A survey of 190 public and community residential facilities indicate that staff in community and public residential facilities must be prepared to deal with maladaptive behavior, that behaviorally oriented response strategies appear to be most effective, and that there is a need for greater attention to training direct-care residential staff in…

This article describes the development of statewide system change in positive behavior support being implemented by the South Carolina Department of Disabilities and Special Needs in collaboration with the University of South Carolina. Key areas discussed include the impetus for change, the development process, plan components, capacity building,…

Differential reinforcement of appropriate behavior was used in combination with a naturalistic restitution procedure utilizing victim participation to reduce the assaultive and interpersonal sexual behavior and genital self stimulation of an adolescent Down's syndrome male in a school setting. (Author/DLS)

Comparison of developmentally disabled adolescents presenting conduct disorder (N=56) with those exhibiting other types of psychopathology (N=57) found significant differences in the conduct disordered group including: more severe retardation, fewer pubertal changes, fewer persons with epilepsy, more normal electroencephalographs, and more…

Four profoundly mentally retarded middle-aged female residents in a state institution Behavior Problems Program were trained through the use of an interdependent group-oriented contingency procedure to sit and later to work on prevocational tasks. (Author)

The self-injurious avoidance responses of a 22-year-old severely mentally retarded male were eliminated through a forced running consequence. Side effects, such as reduced noise, increase in smiling, and faster progress toward instructional objectives, were also noted. The results were maintained over a period of two years. (Author/PHR)

A Special Behavior Unit provided short-term residential treatment to persons with mental retardation who displayed severe maladaptive behavior. Program evaluation data indicated decreases in frequency of targeted behaviors during clients' residence. Post-discharge follow-up data indicated that 40 percent showed at least adequate adjustment and…

This article discusses the difficulties some individuals with developmental disabilities have in responding to behavioral treatment and suggests an alternative to traditional behavioral treatment programs. It describes the use of the accommodation approach in which an individual's environment is rearranged to prevent or lower the occurrence of…

A national survey of 147 institutions for individuals with mental retardation found that 68 percent of the institutions had used at least 1 of 3 specified treatment options to deal with behavior problems. Results indicated that, in comparison to in-house behavior shaping units and mobile intensive treatment teams, specialized outside referral…

Behavioral techniques (positive reinforcement and nonexclusionary timeout) effectively decreased problem behaviors of noncompliance and aggression of a young adult male with severe mental retardation and Down's syndrome residing in the community. (DB)

A revised system was developed for documenting the rights restrictions of persons with mental retardation at a state residential facility. The system included a new form, response effort reduction, inservice training for staff, and staff feedback. Results showed an immediate and sustained reduction in documentation errors of 96 direct-care and…