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The stability of home environment in families of children with severe disabilities was investigated. Sixty-four families were assessed at three time points regarding aspects of their home environment. Family environment scale, home quality rating scale (HQRS) and home observation for measurement of the environment scores were collected at 7 and 9 years after the initial assessment. A remarkable degree of stability was observed, particularly for the FES. The median change score was zero for most subscales; no correlations differed significantly between the 7- and 9-year retests. A repeated measures MANOVA found a significant change in scores over time for only one subscale of the HQRS but none of the 10 FES subscales. Results suggest that, for the FES, administration of these measures every 2 years, perhaps less often, would be sufficient in longitudinal studies of this population. Internal consistency reliability of the FES was lower for these families than in the standardization samples, emphasizing the need to validate measures used with special populations.

Professional schools are responsible for training students in how to deliver high-quality services equitably to diverse families. This chapter describes the role of educational professionals in meeting the needs of diverse families who have children with autism and the training process needed to prepare them. We set the stage by presenting an overview of the of the increasing Latino population in Inland southern California, concomitant with the increasing numbers of children on the autism spectrum and the dire need for teachers to work with them. The chapter highlights one important area of research, student–teacher relationships, and their importance for transitioning young children with autism spectrum disorders into early schooling. In addition, there are growing numbers of individuals with autism graduating and transitioning from high school into postsecondary experiences, especially in colleges and universities. This chapter also provides the rationale for keeping university faculty abreast of autism. Finally, implications of work on autism for emerging professional roles across the disciplines of special and medical education will be proffered.

This paper focuses on factors that might influence positive parenting during middle childhood when a parent faces formidable challenges defined herein as "resilient parenting." Data were obtained from 162 families at child age 5 and 8 years. Using an adapted ABCX model, we examined three risk domains (child developmental delay, child ADHD/ODD diagnosis, and low family income) and three protective factors (mother's education, health, and optimism). The outcome of interest was positive parenting as coded from mother-child interactions. We hypothesized that each of the risk factors would predict poorer parenting and that higher levels of each protective factor would buffer the risk-parenting relationship. Positive parenting scores decreased across levels of increasing risk. Maternal optimism appeared to be a protective factor for resilient parenting concurrently at age 5 and predictively to age 8, as well as a predictor of positive change in parenting from age 5 to age 8, above and beyond level of risk. Maternal education and health were not significantly protective for positive parenting. Limitations, future directions, and implications for intervention are discussed.

In-depth interviews conducted separately with 13-year-olds with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), intellectual disability (ID), or typical development (TD) and their mothers investigated the experiences of victimization in the form of bullying. Coded constructs from the interviews were utilized to compare groups on the frequency, type, and impact of victimization. Youth with ASD were victimized more frequently than their ID or TD peers, and the groups differed with regard to the type of bullying and the impact it had, with ASD youth faring the worst. Higher internalizing problems and conflict in friendships were found to be significant predictors of victimization, according to both youth- and mother-reports. These predictors were found to be more salient than ASD status alone. Implications for practice are discussed. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.

Little is known regarding the extent to which schools are implementing transition programming for students with severe mental retardation and other related issues: parent expectations of transition outcomes, postschool vocational outcomes, and parent involvement in the transition process. These issues were examined with 52 families who had transition age sons or daughters with severe mental retardation. Results revealed that (a) schools are providing a variety of instruction in the area of transition; (b) parents' ideal views of vocational outcomes are not always consistent with their realistic views; (c) for students who have exited the school system, the majority (54%) are working in segregated environments; and (d) families are very involved in the transition programming of their sons or daughters.

This review focuses on research addressing aspects of family stress and burden over the last year. While families continue to feel some negative influence of having a child with intellectual disability or retardation, there is growing evidence that families also experience positive consequences. In addition to the broadening perspective of impact and burden, some recent research on families reflects more sophistication in methodology and sensitivity to cultural context. (C) 2001 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Parents assessed the extent of father involvement in the lives of their young children with severe intellectual disability, as well as their satisfaction with that involvement. This study assessed 60 families at two time points about 1.5 years apart. There was high agreement between mothers and fathers concerning the extent of fathers' help, which was highest in the areas of playing, nurturing, discipline, and deciding on services. Most mothers were satisfied with the extent of fathers' help. Mothers' satisfaction with fathers' help related more strongly to indicators of family well-being than the actual extent of fathers' help. In regression analyses, mothers' satisfaction with fathers' help explained significant variance in mothers' and fathers' marital adjustment at both time points, even after the contributions of child maladaptive behaviour and caretaking burden were accounted for. The implications of father involvement considerations for counselling are considered.

The present study investigated whether (a) siblings of children with (LD) and without learning disabilities (NLD) differed in terms of psychological adjustment and perceived impact of their target brother or sister, and (b) whether parents of LD and NLD children differed in terms of perceived stress and burden. Based on Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) scores of target child behavior, families were divided into four groups: (a) No LD and no behavior problems (BP), (b) LD only, (c) BP only, and (d) LD and BP. Siblings ( n=71) and their parents ( n=67) were interviewed in their homes. Regardless of whether the target child was LD or NLD, parent reports of the internalizing and externalizing behavior scores from the CBCL differentially reflected the presence of behavior problems. The results indicated that (a) LD and NLD siblings differed in their perception of the quality of their sibling relationships and self-reports of their own behavior, and (b) the parents of children reported to have a behavior problem with or without LD reported higher levels of perceived burden. A substantial indicator of the impact of a child with LD on siblings and parents was related to whether children with LD also had behavior problems.

Severe retardation in a child surely has an effect on all family members. Studies of non-disabled siblings in these families have indicated both emotional risks and perceived benefits. Little is known about how out-of-home placement of the child with retardation affects the siblings. Adolescent siblings of children with retardation living at home (N = 25) or in residential placement (N = 20) were contrasted with siblings of children without retardation (N = 28), on measures obtained from their mothers and themselves. Despite their different situations, these siblings were highly similar on measures of psychological adjustment, self-esteem, and family environment. Sibling relationships, however, were less intense, with less warmth but also lower conflict, in families where the child lived out of the home. Most siblings of children with retardation reported positive personal growth experiences while also expressing realistic concerns about the future. Siblings of children with retardation had beliefs and attitudes about placement that were highly consistent with the child's current living situation.

Results of a study focusing on family, school, and community integration are provided herein. The study was comprised of 151 parents of adolescents with severe disabilities who completed written measures and responded to interview questions about their children and families. Results indicated that the adolescents primarily participated in family and home activities, with less frequent participation in school and community functions. Families were concerned with planning for future vocational and independent living experiences for their adolescent children, although more than half of the parents reported that obtaining a job and living outside the home in the future would be unlikely. The results of regression analyses indicated that both child characteristics and family variables play a predominant role in predicting an adolescent's level of integration in home and community, with only child characteristics predicting school integration.

Middle childhood. Few scholars have described what it feels like better than A. A. Milne, in his essay, “In Which Pooh Goes Visiting and Gets Into a Tight Place.” Winnie-the-Pooh ate way, way too much honey and became stuck while climbing through the hole to leave Rabbit’s house.

Background High friendship quality is often defined by high levels of intimacy, companionship, closeness and low levels of conflict. Quality friendships develop over time and may be influenced by both behaviour problems and social skills. Materials and methods Participants were 103, 13-year-old adolescents with or without intellectual disabilities in the United States. Adolescents and their mothers participated in an open-ended interview of friendship quality and completed measures of social skills and behaviour problems. This study addressed differences in friendship quality between children with and without intellectual disabilities and explored early indicators of friendship development. Results Adolescents with intellectual disabilities (ID) had friendships characterized by significantly lower levels of warmth/closeness and positive reciprocity than their typically developing peers. Likewise, adolescents with ID spent less time with friends outside of school and were less likely to have a cohesive group of friends. Social skills and behaviour problems at age 9 predicted friendship quality at age 13 above and beyond disability status, with higher levels of social skills and lower levels of behaviour problems related to higher ratings on measures of friendship quality. Conclusions It appears that adolescents with intellectual disabilities have friendships that are characterized by less warmth/closeness and less positive reciprocity than the friendships of their typically developing peers. This discrepancy appears to be impacted by early social skills and behaviour problems in addition to the presence of the intellectual disability.

Family involvement could be critical for successful residential treatment. Historically, however, out of home placement for children with mental retardation meant a severing of meaningful ties with their families. Today, families have greater involvement with pre-placement services and might be more involved in residential treatment as well. Families (N = 55) were interviewed twice, approximately one and two years after placement, to assess their involvement with the child and their reactions to placement. Contrary to previous findings, family involvement was high and stable; there was no evidence of behavioral detachment. Moreover, respondents primarily reported post-placement benefits to the family. Family emotional reactions were considered within a framework of "psychological tasks of placement".

Much of our understanding of families and parenting of children with intellectual disabilities (ID) reflects the thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors of mothers with relatively little focus on the ways in which fathers contribute to and are affected by this unique context. In this chapter, we address the importance of fathers as a source of critical developmental influence, and contrast fathers and mothers of children with ID along three important dimensions of parent functioning (stress, well-being, and interactive behavior). The contrasts explore the developmental trajectories of these parenting constructs over time from the perspective of an emerging new complexity in conceptual models of family and parent adaptation. Data from the Collaborative Family Study are used to explore paternal and maternal stress, well-being, and behavior across the preschool through transition to school-age developmental period, and findings are discussed within the context of the broader literature in each area.

More than 65 years after Leo Kanner published his seminal article, research on autism continues to be an area of increasing interest. Although much progress has been made, this field is still in its infancy, and many avenues of research are just beginning to be pursued. Despite the time that has passed, the syndrome Kanner identified and his comments about the children he observed continue to have meaning today, and although some of his suggestions about the etiology and presentation of autism were grounded in the thinking of his day, many of his observations were quite prescient. In this paper we explore Kanner's contributions to the field of autism, discuss how the field has changed, and suggest ways that research on autism spectrum disorders can continue to move forward.

Much of the extant literature on siblings and developmental disability fails to take into account methodological variations, syndrome specific characteristics of a disorder, or constellation variables (such as gender or birth order). In addition, the target child is usually the typically developing sibling; little consideration has been given to the impact of a typically developing child on the brother or sister with a disability. In this chapter, we review research related to the development of sibling relationship quality and identify factors that impact sibling outcomes, such as social skills or behavior, for both siblings without disabilities and those with intellectual disability (ID) or neuro-developmental disorders such as autism. In doing so, we propose a conceptual model that considers main effects and moderators (such as genetic influences, family functioning, or cultural expectations) of the target child's adjustment.

The sibling relationship of adolescents with and without intellectual disabilities was examined. Participants were 70 sibling dyads--each dyad was comprised of one 12-year old adolescent with (N=23) or without intellectual disabilities (N=47). Sibling relationships, behavior problems, and social skills were assessed using mother reports. Results revealed three findings. First, for typically developing adolescents, mothers reported more warmth in the sibling relationship for opposite sex dyads. For adolescents with intellectual disabilities, mothers reported more warmth in the sibling relationship for same-sex dyads. Second, for typically developing adolescents, mothers reported more status/power differences when the sibling was younger than when the sibling was older. For adolescents with intellectual disabilities, birth order did not affect status/power in the sibling relationship. Third, for typically developing adolescents, conflict was related to internalizing behavior problems. For adolescents with intellectual disabilities, conflict was related to externalizing behavior problems. Implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed.

The impact on everyday life for siblings of children with intellectual disability or typical development was examined. Participants were families of children with intellectual disability (n = 39) or typical development (n = 75). Child behavior problems and sibling impact were assessed at child ages 5, 6, 7, and 8. Results indicate that siblings of children with intellectual disability were consistently reported by mothers and fathers to be more negatively impacted compared to siblings of typically developing children. When child behavior problems were accounted for, however, there was no longer a significant relationship between child intellectual status and sibling impact. For both intellectual disability and typical development groups, cross-lagged panel analyses indicate that early child behavior problems lead to increased sibling negative impact over time.

(2000). Families and Exceptionality: Better Than Ever An Introduction. Early Education and Development: Vol. 11, No. 4, pp. 391-393.

Background Parenting stresses have consistently been found to be higher in parents of children with intellectual disabilities (ID); yet, some families are able to be resilient and thrive in the face of these challenges. Despite the considerable research on stress in families of ID, there is still little known about the stability and compensatory factors associated with everyday parenting stresses. Methods Trajectories of daily parenting stress were studied for both mothers and fathers of children with ID across child ages 36–60 months, as were specific familial risk and resilience factors that affect these trajectories, including psychological well-being of each parent, marital adjustment and positive parent–child relationships. Results Mothers' daily parenting stress significantly increased over time, while fathers' daily parenting stress remained more constant. Decreases in mothers' daily parenting stress trajectory were associated with both mother and father's well-being and perceived marital adjustment, as well as a positive father–child relationship. However, decreases in fathers' daily parenting stress trajectory were only affected by mother's well-being and both parents' perceived marital adjustment. Conclusions Parenting stress processes are not shared entirely across the preschool period in parents of children with ID. Although individual parent characteristics and high-quality dyadic relationships contribute to emerging resilience in parents of children with ID, parents also affect each others' more resilient adaptations in ways that have not been previously considered.

Much of our understanding of families and parenting of children with intellectual disabilities (ID) reflects the thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors of mothers with relatively little focus on the ways in which fathers contribute to and are affected by this unique context. In this chapter, we address the importance of fathers as a source of critical developmental influence, and contrast fathers and mothers of children with ID along three important dimensions of parent functioning (stress, well-being, and interactive behavior). The contrasts explore the developmental trajectories of these parenting constructs over time from the perspective of an emerging new complexity in conceptual models of family and parent adaptation. Data from the Collaborative Family Study are used to explore paternal and maternal stress, well-being, and behavior across the preschool through transition to school-age developmental period, and findings are discussed within the context of the broader literature in each area.

Summary This chapter contains a selective review of literature related to the placement of mentally retarded children out of their birth or natural homes into alternative care environments. It focuses on the differences in the correlates of placement before and after the passage of Public Law 94-142. A model of the placement process is proposed, and the factors presumed to influence placement are discussed. Factors delaying or preventing placement are also considered. We conclude that placement depends on a complex constellation of factors that are dynamic in nature.

Understanding positive, as well as negative, impact of a child with mental retardation will lead to a more balanced view of families and disability. In two studies we examined parents' perceived positive impact of a child with MR/DD. Study 1 involved 282 young adults with severe mental retardation; Study 2 involved 214 young children with, or without, developmental delays. In both studies, positive impact was inversely related to behavior problems. Moreover, positive impact moderated the relationship between behavior problems and parenting stress. Also, main and moderating effects of positive impact differed by parent ethnicity. Latina mothers reported higher positive impact than Anglo mothers did when the child had MR/DD. These findings are discussed in the context of cultural beliefs.

Although collaborative partnership between parents and professionals is a cornerstone of the special education and service systems, this relationship exists more as an ideal, especially when low-income, culturally diverse families are involved. Through three focus groups, we examined the beliefs of 16 low-income Latina mothers of young adults with developmental disabilities about their relationships with the educational and service delivery systems. Primary concerns identified were (a) poor communication, (b) low effort in providing services, (c) negative attitudes of professionals toward the client-children, (d) negative treatment of parents by professionals, and (e) the mother's role as central to the well-being of her child. Mothers tended to adopt a posture of alienated advocacy in relation to their child's educational and service needs.

The quality of life of 188 young adults with moderate or severe mental retardation was examined. Schalock and Keith's (1993) Quality of Life Questionnaire (QOL-Q) was used as the primary outcome measure. Young adults who had exited high school had significantly higher overall quality of life scores than did those who were still attending school. Individuals who had jobs in the community also had significantly higher levels of quality of life. Although young adult adaptive functioning was the single largest indicator of the QOL-Q index total score and three of the four subscales, it was not related to scores on the Satisfaction subscale. Here, family- and environment-related variables played a greater role. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Children and adolescents with mental retardation are at heightened risk for mental disorder. We examined early evidence of behavior problems in 225 three-year-old children with or without developmental delays and the relative impact of cognitive delays and problem behaviors on their parents. Staff-completed Bayley Behavior Scales and parent-completed Child Behavior Checklists (CBCLs) showed greater problems in children with delays than in those without delays. Children with delays were 3 to 4 times as likely to have a total CBCL score within the clinical range. Parenting stress was higher in delayed condition families. Regression analyses revealed that the extent of child behavior problems was a much stronger contributor to parenting stress than was the child's cognitive delay.

We examined the applicability of attribution theory to mothers' perceptions and reactions to their child's problem behavior. Participants were 149 Latina mothers of children with developmental disabilities who were interviewed regarding specific incidents in which their child exhibited a behavior problem. The findings indicate that most mothers viewed their child as not being responsible for the behavior problem. Furthermore, as predicted by attribution theory, mothers who ascribed relatively high responsibility to the child were significantly more likely to report negative emotions (anger and frustration) and aggressive/harsh behavioral reactions than mothers who ascribed low responsibility. Also. mothers were more likely to ascribe high responsibility to the child when the problem was characterized as a behavioral excess than as a behavioral deficit. The results provide support for the applicability of an attributional framework and may have important implications for helping parents in addressing the problem behaviors of their children with developmental disabilities.

OBJECTIVES The goals of this study were to determine the extent of staff members' support for family involvement in residential treatment centers for children, to examine staff members' beliefs about families and the consequences of their involvement, and to examine the relationship between staff members' support of family involvement and their characteristics, experiences, and beliefs. METHODS A total of 267 staff members at three residential treatment centers for children with psychiatric disorders or mental retardation or both responded to a survey about their experiences with families, beliefs about families, and support for family involvement. RESULTS Staff members were very supportive of greater family involvement, although they showed more support for families in the role of service recipients than as decision makers. However, staff members did not believe in family reunification as a goal for the majority of children served. The strongest predictors of staff support for family involvement were positive general beliefs about clients' families, the perception that family involvement was advantageous, and the endorsement of fewer reasons to discourage family involvement. CONCLUSIONS Residential programs seeking to create a more receptive climate for families should help staff members establish positive attitudes about the families they serve and about families' potential role in successful treatment.

The goals of the study were to determine the extent of family involvement with children in residential treatment settings, to examine whether involvement diminishes over time, and to examine the relationship between involvement and the child's diagnosis as well as the demographic characteristics of the child and the family.Staff rated the level and frequency of family involvement with 234 children, aged five to 19 years, living in three residential treatment centers. The children were grouped according to three diagnostic categories: psychiatric disorder, mental retardation, and dual diagnosis of psychiatric disorder and mental retardation.Almost one-third of the children had no family contact, and about 50 percent had three or fewer contacts per year. The level of family involvement was lower with dually diagnosed children than with children who had only psychiatric disorder or mental retardation. Level of involvement was also related to the driving time between the family home and the residential facility and to socioeconomic status, variables that seemed to account for the lower level of involvement of families with dually diagnosed children.Greater distance between the family home and the residential treatment center and low socioeconomic status greatly limit a family's accessibility for involvement with children in out-of-home placements. These obstacles are more likely to occur in families of dually diagnosed children.

This study tracked the thoughts and actions regarding out-of-home placement in 100 families who had a child or early adolescent with severe handicaps. Parents' behavioral intentions regarding out-of-home placement were assessed using a single item measure of placement tendency (The Placement Tendency Index) four times over a total period of approximately 6 years. Statistical models used to predict time until placement indicated that the Placement Tendency Index had modest predictive capacity in the long run, but increased predictive utility over shorter periods. Closer examination of the movement of scores from one wave of data collection to the next revealed three patterns, indicating variability in the speed and direction with which parents move along the scale.

Data are reported from a brief measure to assess placement tendency of parents who have young children with severe handicaps. Parents of 84 severely retarded children were interviewed in their own homes, three times, 18 to 24 months apart. Their thoughts and actions regarding out-of-home placement for their child were assessed each time on a six-point Placement Tendency Index. Results indicate trends in placement tendency that are linear; from the point that parents begin to entertain the idea of placement it may still be one or two years until the act of placement is completed. These findings suggest that the act of placement is an ongoing process rather than a single discrete behavior. The implications of assessing placement tendency for service providers and other professionals who may assist families in decision-making are discussed.

Children's emotion dysregulation and maternal scaffolding at age 4 were examined as predictors of social skills at age 6, for 66 children with and 106 without early developmental delays. Observed scaffolding and regulation during frustrating laboratory tasks related to later mother, father, and teacher social-skill ratings for children with delays and were stronger predictors of social skills within this group than were developmental level and early behavior problems. In contrast, fewer associations were found for typically developing children, with early behavior problems providing the only unique prediction to social skills. Data support a model in which dysregulation partially mediates the association between developmental status and social-skill outcomes. Implications for research, prevention, and early intervention are discussed.

A conceptual model was proposed guiding a study of mental retardation and family well-being during the transition from late adolescence into young adulthood. The developmental period from about age 18 to 26 is critical, in that formal schooling ends and changes in residential, vocational, and social status are likely. Furthermore, the proposal was made that the success of transitional experiences in these three realms will influence family well-being, an outcome of primary interest at this stage of the lifecycle of the family. Individual characteristics, environment and culture, and family involvement with programs are hypothesized to influence family well-being, but primarily through their impact on transition success.

Postplacement involvement and well-being of 53 families who had placed their child into a residential facility were studied. Parents were interviewed an average of 1, 2, and 3.5 years following placement. Visitation remained moderately high, with some type of visit reported at least monthly at Time 3 by 83% of families. Expressed attachment was high and stable, and most parents reported experiencing less guilt than at the time of placement. Parents were still thinking and talking about the child frequently. They were more likely, over time, to view the placement as permanent, and for about two thirds, the ideal placement was a residential facility. Virtually all parents reported family life to be better following placement, especially in recreation, social life, and relationships with their other children.

Effects of child characteristics and home environment on caregiver's behavioral intentions regarding placement were examined longitudinally for 100 families of children with severe mental retardation. Prior behavioral intentions significantly predicted actual placement, independent of other factors. Child characteristics, with one exception, failed to predict intentions or actual placement behavior. The more normative the child's appearance, the less likely caregivers were to seriously consider placement and to place. Higher socioeconomic standing of mothers promoted more serious consideration of placement as did larger numbers of siblings. Some factors of home quality promoted more active consideration but did not directly affect actual placements. Stress on caregiver contributed to both placement intentions and actual placements. Support resources, on the other hand, had little effect on placement intentions or placement.

There has been much study of how a child with severe disabilities affects the family (Blacher, 1984; Farber 1959), and how this effect may ultimately lead to out-of-home placement (Rimmerman, 1991; Sherman, 1988; Tausig, 1985). We know relatively little, however, about how parents make the decision to place their child, or how parents subsequently feel about the placement (Bromley & Blacher, 1989; Bromley & Blacher, 1991; Cole & Meyer, 1989). Personal accounts have documented the trauma that placement creates for some parents (Greenfeld, 1978, 1986; Moczygemba, 1989), but these issues have not been systematically studied. Until the 1960s, out-of-home placement of children with mental retardation was often recommended strongly by physicians and other professionals (Scheerenberger, 1983). Today, however, families are encouraged to keep young children at home until they reach late adolescence or early adulthood (Taylor, Lakin, & Hill, 1989). Indeed, only a small percentage of families today make the decision to place a child out of the home. Nevertheless, some families do place young children, especially those with severe disabilities. One survey in 1988 estimated that 46,000 children with mental retardation were living in some form of out-of-home setting (Amado, Lakin, & Menke, 1990). One aim of this article is to describe the experiences of parents who are primary caregivers around placement and the placement decision-making process, focusing primarily on five questions: (a) How and why do families initiate placement? (b) How do families choose a placement? (c) How satisfied are primary caregivers with placement? (d) How do primary caregivers respond when they get together with their placed child? and (e) What advantages do primary caregivers perceive to placement? Any analysis of family reactions, however, should consider the broader context of mental health philosophy and available services. While current permanency planning philosophy supports home and family living for young children with disabilities (Taylor, Lakin, & Hill, 1989), the principal of normalization suggests that adolescents and young adults should make a transition to independent or semi-independent community living, preferably in small, family-like settings (Turnbull, Turnbull, Bronicki, Summers, & Roeder-Gordon, 1989). The net results are that children who are placed are more severely disabled, families on average struggle with the out-of-home placement decision later in the life cycle, and there are more placement options than previously. Given these effects, a second aim of this study was to consider whether or not the family's experiences around placement differ according to child characteristics (especially age, but also level of retardation and behavior problems) and the size of the placement facility. The child's age would seem to be a key dimension for service providers to consider, as the likelihood that a person with mental retardation will live in residential placement increases somewhat with age (Blacher, Hanneman, & Rousey, 1992; Borthwick-Duffy, Eyman, & White, 1987; Meyers, Borthwick, & Eyman, 1985). We hypothesized that parents of adolescents would experience placement more positively than parents of young children, in part because adolescents are approaching the age when living out of the home is more expected. Size of the placement facility should also be an important correlate of family experiences, since normalization principles hold that small facilities are more home-like and more supportive of the child's ability to adjust to society than are large facilities. It has been assumed that parents will be more actively involved with their children in smaller community residences than in institutions. However, Conroy and Feinstein (1985) reported a higher visitation rate to institutions than to smaller community facilities, and several studies of the relocation of residents from the institution to smaller community facilities did not find that visits to or from families became more frequent (Grimes & Vitello, 1990; Latib, Conroy, & Hess, 1984). …

The purpose of this two‐phase study was to compare teacher and parent perspectives on some important issues concerning preschool mainstreaming or the integration of handicapped and nonhandicapped children. A questionnaire was used to gather data from preschool teachers in two types of federally funded mainstreamed preschools and from a sample of parents whose children attended mainstreamed preschools. Analyses indicated that there were no significant differences among teacher responses based on type of mainstreaming setting. There were some significant differences, however, between teacher and parent responses to questions concerning the value of preschool mainstreaming, the social interaction of the preschoolers, and parent involvement activities. Explanations of these differences are discussed together with implications for future research.

In this study 101 parents of both handicapped and nonhandicapped children in mainstreamed kindergarten settings participated in a telephone interview. Results indicated a high level of agreement between both sets of parents on the benefits and drawbacks of mainstreaming. The greatest benefits of mainstreaming were identified by parents as related to social outcomes, whereas the greatest drawbacks were in instructional areas. Approximately one-third of the parents in each group did not have prior information or knowledge of mainstreaming; nearly all parents were interested in receiving more information on the topic. The implications of these data for research, teacher training, and information dissemination to parents are discussed.

The Chapel Hill Gifted-Handicapped Preschool Program has developed a model of services which includes, among other areas of concentration, identification procedures, curriculum development, and community and family involvement. Such programs highlight the fact that equal educational opportunity in preschool programs does not imply “the same educational opportunity” for every child. Accordingly, the individual needs of a gifted-handicapped youngster should determine the nature of the education provided. The pre-school project presented in this paper represents an attempt to meet the unique educational needs of a heretofore neglected exceptional population.