Living and Learning in the Least Restrictive Environment (review)

Reviews iconic in nature. He does include well-drawn illustrations, but this is not a Sign instructional book per se. Rather it is a fine reference tool on the language. Noteworthy is the compassion and deep understanding Schein demonstrates. The author shows an appreciation not only for deaf persons and their friends who have struggled valiantly for artistic and scientific recognition of Sign and Deaf culture, but also for the fledgling Sign student and the interpreters attempting against great odds to bridge the communication gap. This book should be required reading in all university and community college courses in Sign and the sociology of Deaf culture. It should prove quite useful to many Sign teachers and their students throughout the country. For the casual reader, it offers much practical insight into a language and people still often misunderstood by millions of Americans. Betty Broecker Director El Paso Center of DEAF, Inc. El Paso, TX 79902 Another Handful of Stories, 124 pp., $5.95, paperback, Gallaudet College Press, Kendall Green, Washington, DC 20002, 1984. Another Handful of Stories is the second volume in the Deaf Storyteller series. Like the original volume, A Handful of Stories , this volume, which includes seven vidéocassettes, is a compilation of 37 stories told by 24 deaf storytellers. In addition to stories about experiences growing up deaf in a hearing world, some fantasy stories and anecdotes are included. The stories in the book are edited versions of the stories on the tapes. This book is a valuable resource for people interested in deaf culture. Sign language teachers will also find the book and vidéocassettes useful in their ASL classes. Gertrude S. Galloway Assistant Principal Maryland School for the Deaf Columbia, MD 21044 Living and Learning in the Least Restrictive Environment, Robert H. Bruininks and K. Charlie Lakin (Eds.), 288 pp., $22.95, paperback , Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., P.O. Box 10624, Baltimore, MD 21204, 1985. The first research monograph issued by the Council for Exceptional Children was Quigley and Frisina's Institutionalization and Psychoeducational Development of Deaf Children (Series A, 1961). The conclusion reached then was that, on the average, deaf children educated in residential schools did as well as or better than those in day schools. Concern about educational placement, however, has remained an issue among educators of exceptional children. This concern culminated in 1975 with the passage of RL. 94-142, which requires that children be educated in the "least restrictive environment (LRE)." That phrase has been interpreted to mean that exceptional children should be taught in regular classes. But is that in the children's best interests? Is mainstreaming sometimes an administrative, economic decision that ignores individual differences? Is the educational setting more important than the instructors, the curriculum, and the support services? Readers of this journal who turn to the reviewed monograph for answers to these and related questions may be disappointed. Physical and sensory disabilities are not mentioned ; only mentally retarded and mentally ill persons are considered. While the editors appreciate the need for research , they cite a United Nations resolution declaring "the inherent right to respect for their human dignity" as "the most relevant counterclaim" to arguments that research has not supported LRE (page 264). As would be expected in a volume containing 14 chapters written by 17 authors, discussions overlap, contradictions are not resolved, and presentations lack cohesiveness. Among the good features are chapters on reactions of families of mentally retarded and mentally ill persons to deinstitutionalization, extensive treatment of methodological problems, and two lawyers' views of LRE. Jerome D. Schein Professor New York University New York 10003 CID Preschool Performance Scale, AE. Stoelting Co., Chicago, IL, 1984. Geers and H.S. Lane, There has long been a need for a good IQ test for use with deaf preschoolers (ages 7>h to 5). This is such a test. It samples a broad range of performance-type tasks. Thus, the examiner has an adequate opportunity for clinical observation and analyses. Most of the test items have appeal to children. Factors such as reliability (correlation coefficient = .71) and validity (coefficient of .485 when correlated with WISCR Performance Scale) leave something to be desired. These data were obtained retrospectively...