The purpose of this systematic review was to investigate the learning, social, and psychological outcomes of students with moderate, severe, and complex disabilities (MSCD) in inclusive settings. The review discusses barriers to conducting rigorous research in this field. Whilst an initial literature search located 1,338 records, only 18 were…

Paraprofessionals report spending a substantial amount of time addressing challenging behavior in a range of school environments, yet identify behavioral intervention as a high-priority training area. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to systematically review and summarize single-case intervention studies involving paraprofessional-delivered…

Daily behavior report cards (DBRCs) have shown to be effective in addressing academic and behavioral challenges for a variety of students in past literature. The purpose of this literature review and analysis is to update and summarize findings on the use of DBRCs on academic and social behavior for students considered to have disruptive behaviors…

The paper presents data suggesting that differential reinforcement procedures can be used to control multiple maladaptive behaviors of severely multihandicapped persons in group situations. Modifications of traditional differential reinforcement scheduling and interval calulations, are introduced. (Author/CL)

The paper reviews research on the development of communication in visually and mentally handicapped persons. Communication difficulties are traced from the preverbal stage, through imitation and turn-taking, visual co-orientation and objects, and the effects of visual loss on early development. The added impact on a mentally handicapped person of…

Chronic tic disorders, including Tourette's syndrome (TS), affect approximately .5% of children and adolescents. Although strong evidence exists supporting a neurobiological etiology, operant factors may play a role in the maintenance of tic behaviors. Pharmacological approaches remain the most commonly used intervention for chronic tic disorder…

A review of research on the adaptive behavior of persons with both mental retardation and autism/pervasive developmental disorder finds the performances of these dually disabled individuals to be particularly poor in the domain of social skills/socialization and somewhat less poor in the communication domain. In addition, autistic mentally…

Several decades of scientific inquiry on the effect of malnutrition on brain function in early life are summarized, and the findings are related to more current trends in child eating patterns and the use of special dietary regimes for children with learning disabilities. (SW)

This review of behavioral research on teaching individuals with profound multiple handicaps found that behavior change has resulted from contingency management interventions, but the behavior changes cannot be described as beneficially affecting the individuals' quality of life. Explanations for this are offered, and suggestions for future…

Tourette Syndrome (TS) is described as a genetically based, chronic constellation of neurobehavioral symptoms and associated features involving repetitive, simple, and/or complex motor and phonic tics. Treatment generally involves neuroleptic medication. Symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder, attention deficit hyperactive disorder, learning…

Six mildly and moderately mentally retarded adults with chronic and severe emotional/behavioral problems participated in a study of the assumption that aggression and conduct disorders reflected self-managed coping skills deficits. The study was conducted in a vocational training workshop setting located in the Waisman Center on Mental Retardation…