An OTR is speaking to a support group for parents who have young adult-age children with mild-to-moderate developmental delay. The parents want to learn strategies for helping prepare their children for transition from living at home to working and living independently in the community. The young adults are independent with self-care, and they have graduated from a high school special education program. In addition to talking to the parents about promoting independence with cooking and homemaking, which topics would be MOST IMPORTANT to include for supporting an initial transition plan?

there are treatment options for depression (mdd) that may work for you. one way of treating depression may be to affect the levels of certain chemicals that brain cells use to communicate, called neurotransmitters. scientists believe that certain neurotransmitters may be out of balance in depression.

although the exact way depression medications shown to ease overall depression symptoms in some people work is unknown, scientists think that some medications work by affecting the levels of a neurotransmitter called serotonin in the brain. other treatments work by affecting the levels of other neurotransmitters like norepinephrine or dopamine.

clearcutting reproduces a new even-aged stand by completely removing the mature stand.

clearcutting as a silvicultural treatment has several characteristics:

it causes a sudden environmental change

it removes the seed source from the regeneration area

the configuration of the clearcut may affect seed dispersal

it begins a new rotation

it will eliminate some pests that require forest cover

overall, it temporarily removes the forest cover, transforming the forest community and environment.

clearcutting followed by artificial (seeded or planted) regeneration has several advantages:

we can avoid delay in restocking the site

we can introduce a selected species, seed source, and genotype

we can control arrangement and spacing

we can achieve uniformity in the new stand

we can overcome the problems associated with securing sufficient natural regeneration.

the shelterwood method involves the removal of most of the mature stand at the end of the rotation, but a portion of the mature stand is left standing.   the shelterwood method serves three basic purposes:

to prepare the stand for production of abundant seed

to modify the environment in a way that promotes germination and survival of the selected species

to build up the amount and size of advance regeneration to ensure the prompt restocking of the new stand following overstory removal.

the shelterwood method involves a sequence of 3 cuttings:

preparatory cuttings: make the seed trees more vigorous and set the stage for regeneration. see our thinning page for more information.

establishment/seed cuttings: open up enough vacant growing space to allow establishment of the new regeneration.

removal cuttings: uncover the new crop to allow it to fill the growing space.

the residual trees in the shelterwood must:

be sturdy and windfirm

be able to survive exposure

flower and reproduce seed

be the best trees of the mature stand

keep in mind that the shelter trees must not occupy the entire site.   a void must be created in order to make room for the new regeneration. the amount of shelter to leave will depend on the following factors:

species characteristics (seeding and shelter requirements)

the number of cuttings in the cutting sequence (1, 2, or 3)

landowner objectives

the size of the area to be regenerated

the final removal harvest level required to be profitable

the shelter must be removed before it impedes the growth of the new stand or threatens its survival.

answer; direct observation;

answer; observation and imitation;