Community-Based Instruction for Independent Meal Preparation by Adults with Profound Mental Retardation

• Published in: Journal of behavioral education Vol. 5; no. 1; pp. 77 - 91
• Main Authors: Singh, Nirbhay N., Oswald, Donald P., Ellis, Cynthia R., Singh, Subhashni D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Human Sciences Press, Inc 01-03-1995
• Subjects: Community based instruction; Community care; Cooking; Cooking instruction; Desserts; Disabled persons; Intellectual disability; Learning difficulties; Meal preparation; Meals; Mentally disabled; Participant observation; Rehearsal; Retirement communities; Teaching; Training; Training devices
• ISSN: 1053-0819; 1573-3513
• DOI: 10.1007/BF02110215

Three adults with profound mental retardation and very limited reading skills were transitioned to community living after spending more than 20 years in a residential facility. Community-based instruction was used to teach them to independently prepare meals. Directed rehearsal and prompting procedures were used to teach them those meal preparation skills that they were unable to perform independently. We present assessment, training, and fottowup data on the preparation of a dessert by the three participants. Following an assessment on the steps needed to prepare the dessert, training was introduced in a multiple baseline across subjects design. Results showed that the participants were able to independently prepare the dessert in up to 21 pre-training and training sessions. Monthly followup for six months showed that they were able to independently prepare the dessert in various community settings of their choice.