The National Joint Committee for the Communication Needs of People with Severe Disabilities (NJC) reviewed literature regarding practices for people with severe disabilities in order to update guidance provided in documents originally published in 1992. Changes in laws, definitions, and policies that affect communication attainments by persons with severe disabilities are presented, along with guidance regarding assessment and intervention practices. A revised version of the Communication Bill of Rights, a powerful document that describes the communication rights of all individuals, including those with severe disabilities is included in this article. The information contained within this article is intended to be used by professionals, family members, and individuals with severe disabilities to inform and advocate for effective communication services and opportunities.

This literature review was conducted to evaluate the current state of evidence supporting communication interventions for individuals with severe disabilities. Authors reviewed 116 articles published between 1987 and 2007 in refereed journals meeting three criteria: (a) described a communication intervention, (b) involved one or more participants with severe disabilities, and (c) addressed one or more areas of communication performance. Many researchers failed to report treatment fidelity or to assess basic aspects of intervention effects including generalization, maintenance, and social validity. The evidence reviewed indicates that 96% of the studies reported positive changes in some aspects of communication. These findings support the provision of 1 We would like to thank both Youngzie Lee, University of Virginia, and R. Michael Barker, Georgia State University, for their help with the analyses. We also thank the National Center on Evidence-Based Practice in Communication Disorders of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association for their assistance in conducting the systematic literature search.Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Martha E. Snell, Curry School of Education, University of Virginia, P. O. Box 400273, Charlottesville, VA, 22904-4273., Snell@virginia.edu. NIH Public AccessAuthor Manuscript Am J Intellect Dev Disabil. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2011 February 8. Published in final edited form as: Am J Intellect Dev Disabil. 2010 September ; 115(5): 364-380. doi:10.1352/1944. NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript communication intervention to persons with severe disabilities. Gaps in the research were reported with recommendations for future research. Keywords communication; mental retardation; severe disabilities; intellectual and developmental disabilities; autism; multiple disabilities; literature review; intervention The ability to communicate effectively with others is essential for good quality of life. Individuals who have severe disabilities include those with severe to profound intellectual disability, autism, deaf-blindness, and multiple-disabilities. For these individuals, the ability to communicate can be substantially compromised. The question of whether and how this ability to communicate can be improved through intervention was the focus of a national consensus conference convened by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs, (OSEP) and its Technical Assistance Development System (TADS) in 1985 (OSEP/TADS, 1985). In addition to producing a number of consensus statements, these 1985 conferees called for the formation of "an interagency task force" to disseminate guidelines for the "development and enhancement of functional communication abilities" in individuals with severe disabilities.This recommendation resulted in the establishment of a "National Joint Committee for the Communicative Needs of Persons with Severe Disabilities" (NJC) in 1986. The present review was con...

This study examined the effectiveness of a new school to adult life transition planning lesson package titled Student-Directed Transition Planning. The Student-Directed Transition Planning lessons teach transition terms and concepts to provide a means to increase self-determination skills and student participation in transition IEP (Individualized Education Program) meeting discussions. An experimental pre—post design utilizing random assignment of secondary-aged students with IEPs determined differences between intervention and control groups in knowledge of transition terms and concepts, and self-efficacy perceptions of the transition planning process. Study results indicated that students receiving Student-Directed Transition Planning instruction experienced a statistically significant knowledge gain, and an increase in perceived self-efficacy in 7 out of 10 transition planning process indicators

Individuals become self-determined when they are empowered to make choices that match their interests. But caregivers' perceptions of what they think individuals with severe disabilities like often direct vocational decision making. This choice by proxy denies individuals with disabilities an opportunity to become self-determined. We examined whether the vocational choices made by participants with severe cognitive disabilities matched the vocational choices caregivers made on their behalf. Eight participants with severe disabilities and 11 caregivers participated in this study. Caregivers ranked the top three settings, characteristics, and activities from a checklist of typical entry-level positions. By using the Choose and Take Action vocational assessment software, combined with watching or doing the job of their choice in the community, job seekers indicated their preferences. We compared job seekers' cumulative choices to those made by their caregivers. Results indicate that the choices made by individuals with disabilities seldom matched those made by their caregivers. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Interprofessional collaborative practice is supported as a recommended practice methodology for physical therapists and speech-language pathologists serving persons with severe disabilities.