The purpose of this article is to examine some of the basic premises of supported employment initiatives. In particular, the role of agency-sponsored job coaches in supporting employees with severe disabilities in inte grated work environments is discussed. A broader con cept of supported employment is proposed, based on studies of the supports and informal interactions char acteristic of natural work environments. Alternative sup port options, entitled the Mentor Option, the Training Consultant Option, the Job Sharing Option, and the Attendant Option, which involve the active participation of supervisors and co-workers, are presented with sug gestions for implementation.

A brief historical review of educational service delivery models for severely handicapped students is provided, six learning and performance characteristics and some of their educational implications are dis cussed, and four instructional location strategies and some of the pros and cons of each are also addressed.The thesis offered is that placement of severely hand icapped students in chronological age appropriate regular schools that are both close to their homes and in accordance with the natural proportion is necessary but not sufficient to prepare for acceptable function ing in vocational, domestic, recreation/leisure, and general community environments upon graduation at age 21. Educators and related service personnel must provide direct, individualized, longitudinal, com prehensive, and systematic instruction in a wide variety of heterogeneous nonschool environments.Indeed, decisions related to selection of nonschool instructional environments are considered so important that they should take precedence over those related to selection of skills, materials, and measurement systems.When educational services available to severely handicapped 2 students are examined, at least six overlapping phases can be identified.

Article Descriptors severely handicapped students; integration; chronological age appropriate schools; least restrictive environment; parent involvement Two issues confronting those concerned with pro viding educational services to severely handicapped students are extremely important and controversial: (a) the locations in which services are provided, and (b) the nature of those services. Issues related to the loca tions in which educational and related services are pro vided and how they affect the range, quality, and substantive nature of those services are addressed in this paper. The basic position offered is that it is in the best interests of students, their families, and the public for handicapped students to attend, in accord ance with the natural proportion, special education classes in chronological age appropriate regular schools that are close to their homes. Some of the reasons given are that regular schools are inherently more accessible, they provide enhanced opportunities for maximal participation, and they are relatively cost efficient. In addition, regular schools offer more positive psychological and social working en vironments, allow provision of more acceptable related services, provide critically needed benefits to nonhand icapped students and other nonhandicapped persons, and afford benefits to severely handicapped students that would not otherwise accrue.

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When Steve Taylor wrote Caught in the Continuum in 1988, he described the flawed thinking associated with the "least restrictive environment" (LRE) principle and the related continuum model of human services that linked severity of disability with segregation, and required improvements in skills as a prerequisite for moving from congregation to integration. He asked the fundamental questions: Why should an individual have to earn his or her way to the community? Why should people with the most significant disabilities be relegated to segregated settings? Why should one of the foundation principles of our field continue to legitimize segregation? Furthermore, he argued that the flawed thinking that established educational, residential, and employment continuums carried over into communitybased services. Steve Taylor prophesied that once you accept "continuum thinking," schools and communities cannot be fully inclusive.Before I proceed with this review, let me say that I continue to use this article in my graduate seminar as it provides one of the most thoughtful and thorough analyses of the status of educational and human services for people with disabilities and continues to be relevant in all current policy discussions. I will organize my review according to the headings used in the original paper: Origins of the LRE Principle, Pitfalls in the LRE Principle, The New Community-Based Continuum, and Commitment to Integration.