Brief report: Teaching persons with moderate mental retardation to use printed instructions and time cues in a work context

Abstract

Printed instructions and programable watches were used for helping two adults with moderate mental retardation perform variable tasks and follow a time schedule for task execution. The subjects, who could not read, were to match the words appearing in instruction notes to identical words superimposed on illustrative pictures (and collected in a vocabulary form). The pictures identified through this matching explained the meaning of the words being matched (i.e., indicated to the subjects which responsesltasks to perform). Self-recording was also used. The results showed that both subjects learned to use the printed instructions and the watches successfully. The subjects' performance remained positive over time. Procedural aspects and practical implications of the study are discussed.