Future Directions in Deinstitutionalization and Education: A Delphi Investigation.

A Delphi survey procedure was used to forecast future events and set goals relative to deinstitutionalization and educational services for handicapped children and youth. Thirty-three persons of varying organizational affiliations, occupations, and geographical locations participated in two rounds of mail surveys. Questionnaires presented forecasts for deinstitutionalization and residential services spanning the entire life cycle and educational services directed more at children and youth below 25 years of age. Among some of the major trends predicted were that the deinstitutionalization movement would not lose momentum and that community-based residential services would increasingly become available to all persons with handicaps. Panelists anticipated that children and youth with handicaps would be educated more in natural environments and situations, but did not foresee a wholesale movement of mildly handicapped students or special education teachers into regular classroom settings in the near future.