A pica box (containing items safe to chew) was used as an intervention with a 10-year-old autistic girl with pica behaviors in a special education setting. Evaluation using an ABAB design (varying in availability of the pica box) found a decrease in pica attempts when the pica box was available to the student. (DB)

This article surveys school safety and violence prevention through discussion of violence among today's school-age youth, causal factors, the impact of violence on schools, characteristics of safe and unsafe schools, and recommended strategies and resources for addressing school safety. A "School Crime Assessment Tool" and descriptions of five…

Addresses methods of assessing social validity in interventions with individuals having behavioral disorders. Discusses three areas: (1) specific behavioral goals; (2) the social appropriateness of the procedures; and (3) the social importance of the outcomes. Issues of validity and utility are also raised. The paper concludes that application of…

This introductory article to this special issue considers four reasons why there has been little research on the academic needs of students with emotional and behavioral disorders: (1) student behavior interferes with instruction; (2) students influence teacher behavior; (3) lack of teacher preparation; and (4) lack of research. (Contains…

Article examines the diagnosis and assessment of self-injurious behaviors. A classification model for conceptualizing self-injury is discussed, and the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" diagnoses associated with self-injury are addressed. Assessment questions and issues to consider when assessing clients who…

For adolescent conduct-disordered (CD) and comparison (NC) youth, affective and cognitive aspects of empathy were measured by a self-report questionnaire and by responses to videotaped vignettes. Compared to NC youth, CD youth exhibited lower empathy, reported fewer emotions concordant with vignette persons' emotions, and reported fewer correct…

A functional analysis examined the consequences that maintained episodic self-injury and the relationship between those consequences and otitis media for a 26-month-old child with developmental disabilities. Results indicated that self-injury occurred only during periods of otitis media and may have served as a sensory escape function. (Author/CR)

This study examined compliance parameters for 18 children (ages 2-10) who had been referred to a clinic for behavior problems and for 35 non-referred children. Although there were significant differences for percentage compliance, there were no significant differences between the referred and nonreferred in terms of initiation or completion…

A study compared the effects of choice and assignment of preferred/nonpreferred tasks to three students (ages 11-13) with moderate intellectual impairments and challenging behavior in a classroom setting. Results indicate individual participant data were idiosyncratic and choice making failed to produce superior effects for any of the…

This article considers problems in the federal definition of seriously emotionally disturbed, authority (state or federal) in determining program eligibility, the legislative history of exclusionary rules, and legal options available to those seeking access to special education for behavior-disordered students. (DB)

The article offers an exploratory analysis of three conceptual models used in psychiatry. Through a case presentation, the article demonstrates each model's basic premises and implications. Patterns of speech, language, and communication impairment should be investigated from all three perspectives: biodynamic, psychodynamic, and sociodynamic.…

The study investigated the effects of training two learning and behavior disordered elementary students to ignore the inappropriate behavior and to reinforce the appropriate behavior of three peers who were also learning and behavior disordered. Results indicated the students were able to utilize extinction and reinforcement procedures…

This article comments on Ralph Gardner's article (EC 230191) criticizing life space interviewing (LSI). The author offers documented evidence of effectiveness, claims LSI is designed solely for reactive (not proactive) conditions, and argues that it does not subtract from academic learning time and does not increase inappropriate behavior by…

This article criticizes the technique of life space interviewing (LSI) as supported in EC 230192. The body of supportive empirical evidence for LSI's effectiveness is discussed and considered inadequate, and a call is made for further empirical research. (PB)

A data-based crisis support program at a special school for severely emotionally disturbed children provides on-the-spot intervention for students with behavioral difficulties, records data about the incident, and provides monthly summary data reports on program use. One month's data report is used to illustrate program structure and data…