A program to decrease unnecessary visits to an elementary school health room involved teachers asking students to visit the health room only for serious problems and urging parents to support the goal of reducing health room visits. Substantial decreases in ambiguous, unidentifiable complaints and health room visits were found following program…

Investigated the relation of change in maternal depressed mood across time and adolescent functioning. Analyses revealed that increased depressed mood across one year predicted teacher reports of higher levels of externalizing and internalizing problems and lower levels of social competence. A static maternal depressive mood did not forecast…

The process of "functional assessment" is recommended to establish a basis for individualized behavior management programing for students with special needs. The approach is based on identifying the functions of the challenging behavior and involves systematically collecting information about the behavior and developing an intervention…

This case study demonstrates the use of functional assessment with a 17-year-old student with severe intellectual disabilities. The case focuses on the importance of identifying setting events associated with problem behaviors and, when these events occur, making appropriate scheduling or programing changes to prevent difficult situations from…

A school-based approach to Positive Peer Culture (PPC) is most successful if integrated into academic curriculum. Examples of incorporating PPC into English, math, social studies, and science show how students can learn to think analytically about PPC's 12 problem areas. (SK)

The staff of an apartment-based residential support program was taught to use behavior interruption strategies to elicit requesting functions from two women with deaf-blindness and developmental disabilities. Results found the strategies to be both quickly assimilated by the staff and effective in increasing request rates from the subjects.…

This paper presents a conceptual framework, based on training in self-regulation, for the normalization of sexual behavior in individuals with developmental disabilities. Four features of such an approach include acquiring appropriate sexual behaviors, generalizing skills, discriminating appropriate contexts, and evaluating one's actions. (DB)

Institutions for people with disabilities can be "deinstitutionalized" by changing the way they are organized and regulated. The process of developing community learning environments in residential programs involves design of daily living routines, assessment of residential living skills, identification of teaching objectives, development of…

This article addresses legal concerns regarding the use of level systems to manage students with emotional and behavioral disorders. Concerns pertain to a failure to individualize the program, including restricted access to the least restrictive environment, curricular issues, and procedural concerns. A decision-making model to aid in designing…

This article discusses assessment strategies for accurately pinpointing the social and communicative functions of challenging behavior and presents an array of proactive interventions to decrease escape-motivated challenging behavior and to decrease access-motivated challenging behavior. Factors influencing the selection of one intervention…

A review of the use of psychotropic medications for people with developmental disabilities is presented. Results suggest that prescribing drugs based on topographical features of the problem behavior, without considering the function the behavior serves for the individual, contributes to variability in clinical response. Functional analysis of a…

Discusses a study on how Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) approached intervening with criminal youth to halt or reduce their criminal activities before these activities become entrenched. This approach emphasizes quick case turnaround and harsh sanctions for youths who are serious habitual offenders. (GLR)

Using specific case examples, this paper offers several therapeutic principles and examples of their practical application to demonstrate brief and effective interventions to meet the challenges and needs of victims of sexual abuse and young perpetrators. The interventions are sufficiently flexible to work within the constraints imposed by…

Application of the Social Cognition Intervention Program (SCIP) with deaf and hard of hearing adolescents is described. The program, based on experiential learning, is intrinsically rewarding, flexible, and enjoyable for students. The program uses games and activities that encourage students to evaluate personalities, emotions, behavior, and…

This article presents a rationale for using students with emotional/behavioral disorders as behavior change agents for peers. Guidelines address use of peer confrontation strategies; selection, training, and evaluation of peer modifiers; and issues (such as ethical aspects of peer intervention). (DB)