Examining Whether Student Participation in School-Sponsored Extracurricular Activities Is Represented in IEPs.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which extracurricular activities are included in Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) of secondary age students with intellectual disability (ID). Student characteristics (grade, disability, use of augmentative and alternative communication) were examined to explore potential group differences. Participants were 498 special education teachers who had at least one student with ID on their caseload who had participated in a school sponsored extracurricular activity. Data were collected through an online questionnaire sent to members of a national listserv for transition professionals. Findings reveal that 63.69% (n = 314) of teachers reported they included information about extracurricular activities in the IEP; however, only 59.61% (n = 186) of these teachers also reported their student worked on IEP goals during extracurricular activities. Student characteristics were related to the presence of extracurricular activities in the IEP, number of IEP goals students worked on during extracurricular activities, student's most important IEP goal, and whether students received instruction on their most important IEP goal during extracurricular activities.

"My Voice Counts, Too": Voting Participation Among Individuals With Intellectual Disability.

Despite a strong societal commitment to ensuring that individuals with intellectual disability (ID) fully participate in their communities, few people with ID vote. Little is known about voting experiences from the perspective of people with ID. In-person, semistructured interviews were conducted with 28 adults with ID (Mage = 37 years) to obtain their input on voting. Constant comparison and content analysis methods were used to characterize themes. Results indicated that people with ID are interested in voting and desire to be included in the voting process yet receive little education on political issues or on how to make voting-related decisions. Support from family or service providers and self-advocacy facilitated their ability to vote. Implications of these findings and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Self-determined behavior change: The need for capacity, opportunity and support.

OBJECTIVE: This article discusses how self-determination is central to positive behavior support, provides recommendations on how to promote it, and identifies future areas of research. BACKGROUND: The value of incorporating self-determination strategies in positive behavior support plans is receiving increased attention. Rather than continue to rely on an externally controlled behavior change model in which "others" (e.g., teachers, service providers) determine the method to use to modify the behavior of a service recipient (student, client), self-determination shifts the responsibility over to that person; that is, he or she is integrally involved in selecting an appropriate strategy, executing it and monitoring how well he or she is doing. CONCLUSION: The inclusion of self-determination strategies in positive behavior support warrants further attention as individuals who have challenging behavior may be in an optimal position to manipulate their own behavior change.

Supporting high school students to engage in recreational activities with peers.

The authors investigated the effects of an intervention package to support five high school students with extensive support-needs to initiate and engage in recreational activities with general-education peers in their physical education classes. The intervention components were (a) assessing participants' recreational activity goals, (b) teaching self-prompting using a picture book, (c) programming common stimuli, and (d) asking participants to assess daily performance and evaluate daily goal achievement. The intervention was associated with increases in participants' initiation of and engagement in recreational activities with general-education peers, as well as increases in ratings of quality of interaction. In addition, participants typically assessed with accuracy their performance of recreational activities and whether they had achieved their recreational goals. Findings are discussed with respect to future research and practice.

An intervention package to support high school students with mental retardation in general education classrooms.

The effects of using a multicomponent intervention package to support the classroom performance of 4 high school students with mental retardation enrolled in general education classes were investigated. Intervention components were (a) modification of teacher-assigned worksheets, (b) instruction in assignment completion, (c) instruction in self-monitoring of classroom performance skills, (d) including students in setting performance goals, and (e) instruction in goal-evaluation. Implementation of the intervention package was associated with improved performance on modified assignments for all participants and higher report card grades for 3 participants. Three of 4 participants also correctly and independently evaluated their performance in relation to their performance goals. Findings are discussed and recommendations made for future research and practice.