HOW MUCH TIME SHOULD BE SPENT ON SKILL INSTRUCTION AND FRIENDSHIP DEVELOPMENT - PREFERENCES OF PARENTS OF STUDENTS WITH MODERATE AND SEVEREPROFOUND DISABILITIES

Parents of students with moderate and severe/profound disabilities wer e surveyed to determine their preferences for the percent of a typical school week that should be spent on functional life skills, academic skills, friendship/social relationship development and other education al activities (e.g., physical/speech therapy, music) in the educationa l programs of their sons/daughters. Parents of students with moderate and severe/profound disabilities showed a clear preference for the lar gest percentage of a school week to be spent on functional life skills . Parents of students with moderate disabilities showed preference for academic skills as the next largest percentage, followed by friendshi p/social relationship development, and little preference for other edu cational activities. Parents of students with severe/profound disabili ties showed preference for friendship/social relationship development as their next largest percentage, followed by academic skills, and oth er educational activities. A trend was observed for parental preferenc es to increase for functional life skills, but decrease for friendship /social relationship development, as the age of their son/daughter inc reased. Implications for future research and educational practice are suggested.