Identifying methods to increase the independent functioning of individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is vital in enhancing their quality of life; teaching students with ASD daily living skills can foster independent functioning. This review examines interventions that implement video modeling and/or prompting to teach individuals with ASD daily living skills. The findings suggest that daily living skills can effectively be taught through technology-enhanced methods, with video prompting reported as being an effective intervention method and video modeling being somewhat effective at increasing skill acquisition for students with ASD. Future research must address the effect that various components of the interventions (e.g., model type, perspective, length of video, error correction procedures, prompting fading, voiceover, method of viewing the video) have on student performance.

Video-based instruction is becoming a common intervention in today's classrooms. Previous research has focused primarily on video modeling techniques that required the student to watch an entire video of the task before attempting to complete the task independently. Video prompting is a form of video instruction that breaks down target skills into steps that are then performed directly after viewing each clip. The present review examined studies using video prompting techniques to teach functional and daily living skills to individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The focus of the review was on evaluation of the effectiveness of video prompting and the factors that affect student attention to the video, retention of target behavior, production of target behavior, and motivation. Results showed that video prompting was an effective intervention for teaching a wide array of target skills and that students with ASD were able to generalize and maintain the acquired skills. Video prompting was also shown to be more effective than both static picture prompts and video modeling techniques in terms of percentage of correct independent responding. Suggestions for practice and future research are discussed.

A primary goal of instruction for students with developmental disabilities is to enhance their future quality of life by promoting skill acquisition which will enable them to live, function, and participate in the community. One instructional method that can help students with developmental disabilities improve independence in performing daily living skills is video prompting. This study investigated the effectiveness of a video prompting plus error correction procedure on skill acquisition when teaching daily living skills to four adolescents with mild and moderate developmental disabilities. A multiple baseline across participants design demonstrated that all four participants rapidly acquired dish washing skills upon introduction of the intervention. Future research should further explore the efficacy of error correction procedures used with video prompting and the impact that these procedures have on student learning and skill retention.

We conducted a survey to examine the (a) perceived importance of 30 transition-related teacher competencies as rated by regular educators and (b) nature of their preparation for tranition programming for students with disabilities. A total of 39 ompleted surveys (72%) were returned from regular educators in ennsylvania. We compared these results with similar data collected from another group of special educators to ascertain the degree of correspondence in transition competency ratings and training between regular and special educators. Results indicated that while the majority of educators had received some inservice training on transition, there were a number of competency areas in which the majority of regular educators received no training. Regular and special educators differentially rated the importance of six teacher competency areas. We discuss the meaning of these results for practice and service delivery.For over a decade transition services have provided a focus for federal, state, and local legislative and educational activities. Transition services play a major role in enabling youth with disabilities to move smoothly from secondary education settings into independent, productive, and personally satisfying postschool environments and activities (Rusch, DeStefano, Chadsey-Rusch, Phelps, & Szymanski, 1992;Wehman, 1996). Understandably, the activities surrounding transition include a growing emphasis on the instructional foci and the service delivery mechanisms of programs for students with disabilities. Because a key feature of transition service delivery is interdisciplinary cooperation and collaboration, professional attention must also be directed to the roles and competencies of the various practitioners who do, or should, provide transition-related services.

The importance of sexuality education for students with moderate and severe disabilities has received increasing attention as these people have moved into community settings and as the idea of their right to full, satisfying life circumstances has gained acceptance. Although more curricula are now available for students with special needs, educators and other service providers must select curricula that are comprehensive, credible, and appropriately match their students' learning characteristics and needs. The purpose of this review was to evaluate the 12 sexuality education curricula that were recommended by the Sexuality Information Education Center of the United States (SIECUS) as appropriate for students with special needs. Curricula were reviewed based on the presence and appropriateness of (a) goals/ objectives and scope/sequence, (b) curriculum concepts, (c) instructional methods, (d) curriculum development and evaluation techniques, and (e) suggested adaptations for diverse student learners.