The data supports positive relationships between anxiety and sensory defensiveness in all age ranges and a relationship between depression and hyposensitivity in older children. Stronger inverse relationships were apparent between specific adaptive behaviors including: (a) symptoms of depression and functional academics, leisure, social skills; (b) anxiety and functional academics; and (c) both sensory hyper- and hyposensitivity and community use and social skills. In this study, as the symptoms of affective disorders increased in children and adolescents with Asperger's disorder, the functional performance in the adaptive behaviors of functional academics and social skills appeared to decrease. Performance in the adaptive behaviors of community use and socials skills appeared to decrease as symptoms of dysfunction in sensory modulation increase. Further research is necessary to determine the impact of treatment for dysfunction on sensory modulation on affective disorders and performance in specific adaptive behaviors.

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Many factors contribute to homelessness, including extreme poverty, extended periods of unemployment, shortages of low-income housing, deinstitutionalization, and substance abuse. As a result, the needs of people who are homeless are broad and complex. This needs assessment used literature reviews, review of local documents and reports, participant observation, locus groups, and reflective journals to guide the development of an occupational performance skills program at one homeless shelter in south Florida. Through these methods, the role of occupational therapy was extended beyond direct service to include program and resource development, staff education, advocacy, and staff-resident mediation. The findings of the needs assessment and the actions taken as a result of this work point to the huge potential for occupational therapists and students to work together with staff and residents of homeless shelters.

The American journal oj Occupational Therapy S upervisor perce p.tions of the successful fieldwork student are an important area for research, Supervisors are the gatekeepers who maintain the quality standards of the profession hy proViding professional socialization and by acting as role models, Student supervisors reinforce and operationalize the norms of inquiry and sphere of practice of the profession. Professional socialization enhances thefit of the person within a profession -the embracing of the values, norms, and interests of the profession -which contributes to the retention and personal satisfaction of that person. In occupational therapy, issues of increased retention and decreased burnout are of critical importance. With increasing demands for occupational therapy services, rising costs associated with the provision of services, and rising education costs, the fit of the person with the profession becomes more critical.Quantitative research on the learning styles of clinicians and students has begun to explore the issue of fit

SUMMARY This paper describes a program which provides occupational therapy services to a population of homeless individuals residing in an emergency shelter in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Principles of community-built practice were combined with the use of the Canadian Model of Occupational Performance to provide the theoretical approach for the program. A needs assessment was done and the programming developed and implemented based on identified needs is described. Outcomes and recommendations for the future are discussed.