Regulating behavioral procedures for individuals with handicaps: review of state department standards

We reviewed standards (i.e., mandatory policies or recommended guidelines) from 39 state departments of special education and 41 state departments of developmental disabilities/mental retardation (DD/MR) to determine how they addressed the use of behavioral procedures. Results indicated that many standards described procedures to change behaviors of individuals with handicaps and identified ways to regulate usage. Major findings were that (a) standards from state departments of DD/MR addressed behavioral procedures more frequently than standards from special education departments; (b) many standards addressed procedures to decrease, but not increase, behavior; (c) several standards identified safeguards to clients' rights, such as prior approval requirements and periodic review of behavioral procedures' effects; (d) some standards prohibited and/or restricted the use of specific procedures, such as those judged to be aversive; (e) about one-fifth of special education standards and two-thirds of DD/MR standards described staff training requirements for using some procedures; and (f) relatively few standards used decision models to select behavioral procedures. Implications of these findings for policy makers, service providers, and future research efforts are discussed.