Sharon Freagon’s research while affiliated with Northern Illinois University and other places

This paper describes a domestic training environment created through a joint agreement among 10 rural public school districts. The environment was designed to teach severely handicapped students domestic skills in a natural and future community environment. The program was provided by the DeKalb County Special Education Association (DCSEA) in the state of Illinois. Severely handicapped students, ages 18 to 21, received training from a certified teacher and an assistant three overnights a week for 3 consecutive weeks. All students, ages 6 to 21, received day training in the environment from their classroom teachers. Skills checklists and schedules utilized by the domestic trainers are discussed and illustrated along with the logistics and costs of providing the training environment.

Ten severely and profoundly handicapped group home residents were baselined and then matched and paired on Project MORE's skills of deodorant use, toothbrushing, and handwashing to determine the effects of training in natural and artificial environments on skill acquisition, maintenance, and generalization. All residents had been institutionalized for more than four years prior to participating in the study. Houseparents in two group homes were the trainers. Results indicated that participants who received training in the natural environment and at times when they would normally practice the skills acquired skills more readily than did those who received training in the artifical environment and at times when they would not normally practice the skills. No significant effects were noted on maintenance and generalization of skills for either group.

Increasingly, severely handicapped students are receiving functional, chronologically age-appropriate training in a wide variety of natural community environments. When instructional personnel utilize this approach, they generally find that instructional materials they have utilized in the past are no longer appropriate. This paper discusses six characteristics of instructional materials and instructional materials adaptations that can be used as decision rules for instructional personnel developing and adapting materials based on a community-based training model. Five examples of instructional materials based on the above are illustrated and described.

The paper describes a behavioral/nutritional weight reduction pilot study that was directed by a school nurse. The paper delineates components of the program as well as weight losses attained by moderately/mildly retarded children attending a public school program.

This study assessed the concurrent validity of the Slosson Intelligence Test when administered to 40 severely and profoundly mentally retarded school children by special educators. All subjects had been tested by certified psychologists with the Stanford-Binet prior to the study. The children ranged in age from 11.3 to 19.9 yr. were administered the Slosson Intelligence Test by five special education teachers enrolled in a graduate course on diagnostic assessment. The correlation suggests high agreement in the ranking of the students tested.

Discusses the case of a 19-yr-old, severely handicapped female who was taught to reduce ambulation time for a target behavior (the period from when S entered the public school building to when S sat down at her classroom desk) through token economy and self-management procedures. S was taught to self-monitor and self-record her behavior through a combination of modeling, priming, and verbal directions. Data indicate that a 63% reduction in mean ambulation time was achieved over baseline means 27–42 days after training. Findings suggest that self-management skills can be taught to the severely handicapped in a public school setting. (7 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

The questions about inclusion of children with disabilities in general education for which we have developed some answers are those that have been asked by parents, teachers, administrators, school board members, other school personnel and community members throughout the state of Illinois. The Illinois Planning Council on Developmental Disabilities (IPCDD) has sponsored informational meetings that have become known as the "road shows." At each "road show," the questions asked were recorded and some answers appear here. Additionally, educational consultants with Project CHOICES and staff from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) provided us with questions also. Finally, we would like to thank all the general and special educators and families throughout the state of Illinois who are providing us with the answers. Brave families and risk taking educators will lead the way. If any of you find answers of which we are not aware, please find a way to share them.