LG/RE:LYN\SPR93018 Promoting generalisation of work skills to competitive employment situations: a case study of youth with a developmental disability in a vocational college Lyn Gow*, John Balla** and Roselyn Dixon* *Faculty of Education, University of Western Sydney Macarthur **School of Occupational Therapy, University of Sydney Submitted for the Proceedings of the Annual AARE Conference, Perth, 30 November - 4 December 1993 ABSTRACT Maintenance of employment in competitive situations by youth with a developmental disability has remained generally elusive, despite research findings which suggest that they can achieve the competencies required. A combination of factors have contributed to this situation. However, among the most significant factors, and yet remediable, is the use of instructional techniques which fail to ensure the generalisation of competencies across contexts. There is an urgent need to develop instructional methods that will enhance generalisation of the work-related competencies of youth with developmental disabilities. Enhancement of generalisation is one of the goals of the Wivenhoe Vocational College (Hospitality and Tourism). This paper provides a description of a longitudinal (three-year) and collaborative intervention study which aims to use a cognitive-based training program designed to enhance generalisation of work skills of youth with a developmental disability. The research design combines quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. Preliminary results have confirmed that youth with a developmental disability display characteristics that hinder generalisation of work skills and point to the need to implement a cognitive-based training approach. The cognitive approach to instruction for enhancing generalisation adopted in this study is described. COMPETITIVE EMPLOYMENT FOR YOUTH WITH A DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITY The United Nations (1981) and the Australian Disability Discrimination Act (which came into effect on 1 March 1993) have affirmed that people with disabilities have the right to participate as fully and as autonomously as possible in social and economic life. Participation in competitive employment is seen by most individuals as an essential means of gaining income, promoting a positive self-concept and increasing quality of life, options and opportunities (Riches, 1993). There is ample evidence in the research literature to demonstrate that the vast majority of people with a developmental disability can achieve competencies required for competitive employment (Rusch & Hughes, 1989; Rusch & Phelps, 1987; Ward, Parmenter, Riches & Hauritz, 1980; Wilgosh & Covassi, 1988). Rusch and his colleagues have demonstrated that employees with developmental disabilities can perform at the same level as non- handicapped co-workers on the same job. In addition, Kerachsky and Thorton (1987) evaluated a major transitional employment intervention for 284 young adults with a developmental disability and revealed that they can perform competently in competitive employment. Despite the development over the last fifteen years of a variety of approaches for enhancing the employability of youth with a developmental disability (e.g. work experience, community service, subsidised work introduction, supported employment, specialised units for work introduction and transitional-employment programs), we are far from achieving the goal of obtaining and maintaining competitive employment for many of these youth. In a range of studies the unemployment rate ranged from a low of 58% to a high of about 85%. For instance, Wehman, Kregal & Seyforth (1985) assessed 117, 17-24 year olds with mental retardation on variables related to employment level, wages, types of job. Of these, 14 held competitive jobs in non-sheltered environments, but their wages were very low. Kiernan and Stark (1986) found that 74% to 85% of adults with developmental disabilities in the U.S. are either unemployed or not in open employment. Rusch & Phelps (1987) put the figure at 67% for Americans with disabilities between the ages of 16 & 64 years. Wehman, Hill, Hill, Brooke, Pendleton & Brit (1985) indicated that while the unemployment rate for young adults with developmental disabilities was 58%, almost three quarters of those who were employed earned less than $500 per month, and most of those employed had gained their jobs through family members or friends. In some more recent studies, the results were even more disheartening. Haring and Lovett (1990) found that only 6% of their sample of young adults with a developmental disability were competitively employed. None of their subjects received supported employment; 67% were in employment-related placements, and, of these, 38% were in sheltered workshops. Frank et al. (1990) investigated the adjustment of 318 former special education students labelled mentally disabled. Only 8% of these were in full or part-time employment or in some type of job-training. Hoisch (1992) in a two-year follow-up study found similar trends. Sitlington, Frank & Carson (1992) provide one positive finding where 62% of graduates with a mild intellectual disability were in competitive employment, but only 6% were undertaking further training and their wage was lower than that of peers. It is suggested that a number of factors have contributed to the deterioration in the employment rate. First, the opportunities for those with a developmental disability are restricted by the fact that approximately 25% of their "normal" age peers are also seeking employment. Second, there is a discrepancy between the optimism of some research findings and the reality of the competencies actually being demonstrated by youth with a developmental disability after the use of traditional training techniques. This paper provides a description of an instructional approach and evaluation research methodology which is being used in a collaborative initiative at the Wivenhoe Vocational College. THE WIVENHOE VOCATIONAL COLLEGE Wivenhoe Vocational College is housed in an historical mansion adjacent to the Mater Dei School near Camden in New South Wales. The College undertakes training for the hospitality industry, making use of agreed competency standards as endorsed by Tourism Training Australia (TTA) and the minimum training requirements as prescribed by the Australian Hospitality Review Panel (AHRP). Drawing on recent advances both here and overseas, the Wivenhoe Vocational College has developed a competency-based program that has sought to overcome the inadequacies of previous provisions for students with developmental disabilities in a vocational setting. One of these programmes has been incorporated into a research initiative designed to enhance the generalisation of skills from the college to the employment context. BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY OF GENERALISATION There is an enormous diversity in ability among people, and this diversity is no different for those with developmental disabilities. Most persons in the mildly developmentally disabled group (I.Q. approximately 50 to 70), those targetted for this study, are often indistinguishable from their normal age peers; they are often able to read newspapers and environmental print, use public transport and facilities such as a telephone, and hold intelligible conversations. However, a major barrier to the success of these people is their failure to generalise or transfer acquired skills from one setting to another (see Gow, 1984b; 1985; 1986; 1987; 1988; 1989; Gow et al., 1988; 1989; 1990). That is, what they learn in one context often does not transfer to another (Rudrud, Ziarnik, Bernstein & Ferrara, 1984). Programs will serve little purpose unless the competencies the participants develop generalise to other settings. Stokes and Baer (1977: 145) define generalisation as: the occurrence of relevant behaviour under different, non-training conditions (i.e. across subjects, settings, people behaviours, and/or time) without scheduling of the same events in those conditions as had been scheduled in the training conditions. Mastropieri and Scruggs (1984) and Rudrud et al. (1984) support Stokes and BaerÕs statement and further agree that generalisation must be planned for, deliberately, rather than taking the more traditional Òtrain and hopeÓ approach. To cope with, and be productive in, a constantly changing environment, each individual must be able to acquire new facts and skills, critically evaluate them and their implications, and go beyond particular learning experiences in order to adapt to novel future occurrences with a similar underlying structure (Flavell, 1979; Gow, 1988; Gow & Butterfield, 1989; Gow et al., 1988; Kanfer, 1970; Le Croy, 1983; Swanson, 1989). That is, generalisation or transfer must be developed (Ager & Cole, 1991; Gow, 1989; Hains & Hains, 1987, 1988; Serna et al., 1991). Our teaching will serve little purpose unless the competencies our students develop generalise to other settings. Their "adaptive capacity" (what is often referred to as skill generalisation or transfer) must be developed. To promote adaptive capacity effectively, ways must be found to lead students to the desired generalisations of their learned skills so that they require minimal recourse to instructors and can confidently and autonomously master each new context with minimal failures. In terms of a work setting, successful employment results when an individual performs valued labour over extended periods of time with minimal supervision (Mank & Horner, 1983). For people with developmental disabilities to be successfully integrated into society and enjoy the same quality of life as their age peers including access to competitive employment, they must be provided with compensatory instructional programmes that can raise the level of their awareness of their own capacity to manage their behaviour and thus enhance their quality of life (Conway & Gow, 1990; Dawson et al., 1987; Gow, 1989, 1988, 1985, 1984 b; Kreitzman, 1987; Lochman et al., 1988; Serna et al., 1986, 1991). These programmes must provide them with skills to adapt without continuous individualised instruction (Conway & Gow, 1988; Polloway et al., 1986; Mahn & Greenwood, 1990). It is possible, however, to instil problem-solving strategies that are most generally useful in overcoming predictably recurring difficulties (Amish et al., 1988; Gow, 1989; Harris & Brown, 1982; Lauth & Wiedl, 1989; Mahn & Greenwood, 1990; Manning, 1988; Serna et al., 1991). In summary, research findings have demonstrated that people with a developmental disability experience difficulties in generalising competencies from one context to another (Bachor, 1988; Feretti & Butterfield, 1992; Neef et al., 1990). Research, largely responding to the seminal paper of Stokes & Baer (1977), has also demonstrated that unless we program for generalisation, it will not be achieved. This is particularly the case with behavioural approaches to instruction (see Gow, 1983). Unfortunately, practice has not remained in line with research findings. Riches (1993) found that teachers of individuals with a developmental disabilities have used one of three differing approaches. First, they have treated these students as slow students who only need extra time to catch up to non-disabled peers. Alternatively, they have provided them with work experience programs with minimal supervision and training in the belief that exposure to the work environment would provide sufficient training to maintain employment. Thirdly, they have exposed them to behavioural techniques such as task analysis and complex schedules of reinforcement. The many deficiencies of these techniques have been recognised (Gow and Ward, 1985; Ward and Gow, 1982). One of the major deficiencies is the failure to generalise skills from one domain to another. Even though researchers in the field have been aware of problems with generalisation, behavioural techniques, with a focus on skill acquisition, still far exceed any systematic programming for maintenance and generalisation of acquired skills. It is often assumed that skills taught in one setting will automatically transfer to another setting and many vocational programs are based on this faulty assumption (Gow et al., 1993). Another hindrance to generalisation is that young adults with developmental disabilities often over rely on supervisors and trainers to maintain gains (Angran & Martin, 1987; Alberto et al., 1986), rather than adopting a self- managing approach. In fact, employers, both overseas and in this country, have used these characteristics to deny employment to people with a developmental disability (Ward et al.., 1980). They assume that they will require more supervision than their normal peers and excessive amounts of training time to acquire new skills. To achieve the goal of competitive employment for people with a developmental disability, it is imperative to develop instructional methods that will enhance generalisation of work- related competencies learnt in the training environment to the future employment setting and to minimise reliance on instructors. Some researchers have found that thoroughly trained strategies are maintained and occasionally generalised without prompting (Brown & Barclay, 1976; Brown, Campione & Barclay, 1979; Kendall, Borkowski & Cavanaugh, 1980). However, generalisation must usually be specifically programmed before it will occur. One approach that has shown promise in its ability to stimulate generalisation and promote self-regulation is the use of cognitive self-instructional training strategies (Bachor, 1988; Ferretti, 1989; Gow, 1985). The approach is introduced through a training programme, specific to the individual needs of the clients, which incorporates a range of principles designed to promote generalisation. Gow and her colleagues have synthesised strategies into a comprehensive approach (see review in Gow, 1984a & b, 1986, 1988; Gow, Hardaker & Ridge 1988; Gow & Ward, 1985), which have been shown to enhance generalisation in a range of studies (e.g. Gow, 1987, 1988; Lakin & Bruininks, 1985; Mastropieri & Scruggs, 1984). These techniques are now being applied in a variety of vocational settings and across a range of disability levels (Rusch & Hughes, 1989; Borkowski & Varnhagen, 1984; Chadsey-Rusch, 1992). A summary of these components follows: Underlying Principles of Instruction Effective teaching and learning is a co-operative venture with shared responsibility. While the teacher has the responsibility for the appropriate selection of techniques, manipulation of context and choice of evaluation protocols these should aim to: (i) Transfer learning control and responsibility to the student by facilitating the development of self-management skills. Students should be taught to use strategies that initiate or maintain performance without supervision, e.g. self-monitoring and self-instructional techniques. (ii) Encourage a problem-solving approach to skill solution. Encourage the student to make a prediction that a particular strategy, accessible to them, will work. This principle will require self-monitoring which will serve also to promote self-motivation. Selection of tasks, skills and contexts The selection of tasks, competencies to be achieved and the contexts need to approximate the varied work environments in which youth may be placed. 1. Select and teach functional skills. 2. Train in the natural or criterion setting whenever possible, as simulated environments and activities do not develop competencies for generalisation. By ensuring teaching is relevant to the daily lives of people with a developmental disability, the likelihood of securing generalisation is enhanced. 3. Training should be implemented using natural materials and tasks (that is, the training context should be ecologically valid). Often work given to people with disabilities does not relate to the work context to which they are expected to generalise. 4. Program for consistent inconsistency: teaching should encourage flexibility. 5. Enlist peer co-operation: other students should be encouraged to facilitate the learning of those experiencing difficulty. Group instruction is preferred to one-to-one instruction. Whole group reward systems can apply when the student has performed a required task. It should be noted that many work situations will require group solution to tasks. 6. Teach across settings (venues, skills, equipment, and personnel - including peers, parents and others). The use of multiple settings relevant to a common theme during training rather than training in only one setting has been used in many studies to avoid "welding" (see Gow, 1986). This technique is designed to permit the student to see the applicability of the strategy across a range of situations. 7. Ensure the student can see the value of the use of the approach in a particular context. If the student is not shown the appropriateness of the strategy, multi-setting training can simply lead to multi-situation welding, with no generalisation of skills (Burger et al., 1982; Lovitt 1987). 8. Enhance motivation by using any one, or a combination, of the following strategies: a. Select behavioural repertoires of interest to the student; b. Minimise the number and type of external rewards and feedback (e.g. use self-reinforcement and self-regulation); and c. Ensure the active participation of the student. 9. Provide students with opportunities to use skills or strategies and help them make links between skills requiring the same strategy for solution. Use of a Range of Teaching Techniques In an employment situation, employees will be required to respond to a range of on-the-job training and instruction using different techniques. 10. Teach by example (induction). Present students with a number of examples so that they can develop generalised performance. 11. Teach through rules (deduction). Teach the student a general rule or principle which can be used across a range of settings and teach them how to use it. 12. Demonstrate the learning task. 13. Provide verbal or written instructions: the instructor reminds the student that s/he has already performed that task at another setting and the same performance is expected of him/her. 14. Prompt the tutee if needed. Range of Monitoring and Feedback In a competitive situation employees will need to be able to function given a range of different types of feedback and monitoring. These situtaions should be experienced during instruction. That is:- 15. Monitor tutee performance. 16. Feedback: once the student has performed the skill required, provide immediate feedback. 17. Corrective feedback: provide feedback as the tutee performs the task. 18. Reteach and provide positive practice: implement consistent instructional procedures when reteaching targetted skills. The student then needs to practise the skills correctly several times immediately after reteaching. 19. Rewards or contracts: give positive reinforcement to the student following the performance of the appropriate skill. Contracts can be written up by the student and teacher, allowing for a long-term reward. It is necessary to follow up behaviours that have been taught and provide examples of delayed reinforcement following periods of self-regulation. This is an attempt to respond to findings by Lakin & Bruininks (1985: 70) Òwhen external monitoring and feedback are withdrawn, the deterioration of skills is well documented in the literatureÓ. 20. Supervision should not be withdrawn completely but gradually decreased and maintained at a minimal level, as might be expected in a work situation. Development of Self-Regulatory Behaviours There is also evidence that people with developmental disabilities do not use self speech to guide their performance. Teaching them the strategy of self speech has been shown to enhance their generalisation of skills (Gow, 1984; Gow, Ward & Balla, 1985). Based on the training regimen of Meichenbaum and Goodman (1979), self-speech can be taught using a five-step procedure in which: 1. the instructor models the skill while verbalising the skill aloud (cognitive modelling); 2. the student performs the skill under the direction of the instructor (overt and covert guidance); 3. the student performs the skill whilst instructing him/herself aloud (overt self guidance); 4. the student whispers the instructions to him/herself while completing the skill (faded overt self guidance); and 5. the student completes the skill while guiding their performance using private speech (covert self-instruction). Using the instructional principles and techniques listed above, in combination with self-speech, Gow (1987) has shown that this cognitive approach promotes generalisation. The main assumption behind this approach is that the teaching of self speech benefits students directly by providing them with the skills to become more explicitly aware of their own cognitive development and of their own capacity. The main purpose is to provide the student with a portable strategy for approaching problems or novel situations, by encouraging the student to think about thinking and to verbalise their learning strategies before acting. It has been shown that when people with a developmental disability overtly verbalise steps to a solution and are encouraged to identify and define the strategies of solving a problem, their generalisation is greatly enhanced. Many practitioners have not employed this approach and some researchers have thought it was inappropriate for individuals with a developmental disability because it relies on receptive and expressive language skills. However, Collett-Klingenberg and Chadsey-Rusch (1991) demonstrated that two of three participants with a moderate developmental disability could learn this approach. Ferretti (1989), in a review, showed that children with developmental disability could produce problem-solving strategies. Agran et al. (1987) used self instruction to facilitate the acquisition and generalisation of social behaviours in a work setting; the target behaviours increased and the training generalised across work settings. Gow (1987) argues that cognitively-oriented approaches can remediate some of the ineffective learning characteristics of people with developmental disabilities, such as lack of learning strategies, lack of independence, passivity and lack of verbal control of behaviour. Whitman (1990) extends the argument and defines developmental disability as a self-regulatory disorder. Although his position is contentious, he highlights the benefits to the individual if they can self-regulate their own behaviour. These include: 1. effective actions in untrained settings; 2. ability to live in more normalised settings; 3. improved interactions with regular members of society; and 4. increased self-efficacy. Whitman (1990: 348) claims that "there is minimal evidence that effective, dynamic, self-regulatory training programs have been developed for this population". In spite of the promising results of cognitive-based strategies on generalisation, further research is needed to assess their efficacy against more traditional approaches. This is the major purpose of the present study. The cognitive approach, now being implemented, is designed to enhance the cognitive abilities of the students of Wivenhoe College in these areas and allow them to take more advantage of the innovative program at the College. The assumption underlying the cognitive behavioural programme adopted in this study is that the more information we have about our own cognitive functions and the ways they can be combined, the more powerful our approach to new situations will become and the better control we will have over our own behaviour. Behavioural self-control and acceleration of competence in problem areas are two important goals that can be facilitated through the use of an enabling cognitive behavioural training programme (see Gow, Burton & King, 1988). The cognitive-behavioural programme encourages and trains the student to think about their actions and to verbalise their strategies before acting. The verbalisation component of the programme has its derivation in the self-regulation work of Luria (1961) and Vygotsky (1978) and in the verbal self-instruction work of Meichenbaum & Goodman (1979). These self- verbalisations are designed to focus students on specific strategies to use when approaching new problem situations by assisting them to reflect, analyse, interpret and make decisions across settings. They are of both a general and specific nature: the general ones serve to focus the attention of the student on the skill ("What do I have to do?") and prompt a problem- solving sequence of problem definition and planning ("How am I going to do it?") which lead the student to specific verbalisations to guide performance through a skill. Research suggests that a combination of the two types of verbalisations promotes greater adaptive capacity (see Gow & Ward, 1985). Self-statements designed to teach self-evaluation and coping are also taught. An underlying principle is that young people should be taught how to learn so that they can take responsibility for their own learning and become aware of their own cognitive strategies. In other words, use of these techniques of instruction should provide students with executive processes or metacognitive skills to enhance their generalisation. The procedures are designed to keep the programme flexible and variable to ensure that learning does not become "welded" (see Gow, 1986) to a specific instructional situation or process. It is recognised that an analytical difficulty regarding studies of the impact of this cognitive-behavioural approach may exist with such a comprehensive programme in that it may not be clear which specific components, or combination of components, assisted in promoting adaptive capacity (see Hamre et al., 1982). Nevertheless, the comprehensive approach is advanced as having the widest possible potential efficacy because of the mutual support, partial interdependence and potential synergism of the various components. Any argument for deletion of an individual component of the programme would stem from effectiveness and cost factors. We contend that the spectrum of components is necessary to ensure general applicability of the programme to a wide range of populations. RESEARCH AIMS While previous studies have focussed on independent living skills, the longitudinal (three-year) Wivenhoe research project will examine the use of a cognitive approach to enhance workskills of youth with a developmental disability as they move towards competitive employment. The primary purpose of this study is to determine if a cognitive-based strategy is an effective method for teaching employment-related skills and generalising these cognitive techniques across untrained exemplars and settings. Secondary questions to be addressed are the time needed to learn the self-management skills, and the efficiency of the instructional techniques when compared to more traditional approaches. The four explicit aims of this study are: 1. to examine the baseline behaviours of the new enrolments through systematic observation of behaviours. 2. to examine the utility of a cognitive-behavioural program (i.e. Self- Instruction Problem Solving - SIPS) for enhancing the adaptive capacity, quality of life, self concept and locus of control of young adults with a developmental disability attending Wivenhoe Vocational College; 3. to investigate the relative efficiency of SIPS compared to the traditional programs normally used to teach young adults; and 4. to implement instructor training programs. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY It was initially envisaged that an experimental pre-post test design would be implemented allowing a comparison between SIPS and the task-analytic approach usually used in these settings. However, as there are only eight students enrolled in 1993, the research design can be better characterised as longitudinal action research. With the anticipated growth in enrolments in 1994, it is likely that an experimental research design will be able to be instituted. Data for each year of the project are both qualitative and quantitative. All students are involved in the SIPS intervention. A single subject, multiple baseline design is being used to assess its effectiveness. In addition, in-depth case studies are being developed on all of the participants in the program through interviews with the subject, teachers/instructors/educators and parents, where appropriate. These case studies are used to describe and analyse the subject's learning strategies, self-management skills, and independence/dependence of students both before and after the intervention. Both quantitative and qualitative observations have been undertaken of learning styles, classroom interactions and problem-solving adaptive capacity. These observations were taken over two mornings per week for 10 weeks. RESULTS Observations confirmed that, of the teaching/learning strategies identified by Gow (1989), those already used at Wivenhoe are: 1. the learning environment is relevant to the students; they all have an ambition to enter competitive employment in the Hospitality Industry; 2. small group instruction (max=10) is used and peers consistently facilitate the learning of all students, particularly those with a developmental disability; 3. the introduction of a significant work placement component, modelling and simulations are instructional strategies which encourage the students to apply learning across settings; and 4. most of the control and responsibility for learning has been transferred to the students; self management skills are encouraged in many ways. Observations of the students undertaken, prior to the implementation of the SIPS program, confirmed that they had the learning styles of many people with developmental disability that may mitigate against their generalised performance. These include: 1. the tendency to be passive students This characteristic is frequently exhibited by the female developmentally disabled students for significant amounts of time. One student relies heavily on another regular student to help her with task completion. At other times, these two students tend to sit quietly, making no effort to engage in class discussions unless specifically called upon. If they are experiencing difficulties or have not understood a request, they do not ask the tutor to stop and explain, preferring to blend in rather than draw attention to their difficulties. The male developmentally disabled student does not display these characteristics. He typically interacts with the tutors and participates in class discussions. 2. lack of independence and self management skills One of the developmentally disabled students is very independent and capable of self management in this learning situation. The other two with developmental disabilities have experienced some difficulties in this area. For example, the male student has expressed fears over his inability to timetable effectively so that he can complete homework assignments. He also needs notes to be written in fairly structured form before he can copy them successfully. The other student is very slow to complete written work, and has immense difficulties locating notes from the previous day's work. One of the students has tried to help her by instituting a prescriptive filing system that seems to have assisted every other student. This student still spends inordinate amounts of time trying to locate relevant pieces of paper. She cannot correct her own work in tests depending instead on others to assess if her answers are correct or not. Several of the female students have formed support networks which are not disability based. The support of the regular student has greatly facilitated the learning, self-confidence and task completion rate of one of the students with a developmental disability. In the classroom setting, the male student with developmental disability is often assisted by another student. This help constitutes reiterations in simplified language of requests, instructions and direct questions. The other students are particularly adept at explaining to tutors what at first appear to be tangential answers. 3. attentional deficits This is a third major area of difficulty identified from the observations. All of the students with developmental disabilities seem to have shorter attention spans than regular students. In the case of the females, this is evidenced by becoming very quiet and withdrawn. The male student tends to become overly interruptive, seeking clarification on minor points that are outside the real focus of the lesson or class discussion. 4. lack of problem-solving skills The three students with developmental disability have some difficulties with problem-solving. At present, they use ineffectual strategies which centre around passivity, avoidance and perserveration. a. passivity: when placed in a problem-solving situation they become quite passive and rely on the regular students to make suggestions first. Alternatively, they may deny any ability to be able to solve problems. One student particularly says "I don't know a lot" and does not attempt to employ problem-solving strategies. b. avoidance: if a task or assignment is too difficult, the students with a developmental disability do not ask for clarification, clearer outlines nor seek assistance in appropriate ways. Either they do not complete the assignment or they offer transparent excuses such as illness, pressing family concerns or overwhelming demands of other tasks. c. perseverance: if the students do try to complete tasks, they show little flexibility in changing strategies. They persevere in the belief that, if they keep trying, they will eventually succeed. They do not use evaluative problem-solving strategies such as: "This is not working, what else can I try?" 5. Lack of problem-solving skills in routine tasks One of the female students with developmental disability waits to be told what to do by the supervisor in the workplace. She does not look for cues from the job itself. At the College, she waits for the tutor/supervisor to notice that she has a problem. She discusses her problems with particular regular student who she uses as decision-makers. She also freezes under pressure; in the classroom she finds it difficult to answer and direct questions. She does not seem able to use her knowledge to her advantage. 6. Memory deficits Two of the students with a developmental disability display significant memory deficits. They tend to require repeated explanations and demonstrations in an academic setting and in the workplace. 7. Inability to monitor quality of output In both the College and the workplace, students with a developmental disability fail to check work for quality. They do not recognise their own errors and they do not correct their own errors. CONCLUSION Research from a variety of sources has indicated that the failure to generalise is a significant problem in work related settings for people with a developmental disability. Further, it has been found that employees with a developmental disability who can perform tasks independently are more likely to retain their jobs (Logomarcino, 1990). Cognitive-based approaches such as SIPS, which employ executive strategies such as self-instruction, are now being used to facilitate generalisation in vocational contexts. The approach, which has been outlined in this paper, is a synthesis of recent advances in cognitive-behavioural programmes and research and the previous work of Gow, Meichenbaum & Goodman. Extensive research has already shown that it is simple to implement and that its context free nature and adaptability across settings suggest that it could be implemented in a multiplicity of settings. In addition, its emphasis on Ôself-regulationÕ can only be seen as embracing the independence of employees, freeing them from the need for extra supervision or support and promoting the quality of life and principles of normalisation. The combination of quantitative and qualitative measures of generalisation of work skills is a unique feature of this research. Qualitative observations already undertaken at the Wivenhoe Vocational College have substantiated that the students with disabilities display characteristics which inhibit generalisation of skills from college to workplace, prior to the cognitive-based intervention programme to be instituted. If the SIPS intervention is successful in enhancing generalisation, it could be used in other vocational settings where traditional techniques have provided structure, content and support which do not always encourage independence in students. Further positive results could be seen as an important addition to methods for improving employment outcomes for people with a developmental disability in a fairly difficult economic environment. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The research project is funded by an ARC Collaborative Research Grant and the Wivenhoe Vocational College is funded by DEET and Mater Dei Ltd. The authors are grateful to their colleagues Ms. Sue Dixon and Mr. Robert Bader for their contributions to this paper. They would also like to extend their gratitude to the Board of Directors of Mater Dei Ltd. for its support of the Wivenhoe Vocational College and the associated research project. Gratitude is extended to Dr. Marcel Calvez of the University of Rennes - 2, France, Professor Herb Marsh and Cathy Reddacliff for their valuable advice on the research project. REFERENCES Ager, C.L. & Cole, C.L. (1991). A review of cognitive behavioural interventions for children and adolescents with behavioural disorders. Behavioural Disorders 16 (4), 276-287 Agran M., Salzberg, C.L. and Stowitschek, J.J. (1987) An analysis of the effects of a social skills training program using self-instructions on the acquisition and generalisation of two social behaviors in a work setting. 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There is obviously a need for a fresh approach to the provision of vocational programming for youth with a developmental disability DIFFICULTIES IN GENERALISING WORK COMPETENCIES The development of adaptive capacity by people with a developmental disability is hampered by the fact that their individual performance is often skill or situation specific (Ferretti & Butterfield, 1992). These students do not demonstrate "adaptive capacity" (Coon, Vogelsberg & Williams, 1981; Marchetti, McCartney, Drain, Hooper & Dix, 1983; Morrow & Bates, 1987; Pressley, 1990). Unfortunately, most programs for people with a developmental disability have not paid sufficient attention to the promotion of adaptive capacity, focussing instead on changing behaviour without promoting its generalisation. Generalisation remains one of the most challenging, and yet often ignored, issues in educational psychology (Ager & Cole, 1991; Gow, 1984a & b, 1986, 1988b; Ward & Gow, 1982). In essence, it involves training the client to programme their mental processing verbally and explicitly by identifying their goal and the steps to solution to many areas of learning, including real-life problem solving (Berliner & Casanova, 1989; Gow et al., 1990; Gow et al., 1985, 1986; McGillivray et al., 1988; Swanson & Kozleski, 1985) and taking responsibility for their own learning. In order to help solve the problem of generalisation, There is no use training trainees to carry out tasks which will not be relevant for future employment. This is consistent with Rusch & MithaugÕs (1980) plea: ÒDonÕt have your traineeÕs making pots with clay unless there are jobs available in your community to do just thatÓ (p. 25) Use natural materials and tasks wherever possible (e.g. when teaching the pouring of wine, an actual wine bottle should be used). OMIT from here on. The intervention could indicate if this synthesis is an efficient and efficacious method for enhancing ability of employees with a developmental disability to solve untrained work-related problems then it could be an important strategy to implement in vocational training programmes. If the ability to solve work-related problems increases the employability of people with a developmental disability, then these techniques should be implemented by vocational trainers in many different settings. To promote generalisation, there is a need to assess cognitive-behavioural techniques such as SIPS which have the potential to encourage the individual independence of youth with a developmental disability in the workplace and thus to achieve the goal of competitive employment. Therefore it could be seen as a very worthwhile technology that makes an important addition to the research in three related fields: vocational, cognitive-behavioural techniques and generalisation.