Along with current Lynchburg College undergraduate students from St. Lucia (Jackie Lubin, Karian Antoine), I am working on a national study of terminology, definitional, and assessment practices relative to mental retardation/intellectual disabilities across the fifty states. The research consists of a national survey and will result ultimately in publication in a refereed journal (I believe). It is a replication of a study that I did with several Lynchburg College graduate students in the late 1990s. The paper summarizing the study has been submitted for publication consideration in May 2007.
Two other projects are underway with Tammy Smith, a recent M.Ed. graduate of Lynchburg College. The first focuses on the importance of self-determination skills in students with intellectual disabilities (mental retardation). Through Tammy’s research, we emphasize the ethical importance of teaching self-determination skills within the curriculum for students with special needs. Second, along with several colleagues from other institutions, we have also been working in the area of criminal justice considerations for individuals with mental retardation. In light of the Supreme Court decision in Atkins (2002), there has been an increased focus on the ways in which individuals with intellectual developmental disabilities experience unique difficulties within the system. Lynchburg College current graduate student, Julie Beyer ’06, also a co-author of this paper. Both of these papers have been accepted for publication in the journal Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities.