This article first reviews concerns over the use of psychotropic medication and the use of diagnostic criteria with persons with developmental disabilities and notes the variety of potential diagnoses that may underlie a behavior disorder. A model to guide clinical decision making is developed that stresses the importance of reliable differential…

Analog baselines are an experimental methodology for identifying the functions of maladaptive behavior of individuals with developmental disabilities in naturally occurring environments. This article identifies potential limitations of this methodology, including: fidelity of baseline design conditions, a narrow analysis of behavior, and limited…

This paper reviews the functional properties and procedural variations of differential reinforcement for the reduction of behavior disorders in individuals with developmental disabilities. The paper proposes that limited success may be a result of the arbitrary relationship that exists between reinforcers and target behaviors when behavioral…

Key elements of a continuum of services for individuals with autism and other severe behavior disorders are described, focusing on development of a strong central organization; funding; staff recruitment, training, supervision, and evaluation; program evaluation; outreach parent training; home-based early intervention; vocational training;…

This article outlines problems associated with large mental hospitals, describes how knowledge gained from these problems can be used to create alternative treatment programs, and introduces the papers in this special issue on community-based treatment programs for individuals with developmental disabilities. (JDD)