An evaluation of the preferences of individuals with severe and multiple disabilities and the teaching of choice-making skills

Abstract

The general purpose of the present study is to determine the relationship between direct and indirect preference assessments of individuals with severe and multiple disabilities (SMD) and the relationship between the direct preference assessments (single-stimulus, paired-stimulus, and multiple-stimulus) as applied to individuals with SMD, and to find whether it is effective to teach the skill of choice making among photographs through the constant time-delay procedure. The study group was composed of three boys aged 9 years and a 7-year old girl residing at Bolu Province who were diagnosed with severe disability; that is, a total of four subjects and their primary caregivers. The study had two phases. During the first phase, the relation between the preference assessments was investigated. There was a highly positive relationship between both the direct and indirect preference assessments and at the same time between the directly applied preference assessments based on single-stimulus, paired-stimulus, and multiple-stimulus-without-replacement. The second phase included teaching choice-making skills. It was seen that teaching through the constant time-delay procedure was effective in teaching the choice-making skill and that the participants preserved the choice-making skill 1, 3, and 4 weeks after the completion of teaching and generalized it to their primary caregivers.