And Others TITLE Community Human Resources Development in the Rehabilitation of the Handicapped
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DOCUMENT RESU1E ED 078 239 AC 014 415 AUTHOR Wallston, Barbara S.; And Others TITLE Community Human Resources Development in the Rehabilitation of the Handicapped. Final Report. INSTITUTION Outlook Nashville, Inc., Tenn. SPONS AGENCY Social and Rehabilitation Service (DHEW), Wast.ington, D.C. Div. of Research and Demonstration Grants. PUB DATE Sep 72 NOTE 182p. EDRS PRICE MF-$0.65 HC-$6.58 DESCRIPTORS Adolescents; *Attitude Tests; *Behavior Change; Community Programs; *Handicapped; Human Resources; Participant Characteristics; Program Evali.1:.tion; *Rehabilitation Programs; Supervisory Training; *Volunteers; Youth Programs IDENTIFIERS *Outlook Nashville Program ABSTRACT A project to demonstrate and evaluate some innovative programs utilizing volunteers in work with the handicapped and to provide data on the success of present programs is discussed. As part of the project, four pilot projects were undertaken to determine the feasibility and utility of certain approaches and to develop model training courses that could be taught to volunteers in general or to 'college student volunteers. The four pilot projects were: (1) a project to introduce handicapped persons into Junior Achievement companies as a means of developing and modifying attitudes on the part of program directors and co-workers; (2) training of volunteers in behavior management techniques to determine whether the behavioral problems arising from handicapped interactions, especially tnose having to do with excessive dependency and claims for support could be managed with modern behavior management methods; (3) the teaching of behavior management techniques to supervisors at Goodwill Industries to assist with worker "motivation" and "cooperation" problems; and (4) the training of parents of underprivileged children in a day-care center in the management of child behavior. The results of these pilot projects showed that volunteers did not differ substantially from nonvolunteers in attitude or personality, as measured by test. It was also found that the attitude of volunteers toward the handicapped did not improve with experience. In the Junior Achievement groups, experience may make attitudes more negative or more realistic. Students can be successfully utilized as volunteers. Integrating the handicapped with volunteers in social-recreational settings has positive benefits. (DB) FILMED FROM BEST AVAILABLE COPY U S DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH ECM &WELFPFIE NATIONAL INSTITUTE DE EDUCATION AS PEE'. Qe.'31, ;/ECE-.EC Ia PEoto.."`Q :A. CS PC ". ;',o SC:SS E., LC ".(*SECUSSAQ SP* A. SA' ?.A. SS" 'E r.CA. 7,' Dr% Final Report Community Human Resources Development in the Rehabilitation of the Handicapped by: Barbara S. Winston, Ph. D.,Richard L Blanton, Ph. D., Janice S. Robinson, and Linda L PollChik Outlook Nashville, Inc. 1700 Hayes Street Nashville, Tennessee 37203 September, 1972 This investigation was supported in part .by Research Grant .1sia RD-12-P-5516714-01 from the Social and Rehabilitation Service, Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Washington, D. C. "'" FILMED FROM BEST AVAILABLE COPY Significant Findings 'A film providing a_general picture of Outlook Nashville's program was made and prints are available on loan to other groups interested in viewing the film. A Recreation Manual was written describing games and activities for handicapped individuals. Practicum students in college can be successfully utilized as volunteers when adequate supervision is provided and appropriate settings for volunteer activity are available. Timing which coincides with the school calendar is also important, and the problem of program disruption when students finish a semester must be considered in such utilization. Similar projects should work with high school students; but in our attempt to utilize them, scholastic credit was not given, and the Propout rate was extremely high. Training volunteers should be directed toward the work they will do. Providing training without giving volunteers assignments and following-up their activity is wasteful of resources. General training courses Can be used to provide general ^ducation for the community, but tley are inefficient for recruiting volunteers. In no case did attitudes toward the handicapped improve following experience with them. In most cases, there was no change in attitude,' and in Junior Achievement where participants had not volunteered to interact with the handicapped, attitudes became more negative.The instruments used to measure attitudes have some problems, and it may be that unrealistic positive attitudes reported initially become more realistic through experience with the handicapped) and are scored as more negative attitudes. In any case, projects such as this one should not be utilized if,the goal is improving attitudes toward the handicapped. Volunteers do receive other rewards from work in such programs as evidenced by their positive attitudes toward the program and their continuation as volunteers. Education may provide a means of improving attitudes toward the handicapped. A correlation was found between understandability of a handicapping condition and positive evaluation of the condition. Assuming that education can increase understandability, positive eval- uation should increase as well. Handicapped teenagers are easily integrated into the standard Junior Achievement program utilizing special education students as advisors and agency liasons., The teenagers were primarily blind or delinquents from correctional institutions,Future attempts to involve mentally retarded teenagers appear feasible. Handicapped people tend to be socially isolated. Social-rec- reatiOnal programs such as Outlook NashIAlle's provide a needed avenue of social contact. Through this social contact, social skills are acquired and interaction between handicapped and Lookouts is facilitated. Project data clarify these principles and offer suggestions for program development and further study. Research Brief (Grant No. RD-12-P-55167/4-01) September 1972 Community Human Resources Development in the Rehabilitation of the Handicapped Outlook Nashville, Inc. The project was initially designed to explore additional methods of developing community participation in Outlook Nashville's programs of social and recreational services for the handicapped4 In addition, objective data was to be gathered to evaluate program output and to assist other groups in developing similar programs. In the first year of the project the concentration was on agency and program reorganization, exploring new programs, and researching a variety of aspects of the volunteer system. With the second year re- newal came a mandate to shift emphasis from the study of volunteers to the study of the handicapped participants. Observational studies of handicapped interaction in the major program, TNT Clubs (social-recrea- tional clubs consisting of half handicapped and half volunteers, called Lookouts), and an experimental project where the handicapped were recruited for Junior Achievement were begun. Premature termination of the grant forced exploratory measures which were being prepared for the final year to be utilized for procuring measures of final outcomes. Implications for Action A film providing a general picture of Outlook Nashville's program was made and prinrs ire available on loan to other groups interested in viewing the film. A Recreation Manual was written describing games and activities for handicapped individuals. Practicum students in college can be successfully utilizedas volunteers when adequate sapervision is provided and appropriate settings for volunteer activity are available. Timing which coincides with the school calendar is also important, and the problem ofprogram disruption when students finish a semester must be considered in such utilization. Similar projects should work with high school students, but in our attempt to utilize them, scholastic creditwas not given, and the dropout rate was extremely high. Training volunteers should be directed toward the work they will do. Providing training without giving volunteers assignments and following-up their activity is wasteful ofresources. General training courses can be used to provide general education for the community, but they are inefficient for recruiting volunteers. in no case did attitudes toward the handicapped improve following experience with them. In most cases, there was no change in attitude, and in Junior Achievement where participants had not volunteered to interact with the handicapped, attitudes became more negative.The instruments used to measure attitudes have some problems, and it may be that unrealistic positive attitudes reported initially become more realistic through experience with the handicapped and are scored as more negative attitudes. In any case, projects such as this one should not be utilized if the goal is improving attitudes toward the handicapped. Volunteers do receive other rewards from work in such programs as evidenced by their positive attitudes toward the program and their continuation as volunteers. Education may provide a means of improving attitudes toward the handicapped. A correlation was found between understandability of a handicapping condition and positive evaluation of the condition. Assuming that education can increase understandability, positive eval- uation should increase as well. Handicapped teenagers are easily integrated into the standard - Junior Achievement program utilizing special education students as advisors and agency liasons. The teenagers