A Strategy for Students with Moderate Disabilities When Lost in the Community

This study examined the acquisition of cell phone use by middle school students with moderate cognitive disabilities. While in school and community settings, students were taught to identify when they were lost and follow a set of procedures for using a cell phone to call for assistance. Through the use of a five-level prompting system in conjunction with total task presentation, students acquired these new safety skills. A series of concurrent multiple-probe designs across groups was used to evaluate cell phone use and to permit generalization from school to community settings. For four participants, generalization was also made to a second phone call recipient. Results indicated that all students successfully acquired the skills of identifying when they were lost and then using a cell phone to call for assistance.