Education and Treatment Needs of Students with Profound, Multiply Handicapping, and Medically Fragile Conditions: A Survey of Teachers' Perceptions

Abstract

This investigation assessed perceptions of special educators regarding the education and treatment needs of students with profound or multiple handicaps or medically fragile conditions. A survey was distributed nationally to 500 special educators chosen randomly from the membership list of The Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps. The survey sought to: (a) identify what educators perceived to be important variables in delivering quality educational programs, (b) determine current classroom practices, and (c) identify what educators perceived to be strengths and weaknesses of their university teacher training programs. A total of 148 surveys were returned (29.6%) and 123 were included in the final data analysis. Results indicate that respondents did not feel adequately trained by university teacher training programs to work with many individuals having profoundly handicapping conditions. Some teachers did not include certain curricular areas (e.g., vocational skills, community living skills) because they felt they would not benefit students. For a variety of reasons, instructional techniques such as integration strategies, application of technology, and use of van Dijk, neurodevelopmental, and Piagetian procedures also are not implemented by some teachers. In general, as class size and the proportion of students with profound disabilities increases, teachers find implementation of some best practices to be less important.