Report of the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, Volume 1, Number 9, October 1969 Page: ATTACHMENT
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Consultant Uses Electronics
Training Aid Planned
Bill Locke, Ph.D., a consultant to
the Lubbock State School, is working on
a technique that uses electronics to teach
basic self-help skills to the profoundly
retarded.
A new member of the psychology
department faculty at Texas Technologi-
cal University, Dr. Locke is building an
artificial "reward" system he hopes can
be useful in simultaneously modifying the
behavior of two or more children who are
profound retardates, those with IQ's of
less than 20.
Behavior modification, while a stan-
dard technique, is often difficult, since
many profound retardates cannot or do
not respond to verbal directions. They
must be shown what to do in small steps
and given a positive reward for mastering
each step. The reward reinforces the
retardate's new knowledge.
Dr. Locke's method is designed to
change the verbal behavior of groups of
retardates by using microphones and a
panel of lights that display "rewards" for
correct responses.
He plans to "team" children who
have low verbal output with children
displaying high verbal output (often to
the point of gibberish). A "team" would
be rewarded if the child with low verbal
output increases his output and if the
child with high output decreases his.
Dr. Locke began developing the
equipment while at the Bureau of Child
Research at the University of Kansas in
80 Wichita Falls
Patients Camp
At 'Singing Hills'
Approximately 80 patients from
Wichita Falls State Hospital attended
two-week camping sessions at the H.E.
Butt Foundation's "Singing Hills" camp-
site on the Frio River, near Leakey.
Hospital buses took 40 patients and
20 staff members to the camp on Sept. 3,
for the first session of camping, swim-
ming, and boating. The second group
began camping on Sept. 17.
WFSH personnel directing camping
sessions are Mrs. Elizabeth Cox, Charles
Francisco, Grady Solomon, and Bert
Swatzel.Parsons, before joining the Texas Tech
faculty in August. He hopes to have his
system. in operation by December.
He is working with a Lubbock State
School task force headed by Dr. Gladys
P. Sutherland.DR. BILL LOCKE, Lubbock State School
consultant, works on "artificial reward system."
Board Adopts
Regulations
Local Centers
Regulations and standards for the
operation of community MH/MR centers
have been adopted by the Texas Board of
Mental Health and Mental Retardation.
The rules, subject to review and
revision, apply to all services provided by
community MH/MR centers governed by
local boards of trustees. Community
boards took part in drafting the regula-
tions, which incorporate legislative
amendments to the Texas Mental Health
and Mental Retardation Act, effective
Sept. 1.
State grant-in-aid funds for centers
will be provided to 23 local MH/MR
boards on the basis of population served,
with additional funds to be allocated
according to the financial ability of a
local community to support public ser-
vices.
Community boards are required to
match state grants with a minimum of 20
percent and a maximum of 40 percent in
local support which may include the
value of buildings and improvements.PERSONAL
MENTION
Melvin Q. Thorne, Jr. is the new
chief of social services and coordinator of
community services at Vernon Center. He
was formerly with the Midland Com-
munity Center for MH/MR.
Mirta Guzmeli, M.D., has joined the
Wichita Falls State Hospital staff as a
medical technician.
Monty Sontag, Ed.D., superinten-
dent of the Corpus Christi State School,
has been elected chairman of the Texas
Committee of Organizations for the
Handicapped.
Deaths
Ben Ivey of Denton, past chairman
of the Volunteer Services Council for
Texas State Hospitals and Special
Schools
Community MH Programs
Reviewed at Conference
More than 100 representatives of
community MH/MR centers throughout
Texas and the Texas Department of
Mental Health and Mental Retardation
exchanged ideas and viewpoints in Austin
Sept. 11 and 12.
Emphasis was on methods that have
proven effective in various community
mental health programs in Texas, with
presentations by local MH/MR center
personnel from Amarillo, Houston, Dal-
las, Texarkana, San Antonio, Austin, El
Paso, Belton, Edinburg, Midland, and
Waco.
The conference was sponsored
jointly by TDMHMR and the state's 23
community MH/MR boards of trustees.VSC Meeting
Set
Approximately 100 advance registra-
tions have been received for the 11th
annual meeting of the Volunteer Services
Council for Texas State Hospitals and
Special Schools.
The meeting is scheduled in Big
Spring on Oct. 3-4, with Governor Pres-
ton Smith as keynote speaker.
Representatives of 26 affiliated pro-
grams are expected to attend the con-
ference.
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Texas. Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation. Report of the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, Volume 1, Number 9, October 1969, periodical, October 1969; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1588647/m1/2/?rotate=90: accessed August 15, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.