Initiating requests during community-based vocational training by students with mental retardation and sensory impairments.
Students with MR and deafness can quickly learn to ask for work items when taught with AAC boards and gestures on the job.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team worked with students who had mental retardation plus deafness or deaf-blindness.
Training happened during real community job sites, not a classroom.
Teachers used two tools at once: a communication board with pictures or objects, plus simple gestures.
A multiple-baseline design showed when each student started to ask for help, tools, or breaks on the job.
What they found
Every student learned to start work-related requests.
Accuracy reached between 80 and 100 percent during vocational tasks.
Students asked for items like aprons, gloves, or the next job step without adult prompts.
How this fits with other research
Belmonte et al. (2008) also used tactile symbols with sensory-impaired learners, but their blind autistic teens made only small gains.
The difference is diagnosis: autism plus blindness may need longer discrimination training than ID plus deafness.
Bracken et al. (2014) later extended this idea by enlarging and raising PECS symbols for deafblind adults, showing the method scales up to new ages and tools.
Emerson et al. (2007) and Carr et al. (2003) got similar large jumps in requesting using microswitches instead of boards, proving the key ingredient is giving a clear way to ask, not the exact device.
Why it matters
You can teach real-world requesting in the actual job setting, not just at a table.
Pair a simple board with gestures so the student has two ways to be understood.
Expect fast results if the learner has ID and sensory loss, but plan extra steps if autism is also present.
Start vocational training with a clear request system and watch independence grow.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Students with mental retardation and deafness or deaf-blindness often need some type of communication system to communicate effectively with communication partners during community-based vocational training. However, students may need specific training to learn how to initiate requests for items or assistance, a skill identified as critical for job success. Students were taught to initiate requests using dual communication boards and gestures. Data were recorded on student performance using a multiple-baseline probe design in which data were collected during baseline, intervention, and generalization phases. Students were able to initiate requests with 80% to 100% accuracy with the communication system at vocational sites. Training students to initiate requests may need to be targeted when students are first learning a job, as this is when most naturally occurring opportunities exist.
Research in developmental disabilities, 1996 · doi:10.1016/0891-4222(95)00040-2