A Strategy for Developing Chronological-Age-Appropriate and Functional Curricular Content for Severely Handicapped Adolescents and Young Adults

Abstract

The paper points out the inappropriateness of the typical bottom-up or norm-referenced curricula offered to severely handicapped adolescents and young adults. As an alternative, it is proposed that curricula for this population teach chronological-age-appropriate functional skills in natural environments. Functional skills, natural environments, and chronological-age-appropriate skills are defined in this context. A six-phase curriculum-development strategy is constructed based on these concepts. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of this strategy for traditional curricular content and service delivery for severely handicapped adolescent and young adult students.

Technical Report: The Pediatrician's Role in the Diagnosis and Management of Autistic Spectrum Disorder in Children

“…These approaches emphasize teaching a child functional skills in natural environments. 131 The effectiveness of ecologic approaches in teaching children with ASD has not been well studied.…”

A Systematic Review of Teaching Daily Living Skills to Adolescents and Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…For decades, professionals have recognized the importance of teaching functional skills to individuals with disabilities (e.g., Ayers et al 2011;Brown et al, 1979;Siegel 1996). Daily living skills are among the functional skills needed for success in current and future environments, and they consist of those activities needed in domestic, employment, and community settings that allow a person to be as independent as possible (Brown et al 1979;Test et al 2006;Volkmar and Wiesner 2009).…”

“…Daily living skills are among the functional skills needed for success in current and future environments, and they consist of those activities needed in domestic, employment, and community settings that allow a person to be as independent as possible (Brown et al 1979;Test et al 2006;Volkmar and Wiesner 2009).…”

Reconciling an Ecological Curricular Framework Focusing on Quality of Life Outcomes with the Development and Instruction of Standards-Based Academic Goals

“…In addition, they suggest instructional approaches that promote effective instruction and generalized outcomes for both academic and functional skills. Finally, they outline a number of issues that require additional reflection, discussion, and research.DESCRIPTORS: ecological curricular framework, standard-based academic goals, quality of life, instructional strategies, generalizationThe ecological framework for curriculum development for students with severe disabilities emerged in the late 1970s in response to the concerns of advocates and researchers that traditional developmental and academic curricular approaches for this group of students had not lead to significant improvements in their quality of life (Brown et al, 1979). In contrast to developmental and academic curricular models that focused on teaching students a predetermined sequence of skills, the ecological framework was structured to identify and teach the routines, activities, and skills that students needed to learn to support their full participation in home, school, work, and community settings.…”