Support for Children with Developmental Disabilities in Full Inclusion Classrooms Through Self-Management

The literature has suggested that without the implementation of support procedures, placements of children with severe disabilities in full-inclusion classrooms are often unsuccessful. This study assessed whether a support person who taught young elementary school students to use self-management procedures and then faded involvement with them would be effective in increasing these students' appropriate performance on schoolwork tasks and reducing disruptive behavior in full inclusion classrooms. The percentage of time the children engaged in appropriate performance of schoolwork tasks and disruptive behavior was recorded during in-class periods. Data were collected over a 9-month period in a multiple baseline design during the academic year. The results showed that implementation of self-management resulted in high levels of appropriate performance of schoolwork activities, negligible levels of disruptive behavior, and complete elimination of time spent in time-out. Following the intervention, both appropriate schoolwork performance and disruptive behavior exhibited by the children with severe disabilities were within the range of the typical children in the classroom.