can accelerate basic skills progress of special needs children. Issues discussed include using probes as performance tests, charting daily progress, using the charted data to modify teaching methods, determining appropriate age levels, assessing the number of students to be precision taught, and carefully allocating time. (JDD)

Twenty-seven classroom assistants in British special schools were surveyed. Results are summarized in the following areas: job title; length of service; training and qualifications; union membership, job description, and contracts; duties; relationships between teachers and assistants; relationships with children; and aspirations. A comparison…

Research is reviewed on (1) ergonomic factors which affect handwriting performance, focusing on the student's grip on the writing implement, pressure on the writing instrument and surface, types of writing instruments, and writing paper; and (2) assessment of the legibility and speed of handwriting. (Author/JDD)

"Parent to Parent" is a telephone-contact self-help group for families of special needs children. Support parents are recruited and trained to provide counseling to other parents. Professionals lead the training course, which focuses on listening, understanding, and action planning. Parents carry out the support group's administrative tasks via…

Interviews were conducted with 20 Scottish special education teachers who undertook a one-year, full-time inservice course. Teachers cited increased confidence, personal and professional development, deeper thinking, and increased flexibility and awareness as gains from the course; specific skills, which are emphasized in short inservice courses,…

Based on published literature and personal observations, the history of Soviet special and remedial education is reviewed. The interaction of special education with general public schooling and its development as compared with other countries are emphasized. A case study of Estonia provides a specific example. (Author/JDD)

This paper examines the magnitude of the problem of disability facing developing countries; the traditional response to this challenge and its ineffectiveness; the emergence of community-based rehabilitation (CBR); its underlying assumptions and effectiveness in terms of staff training, interagency partnerships, and parental and community…

The development of special education in Pakistan is examined, including the present "National Policy for Special Education." Development issues and constraints are discussed, such as motives for having a special education system, comparison and contrast between Western and Asian approaches, and appropriate deployment of scarce resources.…

The development of special education in Scandinavia is outlined, with special emphasis on Finland. Factors influencing the future of special education include emphasis on independent living, decreasing numbers of workers needed, increased mobility, disabled populations in third world countries, influence of information technology, etc. (Author/JDD)

Mentally retarded individuals are often stigmatized and segregated, though constitutional guarantees in many countries promise them equality. Use of the U.S. court system to secure these guarantees, resulting in deinstitutionalization, individualization of services, and increased employment opportunities, is analyzed and contrasted with the…

Nineteen Indonesian students enrolled in a University of Virginia special education training program were assessed on the importance of English-language proficiency. Academic performance was significantly related to English-language training scores but not to preadmission "Test of English as a Foreign Language' scores, student attitudes, or…

This paper discusses the historical development of schooling for deaf children in Sweden, providing statistical information and describing special schools for deaf pupils, efforts to integrate hearing-impaired children into the regular school system, Swedish research on early training of deaf children, and current efforts to improve education of…

Fifty-one 10- to 16-year-old siblings of mentally retarded children were given the Family Relations Test and Rotter's Incomplete Sentence Test. Results indicated family dynamics were influenced by parent reaction to the handicapped child. Compared to controls, the siblings showed idealization of the mentally handicapped child and more conflicts…