Teaching Methods for Profoundly Mentally Retarded Students
This paper surveys the evolution of educational and training approaches for profoundly and severely mentally retarded individuals over the past four decades. Beginning with a historical overview of institutionalization and neglect, the paper traces the shift toward federally mandated inclusion, functional behavioral assessment, and community-based living skills training. Key topics include behavioral support strategies, the advantages and disadvantages of mainstreaming versus segregated settings, assistive technologies, and real-world examples such as a group home in Mount Sinai, New York. The paper draws on scholarship from special education journals, government mandates, and personal accounts to argue that modern pedagogical strategies have dramatically improved outcomes and quality of life for this population.
- Introduction: Changing Approaches to Special Education: Historical shift from institutionalization to mandated education
- Interventions and Behavioral Support: Behavioral assessment and support strategies for severe disabilities
- Learning Environments and Inclusion: Mainstreaming, inclusion, and segregated educational settings
- Assistive Technology and Living Skills: Technology tools and real-world group home example
- Conclusion: Progress and Equal Treatment: Modern equal treatment replacing historical neglect and abuse
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What makes this paper effective
- Provides a clear historical arc, moving from institutionalization and neglect to modern federal protections and community-based education, giving readers useful context for current practices.
- Balances theoretical frameworks (functional behavioral assessment, behavioral support engineering) with a concrete real-world example — the Mount Sinai group home — that grounds abstract concepts in lived experience.
- Acknowledges both advantages and disadvantages of inclusion and segregated settings, demonstrating intellectual balance rather than one-sided advocacy.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper effectively uses direct quotation from peer-reviewed sources (particularly Horner, 1997) to anchor its claims about behavioral support in authoritative scholarship, then synthesizes those quotations with original analysis of how methods have evolved. This integration of source material with interpretive commentary is a core undergraduate research writing skill.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a broad historical framing before narrowing into two substantive sections: one on intervention and behavioral support strategies, and one on environment, inclusion, and assistive technology. A detailed real-world case study bridges theory and practice near the end. The conclusion returns to the paper's opening theme — the contrast between historical abuse and contemporary equal treatment — providing effective structural closure. Overall length and citation density are consistent with an undergraduate research paper.
Introduction: Changing Approaches to Special Education
For the past four decades there have been many changes to the world of special education. Mentally retarded students used to be shuffled off to classrooms down the hall and kept away from the general population. If they were profoundly retarded, they never even entered school, and in many cases were instead institutionalized. Today, there are laws and federal mandates in place that protect the profoundly mentally retarded from being treated in such manners. Those who are mentally retarded, along with other disabled residents of America, are now encouraged to live full lives and to be educated to the best of their ability. Over the past decades, the styles, methods, and pedagogical strategies for teaching profoundly mentally retarded people have changed dramatically in some areas and remained stationary in others.
In the past, and even as recently as a decade or so ago, profoundly mentally retarded individuals were not encouraged to learn. For the most part they were considered un-trainable and un-teachable, and they were sent to institutions or placed in classrooms where nothing more than babysitting occurred. Over the years this has changed — in part due to government intervention, partly due to the families of mentally retarded individuals demanding change, and partly because, as a society evolving, it has been discovered that the mentally retarded can indeed learn. This shift has moved the field away from old-fashioned, outdated methods toward newer, more accepted approaches used today.
References
Horner, R. H., & Carr, E. G. (1997). Behavioral support for students with severe disabilities: Functional assessment and comprehensive intervention. Journal of Special Education, 31.
Guzman, I. (1997, February 19). Where success is routine: The story of a group home in Mount Sinai and the people who live successful lives there. Newsday, p. B04.
Mont, D. (2002, October 8). All in the family: As their parents age or die, more people are assuming responsibility for the care of siblings with severe mental and developmental disabilities. The Washington Post, p. F01.
Gunsett, R. P., Mulick, J. A., Fernald, W. B., & Martin, J. L. (1989). Brief report: Indications for medical screening prior to behavioral programming for severely and profoundly mentally retarded clients. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 19, 167–172.
Harding, J., Wacker, D., Cooper, L., Millard, T., & Jensen-Kovalan, P. (1994). Brief hierarchical assessment of potential treatment components with children in an out-patient clinic. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 27, 291–300.
Haring, T. G., & Kennedy, C. H. (1990). Contextual control of problem behavior in students with severe disabilities. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 23, 235–243.
Horner, R. (1980). The effects of an environmental "enrichment" program on the behavior of institutionalized profoundly retarded children. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 13, 473–491.
Davern, L., Ford, A., Black, J. (Eds.). (1997). The Syracuse community-referenced curriculum guide for students with moderate and severe disabilities. Paul H. Brookes.
Snell, M. E., & Brown, F. (1999). Instruction of students with severe disabilities (5th ed.). Prentice Hall.
Buck, P., & Michener, J. (1992). The child who never grew (Reprint ed.). Woodbine House.
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