Teaching Moderately and Severely Handicapped Adolescents to Shop in Supermarkets Using Pocket Calculators

Abstract

Seven moderately and severely handicapped adolescents based in a regular middle school were involved in an instructional program designed to teach selected independent supermarket shopping skills. At the end of one year of instruction (June, 1978) three students completed the program. That is, after a parent dictated a 10-item list of groceries, the students could make a grocery list, go to an actual supermarket, purchase the items, and bring them home. Three students required additional instruction and completed the program by December, 1978. The results suggest that moderately and severely handicapped students can and should be exposed to educational curricula and service delivery models that result in the acquisition and performance of age-appropriate functional skills in natural community environments.