Editor's Comment.

Quality of life and satisfaction issues are the topics of the first four articles of the Summer Issue of the Journal. These issues continue to be a primary concern, not only of people with disabilities but of professionals and others as well. The study by Dr. David Salkever analyzed data of a national survey (N = 3856) and found that young adults with developmental disabilities reported greater life satisfaction when engaged in paid employment, schooling and/or volunteer work (compared to no work or only household work). The positive effects of volunteer work and schooling on reported life satisfaction were encouraging for individuals who might not be able to enter competitive employment. A study by Chase, Cornille and English of 158 individuals with spinal cord injuries found that a number of factors were related to life satisfaction (including perceived control, communication skills, satisfaction with personal assistance, marital status and disability), however perceived control and marital status were the best predictors of life satisfaction for this group. In a study of cultural effects related to life satisfaction of persons with spinal cord injury, Hampton and Marshall found significant differences in values related to family integrity and separation from ingroups, and that Americans were more satisfied in general than Chinese. Dr. Carol Denson's survey of paratransit consumers (N = 482) found greater dissatisfaction by people with greater disabilities (perhaps expected) and by younger consumers (somewhat surprising).

The article by Palmer and Roessler reports on the effectiveness of a program designed to prepare students with disabilities to be self advocates and resolve conflicts. The study of 50 students with disabilities in two and four year post secondary schools found that the group receiving training developed higher levels of self-advocacy, conflict resolution behaviors and social competence compared to the control group. The high rate of discontinuance of the use of assistive technology is a great concern, from both a financial and a satisfaction perspective. The study by Riemer-Reiss and Wacker found that discontinuance of the use of assistive devices was related to two factors, relative advantage (of using the device) and (perceived lack of) consumer involvement in the selection process.

The last two articles report on professional instruments and devices to improve professional practice. The study by Adkins, Youngbauer and Mathews reports on the validation of a brief instrument to measure independence of persons with head injury, an instrument that may well have great utility in rehabilitation planning. The report by Holmes, Kaplan and Saxon reviews newer listening technologies and recommends ways rehabilitation counselors may interface with audiologists to provide more informed recommendations to clients.