Visual Support Strategies to Teach Recreation and Leisure Skills to Adults with Developmental Disabilities

Description

Recreation and leisure skills are an important part of everyone’s daily lives. These skills are important for rest and relaxation as well as improving one’s quality of life. Three studies assessing the effectiveness of visual support strategies to teach recreation and leisure activities to adults with developmental disabilities will be presented. In Study 1, we taught an adult with Down Syndrome three activities (painting a picture, listening to music on an iPod, and taking pictures) using a video prompting procedure. In Study 2, we utilized a picture schedule intervention to teach three adults with intellectual disability to use an iPad in order to play Angry Birds. In Study 3, we taught three adults with disabilities to play Fruit Ninja with a video modeling intervention. Results suggest that visual strategies of instruction are an easy and efficient way to teach new skills to adults with disabilities. Practical implications of this line of research and future directions will be discussed.

About the Speaker

Dr. Jeff Chan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Special and Early Education at Northern Illinois University. His professional experiences include delivering intensive behavioral intervention for children with autism, working with students with severe developmental disabilities in elementary and secondary school settings, and supporting adults with developmental disabilities in employment settings. Dr. Chan earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from University of California, Los Angeles and, upon graduation, worked closely with Dr. Ivar Lovaas, a world-renowned innovator in the field of autism treatment. During this time, Dr. Chan conducted research with young children with autism and began teaching college-level courses on the topic of behavioral intervention. He also relished in the opportunity to work as an instructor with children with autism aged 2-12 in home and school settings. Dr. Chan then went on to earn Masters of the Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in Special Education at The University of Texas at Austin, specializing in autism and developmental disabilities. While in Austin, Dr. Chan continued to work with children with disabilities. He served as a behavior specialist at The Odyssey School, a private school for middle and high school students with learning disabilities, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and Asperger Syndrome. Dr. Chan’s current research interests include using mobile technologies (iPods, tablet computers) to teach functional life skills and leisure skills to individuals with developmental disabilities. In his free time, Dr. Chan enjoys spending time with his wife and four young children, playing guitar, and watching movies.