Well-Being for Mentally Retarded Adolescents: A Social, Leisure, and Nutrition Education Program

• Main Author: Coyne, Phyllis
• Format: Web Resource
• Language: English
• Published: Oregon University Health Sciences Center, Crippled Children's Division 1980
• Subjects: Adolescents; Body Weight; Evaluation Methods; Interpersonal Competence; Learning Activities; Leisure Time; Moderate Mental Retardation; Nutrition; Program Descriptions; Program Development; Records (Forms); Recreational Activities; Social Development; Student Evaluation

Intended for those working with moderately mentally retarded adolescents, the manual offers guidelines for social, recreation, and nutrition education. An introduction points out that the program model contains specific program strategies, assessment techniques, and methods to teach specific skills and concepts in the areas of leisure participation, socialization, and weight control. The goals for the program fall into three basic areas--service to moderately retarded adolescents with a weight problem, service to parents, and training for undergraduate and graduate students (trainees) from various health/helping disciplines. Some of the necessary precursors to program implementation include identification of the population to be served, identification of the purpose of the program, determination of criteria for enrollment, identification of budget needs and available funding, analysis of staffing needs, analysis of equipment needs, and establishment of a recordkeeping system. The multifaceted assessment approach used by the program model utilizes interviews with parents or other primary care providers, informal interviews with classroom teachers or other school personnel, direct observation of students' skills and knowledge in a structured testing situation, and direct observation of the participant's behavior in an unstructured situation. Detailed outlines are offered for activities within the program's three components (social, leisure, and nutrition education). Provided for each activity are the objective, procedure, directions, time agenda, and notes. Appendixes contain a presentation for a parent meeting, two case summaries, an evaluation form, parent letters, a sample student assessment report, and a table on developmental levels of play. (SW)