In this study, self-reports of 34 individuals with developmental disabilities (DD) were compared with proxy ratings from family and providers. Correlations between the ratings of individuals with DD and the proxy raters were low, as were the correlations between family members and providers. In all scales except "cognition," the individual with DD…

A study with 10 developmentally delayed children between the ages of 52 and 80 months found that test-retest samples resulted in greater variability for lexical and morphological measurements than split-half transcripts. It was also found that 50-utterance sample segments contained 70-80 percent of the lexical information found in 100-utterance…

This study describes the development of the Active Treatment Client Rights checklist (ATCR), which was designed to facilitate the assessment, monitoring, and implementation of readily observable client active treatment services for adults with developmental disabilities. The ATCR was found to be highly reliable, valid, and useful in enhancing…

The "Behavior Problems Inventory" (BPI) is a behavior rating instrument for self-injurious, stereotypic, and aggressive/destructive behavior in mental retardation and other developmental disabilities. Evaluation with 432 residents in a developmental center found the BPI to be a reliable (retest reliability, internal consistency, and…

This study established content validity and reliability for the Infant Behavioral Summarized Evaluation, a rating scale for young children with autism. Analysis of videotapes for 89 children (ages 6-48 months) revealed a significant group of 19 items, including characteristic early autistic behaviors and some less commonly described (such as…

Comparison using paired t-tests of parent and teacher ratings for 16 preschool children on the Receptive-Expressive Emergent Language Scale found no significant differences between parent and teacher ratings of expressive language, but a significant difference on the receptive language subscale. However, interrater reliability was relatively low…

This study evaluated the Consent Screening Interview, which assesses the ability of adults with developmental disabilities to give direct consent for community residential placement. Interviews conducted with 17 adults with mental retardation and a control group of 8 individuals indicated that the instrument differentiated between those subjects…

This book chapter outlines a number of key characteristics crucial to the integrity, utility, and efficiency of a behavioral assessment instrument for community living skills of people with developmental disabilities. In addition to basic psychometric considerations, the paper suggests that the functions of a behavioral assessment instrument could…