With the majority of persons with intellectual disabilities now living in the community instead of institutions, functional use of money has become a particularly important and challenging special education priority. To address this challenge, Praxis, Inc. has undertaken development of a suite of computer-based software products designed to establish the behavioral prerequisites for functional use of money by persons with intellectual disabilities. The first product of the suite, MERIT-1, is a money skills readiness product that assesses and teaches identification of all coins and bills up to $20. To do develop this essential product, Praxis, Inc. has taken advantage of its recent experience in developing other teaching programs for establishing basic discrimination performances and equivalence classes. The programs have been supported by an extensive body of scientifically-validated procedures, all of which have been developed in NICHD-supported projects aimed at improving instructional technology for persons with intellectual disabilities. In Phase 1 of the MERIT-1 project, the Company developed prototype software that implemented the essential features of the MERIT-1 readiness curriculum. The software and supporting items were successfully field-tested, and critical milestones were achieved.
The Specific Aims of this Phase-2 project are to: (1) transform the prototype software into a high quality turn-key application for teaching money discrimination skills that are prerequisite for learning the values of coin, bills, and their combinations; and (2) field-test the application to verify its effectiveness with teachers and students who are representative of those who will be the ultimate consumers of the product. The objective of the MERIT suite is to offer a comprehensive curriculum that can potentially prepare all children who have the requisite cognitive capacity to use money independently. The development of MERIT-1 (Phase 1 completed) was initiated to support special education teachers whose students have IEP (i.e., individualized educational plans) objectives relating to money skills, but who had yet to achieve success in assessing and teaching the prerequisite basic discrimination skills. ? ? ?
