Technology to Promote Decision-Making Skills and Self-Determination for Students with Cognitive Disabilities

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Technology to Promote Decision-Making Skills and
Self-Determination for Students with Cognitive
Disabilities
This is a large-scale, randomized trail design
study that will investigate the impact of
cognitively accessible technology (Decision
Manager and Job Quest AbleLink Technologies) on
the capacity of students with cognitive
disabilities to independently make decision
related to the transition areas of independent
living, community inclusion, recreation and
leisure and employment.

• Specific Aim To examine the impact of the use of
  cognitively-accessible computer technology on the
  self-determination and transition-related
  outcomes of transition-age adolescents with
  mental retardation.
• Research Partners University of Kansas Beach
  Center on Disability, Kansas University Center on
  Developmental Disabilities and AbleLink
  Technologies.

Research Design and Sample Randomized trial,
placebo control group design. (n200) high school
students with cognitive disabilities (example
mild/moderate mental retardation) 100 randomly
assigned to control group, 100 randomly assigned
to treatment group

• Intervention will occur within the context of
  federally-mandated transition planning.
• Project staff will train participating teachers
  in a common student-directed transition
  planning process titled Whose Future is it
  Anyway?.
• Ensure common baseline for transition planning
  procedures that already represents best practice.
• Will serve as placebo intervention for control
  group.
• Students in treatment group will engage in
  transition planning using at least 2
  cognitively-accessible, PC-based software
  programs to contribute to transition-planning and
  decision-making.

PC-based Supports to Assist Student in
Self-directing Transition Planning.
Decision Manager PC software using audio and
video prompts to enable persons with cognitive
disabilities to independently complete complex
tasks involving one or more decision point.
Job Quest Internet-based multimedia program to
enable people who do not read to identify job
preferences and interests
Research Timeline and Status
Fall 2004 August 2005 Teacher, cohort 1 student recruitment, informed consent, teacher training
August 2005 Intervention efficacy baseline data collection for cohort 1 (Intervention implementation for cohort 1 through May 07)
Fall 2005 Summer 2006 Teacher, cohort 2 student recruitment, informed consent, teacher training
May 2006 First intervention efficacy data collection for cohort 1
August 2006 Intervention efficacy baseline data collection for cohort 2 (Intervention implementation for cohort 2 through May 08)
May 2007 Second intervention efficacy data collection for cohort 1 First Intervention efficacy data collection for cohort 2
May 2008 Second intervention efficacy data collection for cohort 2 One year follow-up for cohort
May 2009 One year follow-up for cohort 2
Current Progress Intervention has been
completed with 213 students with cognitive
disabilities (software and student involvement),
and 372 served as controls and 89 teachers
/coordinators /administrators received training
on technology. Results of surveys are being
analyzed during the current grant year.
Participants are being contacted to complete
post-high school information on
self-determination and life satisfaction to
provide insight into long-term effects of
intervention using technology during high school
for students with disabilities in the project.
Instrumentation
Data Analysis
Fidelity to Treatment -Whose Future is it Anyway?
Checklist -Teacher anecdotal log -Limited
observational studies using time sample
methodology Intervention Efficacy -The Arcs
Self-Determination Scale -The AIR
Self-Determination Scale -Transition Scale
Follow-Up Data -Questionnaire from Wehmeyer
Schwartz (1998) Palmer Wehmeyer
(2003) -Quality of Life Questionnaire
Intervention Efficacy - Doubly Multivariate
Repeated Measures Analysis (e.g., repeated
measures analysis of variance with more than one
measure of the same dependent variable) with
self-determination measures as
within-subject variables and treatment group and
relevant demographic indicators as
between-subject variables. - Multi-level Random
Coefficients Modeling (e.g. HLM model) to
examine differences between control and treatment
participants as nested within
teachers/campuses
-allows for simple main-effects test of
differences between control and treatment groups
while allowing for a decomposition of the degree
to which group differences are attributable to
student-level or teacher/campus-level
differences (and interaction). Follow up study of
outcomes - Chi-Square, Discriminant Function,
and Setwise Regression Analyses
Principal Investigator Michael L. Wehmeyer,
Ph.D.Beach Center on Disability, Kansas
University Center on Developmental Disabilities,
University of Kansas wehmeyer_at_ku.edu Project
Directors Kendra L. Williams-Diehm, Ph.D.
williams-diehm_at_ku.edu Susan Palmer, Ph.D.
spalmer_at_ku.edu Beach Center on Disability,
Kansas University Center on Developmental
Disabilities, University of Kansas