The Education of Severely and Profoundly Handicapped Children and Youth: Some Issues That Currently Need To Be Resolved.

This paper explores Canadian educational services offered to severely and profoundly handicapped children and comments on their cautious welcoming into the regular education system. School administrators must become familiar with the needs of severely handicapped students, and must become much more involved in the planning, support, and implementation of in-service or staff development activity. Student placement practices are changing as more severely and profoundly handicapped children are being placed in neighborhood schools, requiring a greater amount of an administrator's time in planning, facilitating, and coordinating the provision of services for all students. A transdisciplinary model of service delivery is suggested, which calls for teachers delivering all school-based services to students, while related service professionals assess and demonstrate to train the teacher. The individual educational program should take into account the person's total life circumstances and the values and wishes of the primary caregivers. Several issues need to be addressed to enhance the educational experience of the severely disabled student, including: transitions, case management, education and related services, teacher training, and exemplary practices. (JDD)