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Sex Reassignment, Hormones, and Health (1991)

Posted on Dec 12, 2013 in AEGIS, Chrysalis Quarterly, Developmental Disabilities, Gender, Magazines

The theme of the first issue of AEGIS’ Chrysalis Quarterly Journal was transsexualism and disability. This was the lead article.

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Beginning Year Number Nine in Chronic 1A (1987)

Posted on Nov 29, 2013 in Developmental Disabilities, Fiction, Magazines, Short Stories, Speculative Fiction, Tales from Chronic 1A

I used to want to ask Johnson how to con­trol things, how to control even my arms and legs, but he would have only laughed. Johnson is convinced I’ve gone the same place as Hewlitt, that we have both surpassed the need for our bodies, that if he is dedicated enough he might someday be like us. Besides, he would have said, had I been able to ask, how was he to know I wasn’t a spy, sitting immobile in my wheelchair for eight years in order to trick him into revealing his methods?

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Computer-Assisted Instruction for the Special Education Teacher (1985)

Posted on Oct 17, 2013 in Computers, Developmental Disabilities, School Papers

One of the most surprising findings about CAI is that it is not the brightest students who benefit most from it, but rather the below-average pupil who stands to benefit more

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Training Paraprofessionals to Make Data-Based Training Strategy Decisions (1986)

Posted on Sep 16, 2013 in Computers, Developmental Disabilities, School Papers

A number of studies have shown teachers can be successfully trained to collect and analyze data daily using trend and error analysis techniques and to make resulting educational decisions that lead to improved student performance. Effects have tended to be positive across a variety of academic tasks and a variety of handicapping conditions, as well as across a range of educators and a variety of settings. However, the use of data-based instructional decision-making has not been widespread.

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Generalization and Maintenance in Social Skills Research (1991)

Posted on Sep 16, 2013 in Applied Behavior Analysis, Developmental Disabilities, School Papers

The question of generalization and maintenance in applied behavior analysis is considered by most researchers to be one of crucial importance. Although Skinner addressed the issues of generalization (transfer of stimulus control to objects without a history of reinforcing the organism) and maintenance (exhibition of operant response after the discontinuation of the artificial reinforcement schedule) as early as 1938 in his work with nonhuman animals, it was Stokes & Baer (1977) who clearly and concisely brought the importance of these phenomenon to the attention of the behavior analytic community.

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Recent Research on Computer Assisted Instruction (1986)

Posted on Sep 15, 2013 in Computers, Developmental Disabilities, School Papers

While it could perhaps be argued that microcomputers have yet to cause great changes in the fabric of our educational systems, there is little doubt they have caused great changes in the publishing industry. Besides the publication of innumerable books, many popular magazines and scholarly journals have devoted whole issues to microcomputers. And one of the most popular topics is the use of computers in school. Unfortunately, an astonishingly large percentage of computer-related articles in even our most prestigious journals is speculation and opinion— informed speculation and opinion, perhaps, but speculation and opinion nonetheless.

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Instruction Via Television (1985)

Posted on Sep 15, 2013 in Developmental Disabilities, School Papers

Conclusions about the efficacy of instructional or educational television have been equivocal. This may be due in part to different conceptions of the subject material by different authors; obviously, a closed-circuit lecture and the NOVA or Sesame Street programs are dissimilar. Therefore, what seem to be differences of opinion may sometimes be differences of terminology.

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Computer-Assisted Instruction and the Handicapped Child (1984)

Posted on Sep 15, 2013 in Computers, Developmental Disabilities, School Papers

In 1954, B.F. Skinner published a paper in Harvard Educational Review in which he proposed the use of mechanical educational devices which operated on principles of operant conditioning (Pagliaro, 1983). He called these devices teaching machines, and the instructional method he named programmed Instruction. In the 1950s a number of Programmed Instruction teaching machines were placed in public schools. During the 1960s, computers, which were then large and quite expensive, were used to the same ends.

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Some Issues of Dual Diagnosis (1986)

Posted on Sep 15, 2013 in Developmental Disabilities, School Papers

Individuals who have been certified as mentally ill and mentally retarded are said to be “dual diagnosed.” Because there is a high rate of mental and emotional illness in retarded persons, there is a considerable population of dually-diagnosed individuals. This paper provides a brief discussion of policy, diagnostic, arid treatment issues of dually-diagnosed individuals.

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SIX BITS 1983)

Posted on Sep 15, 2013 in Augmentative Communication, Computers, Developmental Disabilities, Research

I wrote the augmentative communication computer program SIX BITS for a man with normal intelligence and quadraplegia that affected his speech, making it impossible for others to understand him. He used the program for years; earlier he had a Morse-code based device for which parts could no longer be obtained. Staff at his facility trained him to use the program. The VIC would remain on all day.

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My Major Area Paper, Vanderbilt University (1994)

Posted on Sep 14, 2013 in Applied Behavior Analysis, Developmental Disabilities, Research, School Papers

This is my major area paper for the Ed.D. at George Peabody College of Vanderbilt University.

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Using the TRS‑80 Model 100 Portable Computer as a Data Collection Device (1985)

Posted on Sep 14, 2013 in Applied Behavior Analysis, Computers, Developmental Disabilities, Presentations, Research, School Papers

BOSCO, The Behavioral Observation System— COmputerized, allows the TRS-8O Model 100 portable computer to be used as a relatively inexpensive data collection device instead of more expensive dedicated devices such as ElectroGeneral’s DATAMYTE and Observational Systems’ OS-3. BOSCO, a program written in BASIC for the Model 100 with expanded memory, has been used to collect real-time behavioral data in field research studies.

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Collecting and Analyzing Continuous Behavioral Data with the TRS-80 Model 100/102 Portable Laptop Computer (1989)

Posted on Sep 14, 2013 in Applied Behavior Analysis, Computers, Developmental Disabilities, Research

The behavioral data gathering and analysis program Behavioral Observation System, COmputerized is a program written in the BASIC programming language for the TRS-80 Models 100 and 102 portable computers. I am the sole author. It was used extensively by researchers at the Special Education Department at George Peabody College, which is a part of Vanderbilt University.

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The Potential of Microcomputers as Teaching Machines for Individuals with Severe Handicaps (1987)

Posted on Sep 13, 2013 in Computers, Developmental Disabilities, School Papers

Although it is hardly possible to predict the exact manner in which microcomputers will change the lives of persons with severe handicaps, it is possible, by considering the unique abilities of these machines, to speculate about ways in which they could be of major benefit. Four characteristics make microcomputers especially suitable tools for working with persons with severe handicaps: programmability, the ability to respond to environmental events, the ability to provide reinforcing consequences for behavior, and the ability to keep detailed and precise records.

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Pica: Some Suggestions for Future Research (1987)

Posted on Sep 13, 2013 in Applied Behavior Analysis, Developmental Disabilities, School Papers

Pica is the purposeful ingestion of objects generally considered nonedible. This was one of my papers for qualifying exams.

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Backward Chaining (1979)

Posted on Sep 13, 2013 in Applied Behavior Analysis, Developmental Disabilities, Fiction, Poetry, Psychology

Each day I did less and less and he did more and more.

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The Role of Intellectual Assessment at Greene Valley Developmental Center (1980)

Posted on Sep 12, 2013 in Developmental Disabilities, Psychology, School Papers

Greene Valley is one of the best developmental centers in the world and is the last state-operated developmental center in Tennessee.. It has nevertheless been reduced in size by the state government and will probably soon be closed.

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The Chronic Ward (1972)

Posted on Sep 12, 2013 in Americana, Developmental Disabilities

After lunch the patients gravitate to their chairs, where they sit mutely for the rest of the afternoon. At two p.m. the uniforms will give them cups of applesauce with tan and pink and green pills hidden within. At three p.m. the white uniforms will leave, when replaced by more of the same. The evening shift uniforms are told everything is all right.

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Why the Medical Model is Inadequate for Treating Mental Patients (1972)

Posted on Sep 12, 2013 in Developmental Disabilities, Psychology, School Papers

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Clark in Three Parts (1991)

Posted on Sep 11, 2013 in Augmentative Communication, Computers, Developmental Disabilities, Newsletters

In 1991, in the pages of the Stone Mountain Computer Users Group newsletterm I told the story of my work with a physically disabled man I called Clark.

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Using a Discrimination Task to Teach Scanning to Severely Physically Impaired Non-Vocal Children (1984)

Posted on Sep 11, 2013 in Augmentative Communication, Computers, Developmental Disabilities, Research, School Papers

“All a Board” is an augmentative communication computer program which was designed by the author to allow individuals with very severe physical handicaps to communicate their wants and needs to others, using a single switch. It serves the same purpose as any communication board, but requires much less physical ability.

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Review of EZ-SCAN (1993)

Posted on Sep 11, 2013 in Augmentative Communication, Computers, Developmental Disabilities, School Papers

EZ-SCAN is a memory-resident software program for MS-DOS computers. It enables an individual to access all keyboard functions via a single switch attached to a joystick port. Selections are made by multiple switch entry.

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Teaching Cooking Skills to a Man With Dual Diagnosis Using Backward Chaining (1993)

Posted on Sep 11, 2013 in Applied Behavior Analysis, Developmental Disabilities, School Papers

To increase his domestic skills, the interdisciplinary team decided at Mr. Packer’s annual habilitation planning meeting that he would have a goal of learning to prepare a meal independently. The time frame for the goal was one year. The house manager was asked to develop the instructional plan.

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Stereotypic Behavior in Persons with Mental Retardation (1994)

Posted on Sep 11, 2013 in Developmental Disabilities, Ethology, School Papers

In children and adults with mental retardation, and particularly in those who are severely or profoundly impaired, stereotyped behaviors are very common. Special educators do not typically get to watch the origin of these behaviors; rather, they are often confronted with well-developed behaviors which appear to be nonfunctional and can occur with such great frequency as to make training difficult.

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Euthanasia in Persons with Mental Retardation: More Than in the Wind (1993)

Posted on Sep 11, 2013 in Developmental Disabilities, School Papers

As we approach the Millennium, euthanasia is officially outlawed in the United States (Lusthaus, 1985), but it is a frequent topic in professional and philosophical journals, just as happened in pre-World War II Germany (Wolfensberger, 1981). The Germans “thought the unthinkable” a decade or more before actually beginning to do it. If we are not currently thinking the unthinkable, we have at least been discussing it in our professional journals for the last decade and more.

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Cerebral Palsy (1994)

Posted on Sep 11, 2013 in Developmental Disabilities, School Papers

Cerebral Palsy is the name of a variety of nonprogressive brain defects which occur during the prenatal, perinatal, or early postnatal periods, and which result in motor impairment (What everyone should know about cerebral palsy, 1977). It is not “a disease in any medical sense” (Crothers & Paine, 1988, p. 1), but can arise for any number of reasons. It causes major disability and is associated with a variety of other disabling conditions, including epilepsy, mental retardation, and sensory deficits.

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The Use of Microcomputers as Augmentative Communication Devices (1984)

Posted on Sep 11, 2013 in Augmentative Communication, Computers, Developmental Disabilities, Presentations, Research

For persons with severe motor impairments which limit their ability to move as well as to speak, computers are of importance as communication aids. However, computer-based communication devices have heretofore been expensive and often crude. The proliferation of reliable, low-cost personal computers has solved the hardware problem, but communication ware is frequently inadequate or inefficient.

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Using a Bar Code Reader to Enter Behavioral Observations (1988)

Posted on Sep 11, 2013 in Applied Behavior Analysis, Computers, Developmental Disabilities, Presentations, Research

Our impression is that use of a computer-based bar code readeris a suitable method for collecting some types of behavioral data. The necessity of looking away from the keyboard suggests the BCR may be more practical for collection of interval rather than continuous data. The provision of mechanical guides would provide tactile cues for positioning the BCR and might reduce the need to look at the scanning sheet.

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The Ability of Mentally Retarded Persons To Judge Facial Expressions From Photographs (1986)

Posted on Sep 11, 2013 in Developmental Disabilities, Ethology, Psychology, Research, School Papers

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Using a Microcomputer to Collect Behavioral Data on an Augumentative Communication Program (1989)

Posted on Sep 11, 2013 in Computers, Developmental Disabilities, Presentations, Research

We added automatic data collection routines to a microcomputer-based augmentatative device which has been used for more than five years by an adult male nonretarded resident of Greene Valley Developmental Center. The data were collected by the computer, without the necessity of a human observer. Data are presented for frequency and length of use, number of switch closures, and accesses of output devices.

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The Ability of Mentally Retarded Adults to Judge Facial Expressions From Photographs (1983)

Posted on Sep 11, 2013 in Developmental Disabilities, Ethology, Presentations, Psychology, Research

The ability of mentally retarded persons to recognize facial expressions is not well known. In the present study, Carroll Izard’s photo recognition technique was applied to a sample of institutionalized mentally retarded adults, with their responses compared to those of nonretarded adults to determine: 1) if retarded adults can identity emotive facial expressions, and, 2) which expressions they can best recognize.

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GID In Relation to Handicap and Disability (1993)

Posted on Sep 10, 2013 in Developmental Disabilities, Gender, School Papers

Is transsexualism a handicap? If having a handicap means that one of more of one’s life activities are substantially limited, then certainly transsexualism, which can result in estrangement from family, divorce, court-enforced separation from minor children, loss of employment, public humiliation, and general rejection by society, can be a handicap.

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Normal and Abnormal Stereotyped Behaviors in Humans and Infrahumans (1986)

Posted on Sep 8, 2013 in Developmental Disabilities, Ethology, School Papers

All vertebrates exhibit rhythmic, repetitive behaviors. Some of these behaviors are normal and functional, but others are abnormal and non-functional. When the behaviors are abnormal, they are called stereotypies. Studies of normal rhythmic behaviors and abnormal stereotypies in both human and non-human animals are discussed. The importance of comparing normal and abnormal rhythmic behaviors in both human and non-human animals is stressed.

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Augmentative Communication Systems: Suggestions for Improvement of Selection Strategies (1984)

Posted on Aug 21, 2013 in Augmentative Communication, Computers, Developmental Disabilities, School Papers

Many persons with a wide variety of disabilities are unable to speak. Those with good physical mobility can learn to effectively use American Sign Language, pencil-and-paper, battery-operated electric typewriters or memowriters, or other communication aids or systems (Silverman, 1980). However, the severely physically involved, non-vocal person— for instance, children with cerebral palsy, stroke victims, and those with degenerative neurological or muscular diseases such as Amyotropic Lateral Sclerosis or Muscular Sclerosis, may lack the voluntary control to use even a lap board with words or symbols drawn on it.

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CUGA Newsletter (1990-1992)

Posted on Aug 9, 2013 in Computers, Developmental Disabilities, Newsletters

By the time I moved to Atlanta in 1989 the home computer craze was on the wane. I nonetheless looked up a Commodore users group in DeKalb, my home county: The Commodore Users Group of Atlanta. I remained a member and sometimes board member as we all slowly moved (most of us reluctantly) from our beloved C-64s to Macintoshes and PCs.

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A Brief Analysis of the Constitutional Right Of the Mentally Retarded To Refuse Psychological Treatment (1985)

Posted on Jul 20, 2013 in Developmental Disabilities, School Papers

For more than a century, mentally retarded individuals have been commonly segregated in residential institutions. Common reasons for placement in such institutions are simple intellectual deficiency and behavioral disturbance. The institutions were originally purely custodial, where “undesirable” individuals were placed so that the sensibilities of other citizens need not be offended by looking at them.

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Self-Injurious Behavior In Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome (1985)

Posted on Jul 8, 2013 in Developmental Disabilities, School Papers

Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome is of particular interest because of the clear-cut relationship between a deficiency of a single enzyme and a pathological behavior (self-injurious behavior)

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GWillie (1984)

Posted on Apr 16, 2013 in Developmental Disabilities, Fiction, Short Stories, Speculative Fiction

GWillie is always telling me what to do. I usually do what he says, because he’s awfully smart. He tells me he “makes suggestions.” “I merely point out socially acceptable alternatives to decisions which may not be in your best interest, Willie. I’m like a big brother.” GWillie is like a brother in a way—a nice brother who is always there when I need him

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What I Found in the Basement (1984)

Posted on Apr 16, 2013 in Developmental Disabilities, Fiction, Short Stories

Mr. Evans said please don’t tell anyone, and tried to give me a one hundred dollar bill, but I wouldn’t take it. And then I was running through the grass of the front lawn, and letting myself in the door of our house. I turned around in the doorway, and took one last look at Mr. Evans’ pleading face. And then I went inside and took a long, hot shower.

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A Raid on Donahue’s Bread (1990)

Posted on Apr 1, 2013 in Developmental Disabilities, Fiction, Magazines, Short Stories, Speculative Fiction, Tales from Chronic 1A

MacManus could have targeted any of the others: Saunders, Kinnon, Ayers, Britton, or Halvington. But Saunders was fleet of foot, with a vindictive nature; Kinnon was bread-wise and kept a close guard on his slices; Ayers was on a diet and got no bread at all, and so was on the prowl himself; and Britton and Halvington operated on the buddy system and were mutual body and bread guards. That left only Donahue. It had to be Donahue.

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I Think of Cindi (1987)

Posted on Apr 1, 2013 in Developmental Disabilities, Fiction, Short Stories, Speculative Fiction, Tales from Chronic 1A

A millipede, seeking relief from the green spray paint insanity, comes inside, where the real insanity is. It bustles over the window ledge, its multitudinous legs working in tandem. All those legs! I wonder if it could spare a pair, What kind of god would give a bug thirty pairs and deny me the use of just one?

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Just Another Year in Chronic 1A (1988)

Posted on Mar 31, 2013 in Book Chapters, Developmental Disabilities, Fiction, Magazines, Short Stories, Speculative Fiction, Tales from Chronic 1A

We’re on the big goddamned yellow and black school bus, on our way to a “picnic,” which means we’ll stop at a roadside park with three trees and two concrete picnic tables and eat extra krispy recipe Kentucky Fried Chicken, bones and all, and maybe even the plastic sporks, the hungrier of us. Then we will be put back on the bus and driven back to the hospital, where we will disembark and be rolled back to the musty, dusty, and always gloomy buildings, back to the chronic wards.

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Fear and Loathing in Lebanon (1986)

Posted on Mar 31, 2013 in Developmental Disabilities, School Papers

My attorney leaned past me and thrust a copy of Public Law. 94-142 at the Mercedes. “Free and appropriate public education for all handicapped,” he screeched. “In the least restrictive goddamned environment!” It was too much for the Mercedes. The driver slowed and took the Stewart’s Ferry exit. My attorney looked at me. “I think that was the Superintendent of Clover Bottom,” he said.

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Letter to the Editor of The Human Side (1991)

Posted on Mar 28, 2013 in Developmental Disabilities, Letters

We recycle whatever we can. Our concession serves more than 150 clients and 30 staff. We have a large garbage can in which we place our aluminum cans. Even though our clients are mentally retarded, they are very conscientious about putting their soft drink cans in the proper place. Some even being aluminum from home.

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People First (1981)

Posted on Mar 24, 2013 in Developmental Disabilities, Newsletters

Recently, Mr. Bill Parra and Mr. Bill Feltner Nashville, met with the 28 residents who attended the 1980 and 1981 People First conferences and discussed with them the possibility of forming a People First group in this area.

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Walk a Mile in My Shoes (1982)

Posted on Mar 23, 2013 in Developmental Disabilities, Journals, Magazines

Throughout that evening the vans and station wagons trickled back in. They discharged the ride-weary but happy individuals who were eager to try out new ideas, programs, and projects they had seen in operation.

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A Discussion of Stereotypic Behavior in Normal Infants And Developmentally Delayed Individuals (1985)

Posted on Jul 8, 2012 in Developmental Disabilities, Ethology, School Papers

This paper defines stereotypic, or rhythmic, behavior. The stereotypies of normally developing infants are discussed and compared with the stereotypies of institutionalized individuals with developmental delays. Animal studies are cited, where relevant.

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