Amostra

Three students with severe to profound intellectual disabil ity participated in this study. Andrew was a 20-year-old African American male diag nosed with organic brain syndrome, profound intellectual disability, and congenital atresia, which resulted in a pro found hearing impairment. On the Vineland, his age equiva lence was 1 year 2 months in the Communication subdomain, 4 years 2 months in the Daily Living Skills subdomain, 1 year 9 months in the Social subdomain, and 2 years 4 months in the Adaptive Behavior Composite. Andrew pri marily communicated through a limited sign repertoire (i.e., approximately 15 recognizable signs for basic messages such as “all done” to indicate he was finished with an activ ity), pointing, and gesturing. When engaged in work tasks, Andrew often attended well and worked independently but occasionally struggled with some challenging behavior (e.g., work refusal, minor physical aggression). Peter was a 20-year-old White male diagnosed with autism, intellectual disability, and anxiety disorder NOS (not otherwise specified). On the Vineland, his age equiva lence was 1 year 2 months in the Communication subdo main, 2 years 5 months in the Daily Living Skills subdomain, 10 months in the Social subdomain, and 1 year 5 months in the Adaptive Behavior Composite. Peter primarily commu nicated through pointing or gesturing. When engaged in work tasks, Peter frequently struggled with prompt depen dence and at times could wait indefinitely for a prompt. Shelly was an 18-year-old White female diagnosed with autism, severe intellectual disability, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder. On the Vineland, her age equivalence was 1 year 6 months in the Communication subdomain, 2 years 9 months in the Daily Living Skills subdomain, 1 year 1 month in the Social subdomain, and 1 year 9 months in the Adaptive Behavior Composite. Shelly primarily communi cated through gestures and unintelligible vocalizations that signaled her affect. When engaged with a work tasks, Shelly often struggled with challenging behavior such as work refusal, planting on the ground and refusing to move, and minor verbal aggression.