Delivering home-based case management to families with children with mental retardation and developmental disabilities.

To meet the needs of individuals with mental retardation and developmental disabilities (MR/DD) and their families living in urban setting, a noncenter-based model of case management was implemented. In contrast to traditional case management in which families and consumers come to the case manager and most service coordination is done by telephone or in meetings at the case manager/social worker's worksite, the case manager in a noncenter-based model is mobile and able to meet the consumer and family in their domains. In this model, case management is provided in conjunction with in-home residential habilitation and funded by Medicaid under the Home and Community Based Services Waiver. This funding stream provides monies for nontraditional services delivered in noncertified settings. Case managers used the Family Resource Scale to get an immediate indication of the resources and needs of each family. The scale highlights the adequacy of a person's basic and caregiving resources, as well as financial needs. The findings from this study suggest that an understanding of both disability and entitlements is essential for case managers who may have to help advocate for consumers around services and benefits. Moreover, to build and maintain an egalitarian and supportive relationship with families, the importance of caregiver-specified resources and needs must be recognized by case managers. Access to resource information and the ability to engage the family in problem-solving depends on a well-trained staff with the ability to respond to individuals with different needs and from a variety of circumstances. These essential skills prepare a case manager to assist families with their immediate requirements as well as to mobilize them to plan for future needs.

Differences in job placements between men and women with mental retardation.

Thirty-three men and women with mental retardation living in the New York metropolitan area (USA), who entered a supported employment programme were followed during their first 9 months in competitive employment. Differences in placement outcomes were consistently associated with gender differences. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of providing employment services to men and women with mental retardation and developmental disabilities.

A one year follow-up of urban young adults with mental retardation in supported employment.

There is little information available about the provision of supported employment services for individuals from diverse cultural, ethnic and economic backgrounds. To fill this gap, in relation to the specific experiences of urban youth with mental retardation, we initiated an agency based longitudinal study of our employment training programmes. Data from the first year follow up of 45 young adults with mental retardation is presented. Information regarding all phases of the job training and job placement process was examined. The major findings are that 71% of the trainees were employed during the first nine months post-training, with approximately 30% of the trainees working for six months or more. Overall, 75% of the trainees' placements were in service industries and the amount of direct support the trainees required decreased over time. Additional findings and their implications for programme development are discussed in relation to the unique needs of urban young adults with developmental disabilities.

Effects of respite on mothers of school-age and adult children with severe disabilities.

The immediate and short-term effects of a preplanned, 10-day overnight respite on 14 mothers of school-age and adult children with multiple disabilities were evaluated. Change in maternal mood, well-being, and activity patterns was measured before, during, and after respite. The data indicate that during respite, mothers experienced increased feelings of well-being and less depressed mood. Concomittant changes in activity patterns were also found. After respite, increased feelings of well-being continued, and there was a strong tendency for mothers to be less depressed. Results suggest that researchers should conduct controlled evaluation, using standardized measures, to assess the effectiveness of respite on enhancing the quality of life of mothers caring for children with disabilities at home.

Auditory-visual equivalence by mentally retarded and intellectually average older children.

Auditory-visual information equivalence in 15 mentally retarded and 15 intellectually average 12- to 13-year-old children were compared using nine matching tasks. Intellectually average subjects were more accurate on both intra- and intersensory tasks. Retarded subjects were more accurate on intra- than on intersensory tasks, whereas there was no such difference for the average subjects. Tasks involving transposition were more difficult for the retarded children than those not involving transposition. The intellectually average children behaved similarly on intrasensory tasks but on intersensory tasks were more accurate when transposition was involved. There was no association between IQ and intra- or intersensory performance when data from the two groups were examined separately.

Auditory-visual integration by mentally retarded adolescents.

The ability of mildly mentally retarded adolescents to identify the equivalence of auditory and visual stimuli under conditions that did and did not involve transposition from spatial to temporal and vice versa was examined. Subjects' abilities to judge equivalence of stimuli within a modality under conditions that required transposition from spatial patterns to temporal patterns was also examined. They scored significantly better on intra- than on intersensory tasks and had no more difficulty with intrasensory tasks requiring transposition than with tasks requiring no transposition. On intersensory tasks, however, the subjects' performance was significantly worse on tasks requiring transposition.