Employment outcomes for people with severe disabilities: opportunities for improvement.

Supported employment began with a focus on those individuals deemed less likely to secure a job in the community: those with severe mental retardation, behavioral challenges, and multiple disabilities. The creation of supported employment resulted, in part, because of demonstrations of the competence and capabilities of these same people previously thought to be unemployable in any meaningful sense of the word. However, as supported employment has unfolded, those with the most severe disabilities appear to be underrepresented in the ranks of those benefitting from supported employment.

Patterns of support for employees with severe disabilities.

Increasingly, supported employment is discussed in tandem with the notion of natural supports. Natural supports, emphasizing the use of existing supports typically found in the workplace, has become a commonly used strategy for improving economic and integration outcomes valued by people with disabilities, their families, and their advocates. This study is the second in a series focused on features of employment as they relate to economic and integration outcomes.

Analysis of the typicalness of supported employment jobs, natural supports, and wage and integration outcomes.

Natural support has become a well-recognized concept to both practitioners and federal regulators. Although qualitative and descriptive information about natural supports is available, there is no commonly accepted definition and little quantitative documentation. Nonetheless, the notion of "natural supports" remains a potentially viable strategy toward improving supported employment outcomes.

Late-generated cells in the lateral motor columns of developing frog spinal cord.

Spinal motor neurons of larval frogs continue to be generated for the lateral motor columns (LMCs) even after their peak numbers have been reached and during the major period of normal neuronal loss. This study elucidates the extent to which relatively late generated motor neurons survive to the end of larval development. Bromodeoxyuridine was injected into Rana pipiens tadpoles at mid-larval stages twice a day for 5 days in order to label LMC neurons arising during the period of greatest neuron loss.

An ordinal pattern analysis of four hypotheses describing the interactions between drug-addicted, chronically disadvantaged, and middle-class mother-infant dyads.

This study investigated mother-infant interactions in 18 dyads. All participants were African American and enrolled in an early intervention program because the infants (2-26 months of age) had developmental disabilities or were at high risk for developmental disability. Some mothers had used drugs during their pregnancy, and all mothers were of low or middle socioeconomic status.

Spinal cord neurite growth response to target tissue in a dose-dependent manner in vitro.

Neurite outgrowth from larval frog spinal cord explants in tissue culture previously has been shown to be enhanced and oriented in the presence of mesenchymal limb target tissue. Evidence that suggests the limb mesenchyme is the source of a motor neuron growth factor has prompted consideration of a possible target dose relationship in eliciting spinal neurite growth. Whereas typical experimental paradigms incorporate a single target explant in cocultures of neural and target tissues, we have challenged spinal cord explants with dual limb targets.

Evaluation of the dating skills program for improving heterosocial interactions in people with mental retardation.

The effectiveness of a social skills training program for improving heterosocial interactions in persons with mental retardation was examined. Moderate to borderline mentally retarded subjects were selected based on problems with social anxiety and social skill deficits. Subjects were then randomly assigned to either a 12-session Dating Skills Program (DSP) or a wait list control (WLC) group.

Social/sexual awareness of persons with autism: a parental perspective.

A parental survey that addressed the social sexual awareness, sex education, and sex behaviors of persons with autism, a developmental disability is provided. Questionnaires from 100 caregivers of persons with autism 9 years of age and older and with the DSM-III-R diagnosis were analyzed. Eighty-five percent of respondents were mothers, 8% both parents, 5% fathers, and 2% others; 32% of the persons with autism were female and 68% male with an age range of 9.

Morphological response of extending spinal neuritic growth cones to peripheral target tissue.

Nerve fibers extend from spinal cord explants of larval frog in an enhanced and directed manner when cocultured with limb mesenchyme target tissue. In order to gain a better understanding of the events involved in target directed neurite extension, a detailed examination of the nerve growth cone was undertaken. The growth cones of spinal neurites that had elongated in the presence or absence of target tissue were examined by light and electron microscopy.

Anger, depression and self-concept in adults with mental retardation.

Self-report measures of anger, depression and self-concept that were designed for non-retarded children were adapted for adults with mental retardation. The measures were administered to 130 adults with mental retardation who lived in the community. Informants rated the subjects on shortened forms of the three emotional indices.

Lactate genesis by rat liver and muscle during development.

Lactate has been shown to be an important fuel for brain metabolism during early postnatal development (1). In an attempt to identify the source(s) of lactate in the postnatal rat, we have studied the in vitro catabolism of glucose, galactose, fructose, alanine, glycerol, and octanoate in liver and muscle minces prepared from suckling rat pups. Whereas galactose, fructose, and octanoate were found to be lactagenic (lactate generating) in liver, glucose was the sole lactate precursor in muscle.

Current and future trends in state-operated mental retardation institutions in the United States.

Results of a national study of state-operated institutional care in the United States were presented. The relations among census reduction, staffing level, and resident cost were explored. Resident cost escalated dramatically in recent years, primarily because staffing levels in the states remained relatively stable, whereas the institutional census continued to decline.

Differential limb regeneration in diploid and triploid Rana pipiens larvae with reference to spinal motor neuron development.

Developmental manipulations that can alter nerve-limb relationships can assist in understanding the neural control of limb regeneration. Pressure-induced triploidy in Rana pipiens tadpoles results in alterations of the quantitative characteristics of the spinal motor neurons that innervate the limbs, whereas the limbs appear unaltered. Unilateral midthigh amputations at larval stages IX, XI, and XIII of diploid and triploid animals resulted in complete regeneration for only stage IX animals regardless of ploidy.

Planning processes and outcomes for an aging population with developmental disabilities.

Needs analysis research and planning projects were reviewed for the purpose of identifying planning concepts, processes, outcomes, and issues regarding the growing population of older adults with developmental disabilities. Themes and issues identified through a content analysis of planning reports and documents were presented along with goals for future planning and public social policy development efforts.

Developmental competency in spinal nerve fiber extension on a reconstituted basement-membrane-like matrix.

Nerve fibers readily extend from larval frog spinal cord explants when cultured on a commercially available reconstituted basement-membrane-like matrix derived from the EHS mouse sarcoma. This superior, naturally derived substratum enables the in vitro development of complex neuritic arrays with long survival times in a defined medium, thus permitting the detailed analysis of spontaneous and target-mediated neuritogenesis.

Lactate, 3-hydroxybutyrate, and glucose as substrates for the early postnatal rat brain.

The dependence of cerebral energy metabolism upon glucose, 3-hydroxybutyrate, and lactate as fuel sources during the postnatal period was investigated. The brain of 6 day old suckling pups used very little glucose, but by the 15th postnatal day glucose was the major catabolite. Hydroxybutyrate was not a major brain fuel at either 6 or 15 days of age.

Neuronal overload in the developing anuran lateral motor column in response to limb removal and thyroid hormone.

The lateral motor column (LMC) in the anuran spinal cord normally undergoes a dramatic reduction in motor neuron number during development. At least two factors influence this process: the limb target which is required for the progression of cell loss, and thyroid hormone, a requisite for metamorphosis. This study has examined the relative and combined effects of limb amputation and exogenous thyroxine, initiated at the onset of normal rapid cell loss in Rana pipiens tadpoles, in regulating neuron number in the lumbosacral LMC.

A comparison of obstetrical records of autistic and nonautistic referrals for psychoeducational evaluations.

Heretofore most studies dealing with the association between perinatal complications and autism have used a normal comparison group. In this study obstetrical records of 59 autistic children were compared to those of 28 nonautistic children whose intelligence has a similar range and distribution as the autistic sample. Using an optimality score to reflect number of obstetrical complications, we found that the nonautistic controls experienced less optimal conditions than the autistic sample.

The diagnosis of autism by state agencies.

A four-question survey form was sent to the Departments of Public Instruction and Departments of Mental Health in all 50 states. The survey solicited information on agency diagnostic practices regarding autism. A 100% return was achieved as an outcome of various follow-up procedures.

Evaluating the treatment effect of repeated probes.

This study investigated the effect of the administration of frequent and infrequent probe lists on generalization to novel stimuli. Four subjects with multiple functional articulation errors were taught to produce two different sounds, and generalization was measured on three probe lists. Two of the probe lists (one for each sound) were administered infrequently, and the third probe list (for one sound) was presented at each treatment session.

Culture and temperament: influences on infant temperament in three East African societies.

In this study, 178 infants from three East African societies differing on a number of environmental dimensions were examined to determine if aspects of their developmental environment influenced temperament characteristics. Data strongly suggest that cultural child-rearing patterns, degree of modernization, maternal orientation, ecological setting, and specific early life events contribute to temperament.