Choice-making Skills Research Articles

Teaching young adults with visual impairment and intellectual/developmental disability how to determine appropriate job fit

BACKGROUND: Job seekers must know how to determine whether the jobs identified during a search are a good fit. Employment decision making requires problem-solving and choice-making skills. There is limited research on employment decision making skills. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to teach three young adults with dually diagnosed visual impairment and intellectual/developmental disability to determine appropriate job fit. The mnemonic “ELSE” was paired with remote audio coaching to teach the participants how to determine if the education level, likes, skills, and earnings of each presented job were an appropriate fit for them. METHODS: This study used a single subject design to determine the effectiveness of the multicomponent intervention. The design was a multiple baseline across participant design. RESULTS: The results demonstrated all three participants were able to reach a pre-determined mastery criterion of the skill. Maintenance and generalization were variable across participants. CONCLUSIONS: All participants who received the intervention increased their ability to determine appropriate job fit. The results from this study are promising and demonstrate the potential and flexibility of the mnemonic ELSE on determining appropriate job fit by young adults with VI and IDD.

English

The general purpose of the present study is to determine the relationship between direct and indirect preference assessments of individuals with severe and multiple disabilities (SMD) and the relationship between the direct preference assessments (single-stimulus, paired-stimulus, and multiple-stimulus) as applied to individuals with SMD, and to find whether it is effective to teach the skill of choice making among photographs through the constant time-delay procedure. The study group was composed of three boys aged 9 years and a 7-year old girl residing at Bolu Province who were diagnosed with severe disability; that is, a total of four subjects and their primary caregivers. The study had two phases. During the first phase, the relation between the preference assessments was investigated. There was a highly positive relationship between both the direct and indirect preference assessments and at the same time between the directly applied preference assessments based on single-stimulus, paired-stimulus, and multiple-stimulus-without-replacement. The second phase included teaching choice-making skills. It was seen that teaching through the constant time-delay procedure was effective in teaching the choice-making skill and that the participants preserved the choice-making skill 1, 3, and 4 weeks after the completion of teaching and generalized it to their primary caregivers. Key words: Severe and multiple disabilities, individuals with severe and multiple disabilities, choice-making, choice-making skills, teaching of choice-making skills, preference assessment.

Self-Determination among Transition-Age Youth with Autism or Intellectual Disability: Parent Perspectives

This study examined 68 parents' views of the self-determination skills and capacities of their young adult children with autism spectrum disorders and intellectual disability (ages 19–21 years). Results indicated parents placed a high value on the importance of all seven component skills (i.e., choice-making skills, decision-making skills, goal-setting skills, problem-solving skills, self-advocacy and leadership skills, self-awareness and self-knowledge, and self-management and self-regulation skills) associated with enhanced self-determination. Yet, parents indicated their young adult children did not often perform these skills well. Effect sizes suggested high-magnitude differences between parents' ratings of the importance and their child's performance for each self-determination skill evaluated. Furthermore, regression analyses indicated parents' perceptions of the severity of their child's disability accounted for a significant portion of the variance in the overall ratings of their child's performance of these seven skills (26%) and overall self-determination capacity (27%). Parents who described their children's disabilities as being less severe rated their children as having higher performance levels on both measures of self-determination. Educational implications are presented along with recommendations for future research.

The Improvement of Non-Verbal Communication Skills of Five Females with Profound and Multiple Disabilities Using Song-Choices in Music Therapy

Facilitating the expression of preferences and choices of non-verbal adults who have profound and multiple disabilities is important yet challenging. The present research project aimed to examine whether consistent opportunities for expressing song-choices within music therapy resulted in an improvement in communication abilities of five females with profound and multiple disabilities. A multiple case study design was used. Each participant attended weekly thirty-minute sessions comprising three song-preference assessment sessions followed by ten song-choice intervention sessions. Affective responses to songs in the song-preference assessment were analyzed to identify each participant’s preferred songs. Four song-choice opportunities consisting of a pair of preferred and less-preferred songs were offered during the intervention sessions, and intentional choice-making behaviors were facilitated. The descriptive video-analysis of the sessions shows that the participants were able to indicate consistent preferences for songs, make intentional choices of songs, and improve communication skills throughout the ten intervention sessions. Two participants developed clear choice-making skills, such as selecting a preferred song-card from two options and alternating eye-gaze between a song-card and the researcher. The other three participants demonstrated idiosyncratic but clear intentional behaviors using body movements, facial expressions, and vocalizations to indicate choices of preferred songs. Inter-rater reliability was calculated. These results suggest that some adults with profound and multiple disabilities are capable of improving non-verbal communication skills when appropriate interventions and strategies are provided and also highlight the potential of music therapy to promote communication development of these individuals.

Teaching Choice-Making Skills to Students With Moderate Mental Retardation in a School Setting in China

本研究は、知的障害養護学校の中等部に在籍する3名の知的障害のある生徒を対象に、選択行動の指導方法について検討した。事前に生徒の好みの活動に関するアセスメントを行い、続いて社会スキル活動の授業時間に、場面間マルチベースラインデザインを用いて、自由遊び、買い物、カラオケの3つの活動の指導を行った。介入1ではパソコンおよび実物の歌集を、介入2では写真・文字カードを用いて指導を行った。いずれも、系統的なプロンプト・フェイディングと強化操作を行った。選択行動の形成に関するプロンプトレベルに加え、標的とした活動への参加状況に関する主観的評価、学校場面における選択行動の変化、生活の質（QOL）の変化を測定した。その結果、3名の生徒とも事前に比べ選択行動の形成に関するプロンプトレベルが全般的に減少した。また、指導の波及効果を評価するための4つの活動についても選択行動が変化した。生活の質に関する指標にも変化が認められた。知的障害のある生徒への選択行動の形成に関する指導方法と、その教育的な意義について示唆された。

Choice beyond preference: Conceptualization and assessment of choice-making skills in children with significant impairments.

Choice beyond preference: Conceptualization and assessment of choice-making skills in children with significant impairments.

The Importance of Choice-Making Skills for Students with Severe Disabilities

Making choices is an essential part of functioning independently as an adult in society. Activities specifically directed toward helping students learn to make choices, however, are typically neglected in educational programs for students with severe disabilities. This paper presents a rationale for the inclusion of choice-making as an important skill area for persons with severe disabilities. Behavioral approaches that present useful means of conceptualizing choice-making in the school life of severely disabled students are identified. Procedures are suggested for teaching choice-making skills, for integrating opportunities for exercising those skills throughout the course of the student's school life, and for fostering choice-making skills through the use of logical consequences.

Fostering Choice-Making Skills: We've Come a Long Way But Still Have a Long Way to Go

Freedom is not merely the opportunity to do as one pleases; neither is it merely the opportunity to choose between set alternatives. Freedom is, first of all, the chance to formulate the available choices, to argue over them—and then, the opportunity to choose. (C. Wright Mills)

AAC in the Schools Moving Students Along a Communication Continuum

AAC in the Schools Moving Students Along a Communication Continuum

Choices in Life: A Clinical Tool for Facilitating Midlife Review

A critical developmental task of midlife involves reviewing one's past as well as preparing for one's future. The ability to identify past choices, task responsibility for them, and utilize developing patterns in future decision making is seen as a critical component of continued adult development. The Choicemap offers a structured clinical tool to guide such a midlife review. Engaging in this process assists adults in developing choicemaking skills, and provides a powerful clinical intervention.

Integrating Choice into the Leisure Routines of Older Adults with Severe Disabilities

This investigation examined a means of evaluating and increasing leisure choices within a senior program for older adults with severe disabilities. An observation system was developed to measure the frequency and content of leisure choice opportunities as well as the manner in which each of 3 participants made choices. A process including both staff training and management components was implemented with direct support staff from the senior program. The process initially involved training staff to provide choice opportunities in accordance with participants' choice-making skills. Following training, staff received spoken and written feedback regarding the number and type of choice opportunities provided by staff as well as the number of choices made by participants. The choice provision program was accompanied by an increase in the number, and to a lessor degree the diversity, of choice opportunities provided by staff as well as an increase in the number of choices made by each participant. Results suggested that the increase in choices made by 2 participants was not only due to an increase in choice opportunity but also potentially to an improvement in choice-making skill. Results are discussed regarding the continued need to evaluate procedures for extending research advances pertaining to quality of life into routine practice in agencies providing supports for older adults with severe disabilities.

Assisting older adults with severe disabilities in expressing leisure preferences: A protocol for determining choice-making skills

We evaluated a protocol involving two types of choice presentations for assessing leisure choice-making skills of seven older adults with severe disabilities. Initially when presented with pairs of objects representing choices, choice making was validated through demonstration of an object preference. A more complex choice-presentation format was then employed, involving pictures to represent choices. If the preference identified with objects was not demonstrated using pictures, a replication of the object format occurred to ensure changes in choice making using pictures was not due to a preference change. Five participants demonstrated choice-making skills using objects and two demonstrated choices using pictures. These results reflect the importance of assessing choice-making skills prior to presenting choice opportunities. Suggestions for future research focus on expanding the assessment protocol to include a wider array of choice-making skills and training staff to provide choices in a format commensurate with an individual's skill level.

Preference, choice, and persons with disabilities: A synopsis of assessments, interventions, and future directions

A recent revolution in service delivery for persons with developmental disabilities encompasses increased client independence and improved quality of life. Specifically, care providers have focused on client expressions of preference, choice-making, and choice availability as key elements of study in this new revolution. We review and critique the primary methods of assessing preference and choice for persons with disabilities, including interviews and questionnaires, pictorial presentations, technological apparati, and direct observation. We also provide an overview of the burgeoning literature on intervention programs designed to enhance choice for this population, such as giving more choice to clients, teaching choice-making skills, and improving staff member skills regarding choice availability. Finally, we provide a synopsis of the future directions in this area that should receive the most attention from researchers and caregivers.

Teaching Choice-Making Skills to Students Who are Deaf-Blind

Teaching Choice-Making Skills to Students Who are Deaf-Blind

ASSESSING FOOD PREFERENCES AMONG PERSONS WITH PROFOUND MENTAL RETARDATION: PROVIDING OPPORTUNITIES TO MAKE CHOICES

Increased attention has been directed recently to assisting persons with severe handicaps to express preferences concerning events in their lives. We evaluated a program for assessing choice-making skills to provide opportunities for persons with profound mental retardation to express food and drink preferences. In Experiment 1, the assessment procedure involving repeated, paired-item presentations resulted in active choice making and the identification of preferences for all 5 participants. Results also indicated that caregiver opinion was not predictive of participant food and drink preferences. A survey of service providers supported the importance of meal-related choices in this population. In Experiment 2, the practicality of the assessment procedure was supported by demonstrating that (a) routine caregivers could apply the procedure with appropriate supervision to provide choice opportunities, and (b) results of the procedure were predictive of participant choices when a less structured and more normal opportunity to express a preference was provided during regular mealtimes. Results are discussed in terms of extending the developing technology of preference and reinforcer identification to other important areas for persons with severe disabilities.

Experience in a residential setting

Abstract A Choice Awareness group experience helped retirement and nursing home residents become aware of their choices—it also enhanced their choice-making skills, and their socialization skills within the home

The Importance of Choice-Making Skills for Students with Severe Disabilities

Making choices is an essential part of functioning independently as an adult in society. Activities specifically directed toward helping students learn to make choices, however, are typically neglected in educational programs for students with severe disabilities. This paper presents a rationale for the inclusion of choice-making as an important skill area for persons with severe disabilities. Behavioral approaches that present useful means of conceptualizing choice-making in the school life of severely disabled students are identified. Procedures are suggested for teaching choice-making skills, for integrating opportunities for exercising those skills throughout the course of the student's school life, and for fostering choice-making skills through the use of logical consequences.