Aims to obtain prevalence figures for left-handedness among 10-year-old Swedish children; to replicate some findings concerning Bishop's (1980) extended pathological left-handedness hypothesis; to evaluate the influence of factors such as the child's sex and reduced optimality in the pre-, peri-, and neonatal period; and to determine the…

Training for six behaviorally handicapped preschoolers consisted of initial instructions, modeling, and behavioral rehearsal, followed by teacher prompts and praise regarding sharing directly in a classroom free play period. Introduction of training in a multiple baseline design across three pairs of children resulted in substantial increases in…

The addition of self-monitoring to a social skill training program involving verbal training and role playing resulted in rapid generalization of appropriate responses to a supervision's instructions by behaviorally disordered adolescents in vocational classes. (Author/CL)

This study investigated state practices related to the availability and nature of teacher certification requirements of teachers of students with emotional or behavioral disorders (EBD). More than half of the states reported existence of certification in EBD. Analysis of certification requirements indicated variability regarding the specificity of…

This study investigated whether blood plasma levels of pro-opiomelanocortin-derived (POMC) peptides, beta-endorphin-like activity, adrenocorticotrophic hormone, and adrenal cortisol immediately after self injurious behavior (SIB) episodes predicted subsequent response to an opiate blocker in 10 patients with mental retardation. Results suggest…

A study of two adolescents with behavior disorders examined the effects of a sequence of three, single-digit multiplication problems on the latency to initiate multiple digit multiplication problems. During the preference assessment, both students most often selected the single-digit problems and intervention decreased the latency between problems…

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…