Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities - Division on ...

Le<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>ger exam<strong>in</strong>ed 41 children’s books that
qualified for the 2006 or 2008 Dolly Gray Children’s
Literature Award sponsored by the <strong>Division</strong>
of <strong>Developmental</strong> <strong>Disabilities</strong> (DDD) of
the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC)
<strong>and</strong> the Special Needs Project. The <strong>in</strong>dividuals
with disabilities portrayed <strong>in</strong> the books
reviewed were analyzed <strong>and</strong> categorized
across four themes: “characterization of the
<strong>in</strong>dividual with developmental disabilities, relationships
between the character with developmental
disabilities <strong>and</strong> others, changes <strong>in</strong>
characters without developmental disabilities,
<strong>and</strong> special topics <strong>in</strong> the field of developmental
disabilities.” The themes are described <strong>and</strong>
analyzed precisely based on how the <strong>in</strong>dividuals
are portrayed <strong>in</strong> the books. Individual
books are cited provid<strong>in</strong>g examples of the
themes identified. The portrayal of <strong>in</strong>dividuals
with developmental disabilities is discussed
from a variety of contexts <strong>and</strong> compared to
two earlier studies. Recommendations are also
made to future authors <strong>and</strong> to educators.
“Evidence-Based Social Skills Interventions
for Children with Autism: A Meta-analysis”,
authored by Peishi Wang <strong>and</strong> Anne Spillane,
provides a synthesis of research studies published
<strong>in</strong> the last ten years on <strong>in</strong>terventions to
<strong>in</strong>crease social skills for children <strong>and</strong> adolescents
with ASD. Additionally, the article exam<strong>in</strong>es
the outcomes of these studies <strong>and</strong> evaluates
whether a given <strong>in</strong>tervention meets the
criteria for evidence-based practice. Of the 38
studies <strong>in</strong>cluded <strong>in</strong> this review, 36 were s<strong>in</strong>gle
subject research studies <strong>and</strong> 2 were group experimental
studies; results varied widely both
between <strong>in</strong>tervention types, <strong>and</strong> with the different
studies with<strong>in</strong> each <strong>in</strong>tervention type.
While social stories, peer-mediated, <strong>and</strong> video-model<strong>in</strong>g
<strong>in</strong>terventions all met the criteria for evidence-based,
a closer look at the percentage
of non-overlapp<strong>in</strong>g data po<strong>in</strong>ts reveals that
only video-model<strong>in</strong>g meets criteria for be<strong>in</strong>g evidence-based
as well as demonstrat<strong>in</strong>g high
effectiveness as an <strong>in</strong>tervention strategy. The
article concludes with a discussion on the implications
for practice, which is of particular
importance for practitioners who utilize videomodel<strong>in</strong>g
to teach social skills to students with
ASD.
With the large number of students with autism
enter<strong>in</strong>g the educational system, the
need for empirically supported treatment
292 / <strong>Education</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Developmental</strong> <strong>Disabilities</strong>-September 2009
(EST) <strong>in</strong> the classroom, <strong>and</strong> special education
teachers with tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> autism <strong>and</strong> ESTs, is
becom<strong>in</strong>g critical. In their article, “Learn by
Do<strong>in</strong>g: A Collaborative Model for <strong>Tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g</strong>
Teacher-C<strong>and</strong>idate Students <strong>in</strong> Autism”, Michael
B. Ruef, Nicolette Nefdt, Daniel
Openden, Sharon Elmensdorp, Kathleen C.
Harris, <strong>and</strong> Suzanne Rob<strong>in</strong>son describe a collaborative
model between two universities
aimed at (1) provid<strong>in</strong>g teacher-c<strong>and</strong>idate
graduate students tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> ESTs for children
with autism <strong>and</strong> (2) provid<strong>in</strong>g empirically
supported treatments to local families
with children with autism. Pivotal response
treatment (PRT) was the treatment selected
for <strong>in</strong>clusion <strong>in</strong> the teacher tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g program:
PRT is a comprehensive service delivery
model that uses both a developmental approach
<strong>and</strong> applied behavior analysis (ABA)
procedures <strong>and</strong> aims to provide opportunities
for learn<strong>in</strong>g with<strong>in</strong> the context of the child’s
natural environment. The article provides an
overview on the three components of the
model: (1) the community-based service delivery
system, (2) the Masters/special education
credential program <strong>and</strong> (3) tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> PRT.
Issues relat<strong>in</strong>g to student, family <strong>and</strong> university
participation are discussed along with possible
solutions <strong>and</strong> future directions. The authors
conclude the article with a discussion on
the benefits of the model, particularly with
respect to produc<strong>in</strong>g highly qualified teachers
<strong>in</strong> autism, <strong>and</strong> the implications for <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g
autism tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> teacher tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g programs.
In their article entitled “Research-Based
Techniques for Teach<strong>in</strong>g Early Read<strong>in</strong>g Skills
to Students with Intellectual <strong>Disabilities</strong>,” Jill
Allor, Patricia Mathes, Tammi Champl<strong>in</strong>, <strong>and</strong>
Jennifer Cheatham discuss the orchestrated
<strong>in</strong>tegration of key skills <strong>and</strong> strategies that are
explicitly l<strong>in</strong>ked to mean<strong>in</strong>g. These strategies
are organized accord<strong>in</strong>g to the major components
of read<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>struction: oral language
<strong>and</strong> vocabulary, phonological awareness,
phonics <strong>and</strong> word recognition, fluency <strong>and</strong>
comprehension. The article describes key
techniques used <strong>in</strong> exam<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g effective methods
for teach<strong>in</strong>g students with <strong>in</strong>tellectual disabilities
to read.
The next article by Emily Bouck, Laura Bassette,
Teresa Taber-Doughty, Sara Flanagan,
<strong>and</strong> Kathryn Szwed. It exam<strong>in</strong>es the effectiveness
of pentop computers <strong>in</strong> teach<strong>in</strong>g multi-