With the publication of the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition", autism spectrum disorders are defined by two symptom clusters (social communication and restricted/repetitive behaviors) instead of the current three clusters. The current study examined the structure of the Baby and Infant Screen for…

The "autism spectrum disorder observation for children" ("ASD-OC") is a newly created 54-item observation measure for autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Due to the fact that many of the ASD observation measures currently available do not have established psychometric properties and require extensive time and training to administer, the "ASD-OC"…

Previous research has failed to address the possibility of behavioral equivalents in people with ID and mania. The relationship between a measure of mania and possible behavioral equivalents was assessed in 693 adults, most with severe or profound ID, living in a large residential setting. The mania subscale of the DASH-II proved to be a…

Due to the relative inability of individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) to provide an accurate and reliable self-report, assessment in this population is more difficult than with individuals in the general population. As a result, assessment procedures must be adjusted to compensate for the relative lack of information that the individual…

Previous research has proposed behavioral equivalents for depression, but evidence for behavioral equivalents has been contradictory. The relationship between a measure of depression and several proposed behavioral equivalents of depression was assessed in 693 adults living in a large residential setting. Most were adults with severe or profound…

The success of early intervention programs has in large part spurred increasing emphasis on identifying children with autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) at the earliest possible ages. National and international professional groups have called for early screening and diagnosis, yet the technology to…

Background: This study assessed the psychometrics of two measures--the "Matson Evaluation of Drug Side-effects" (MEDS) and the "Akathisia Ratings of Movement Scale" (ARMS)--and examined the symptom profile of akathisia in a sample of people with intellectual disability (ID). Method: Sixty-six participants formed three groups of…

Our aim was to extend the literature by examining the presence of manic symptoms in persons with intellectual deficits with and without bipolar disorder for 3 years. Three groups (bipolar, psychopathology other than bipolar disorder, and no Axis I diagnosis) were formed with 14 participants in each group. Initially, the presence of mania symptoms…