2007 Project Highlights
Recombinative Generalization of Within-Syllable
Units in Intellectual Disabilities
Funded by NICHD
by Kate Saunders
(11/07) Many individuals with mental retardation
(MR) read at levels below what might be expected based on other cognitive
skills. Further, reading instruction historically has emphasized sight
words, and this emphasis limits reading vocabulary to words that have
been taught directly. There is a critical need for effective methods
to teach word-attack, or decoding, skills to this difficult-to-teach
population. Word-attack skills enable reading words that have not been
taught directly. Read
the full story.
Kansas Family Service Coordination Training Project
by David P. Lindeman
Abstract
by David P. Lindeman
(9/07) This project will solidify a
collaborative effort of the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE),
Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), and Kansas Inservice
Training System (KITS) to address priorities of the State Program Improvement
for Special Education Grant and focus on training priorities identified
in the Kansas service system for young children with disabilities and
their families. Read the full story.
Communication of People with Mental Retardation:
A Program Project 2007-2012
Dick Saunders, Ph.D.
(7/07) This Program Project was first funded by the National Institute
of Child Health and
Human Development in 1964, one year after NICHD was established. Recently,
the LSI received
notice that the Program Project would again be funded, this time for
years 38-42. Led by Richard
Saunders, the project has 19 investigators and advisors from 6 Universities.
Read the full story.
Pilot Evaluation of the Impacts of Special Olympics Healthy
Athletes® Screening Events on Referral, Follow-up, and Health Behavior
of Special Olympics Athletes
Muriel D. Saunders
(05/07) For
this project we will contact 450 athletes and/or those who speak for
them to assess the effects of their attendance at Healthy Athlete® screenings
in a window 3-6 months following the screenings (300 athletes following
US events and 150 Latin American athletes following Latin American events).
We intend to follow at least 150 who attended each of three types of
screenings: Healthy Hearing screenings, Opening Eye screenings, and Special
Smiles screenings. (Read the full story.)
Kansas College of Direct Support
Kathy Olson, Principal Investigator
(1/07) The Kansas College of Direct Support (CDS) became a reality this
month following sustained effort by stakeholders to secure funding for
this high quality online training for the direct support professional
(DSP) workforce. (Read the full
story)
Reducing the Incidence of Obesity in Adults with
Developmental Disabilities in Kansas
Richard R. Saunders and Muriel D. Saunders, Principal
Investigators
Joseph Donnelly, Bryan K. Smith, and Debra Sullivan
(3/07) A collaboration between the Life Span Institute
and developmental disabilities scientists aim to develop a simple, effective
and inexpensive diet plan that will eventually be promulgated throughout
the Kansas developmentally disabled network. (Read the full story)
