Examines stress and adjustment in parents of three groups of families. Results, based on 54 families, indicate that parents of autistic children reported more family stress and adjustment problems than parents of children with Down's Syndrome, who in turn, reported more stress and adjustment problems than parents of developmentally normal…

An evaluation was made of the empirical validity of the Diagnostic Assessment for the Severely Handicapped-II (DASH-II) with 51 individuals with severe/profound mental retardation, some of whom were also diagnosed with autism, and controls. The Autism/Pervasive Developmental Disorder subscale of the DASH-II was internally consistent and just as…

Three adults with developmental disabilities in supported-employment settings were successfully taught self-management strategies for addressing hygiene issues. The intervention included: a checklist with steps necessary to address particular hygiene issues, modeling the steps to each participant, providing praise and feedback, and teaching the…

A study involving three individuals (ages 13-20) with developmental disabilities and problem behaviors examined the influential role that unanticipated idiosyncratic stimulus variables play in affecting the outcome of a functional analysis. Guidelines are discussed concerning when to suspect that idiosyncratic stimuli might be acting to influence…

Gives a brief overview of the historical and current understanding of and care for United Kingdom children with learning difficulties or mental retardation who display challenging behavior. Maintains that challenging behavior is not a new phenomenon but has existed throughout the history of learning difficulty. (Author)

Analysis of teacher and parent ratings of 369 children with developmental disabilities on the Nisonger Child Behavior Rating Form provided normative data (means, T scores, and percentiles). Age influenced three of eight subscales on the parent ratings and one subscale on the teacher ratings. Gender did not influence subscale scores. (Author/DB)

Forty-six undergraduate social work students at Israel's Bar Ilan University in a course on developmental disabilities responded to a questionnaire. Comparison with college students in Arkansas found that Israeli social work students' attitudes were significantly more positive toward people with developmental disabilities in most areas. (DB)

A group of 36 children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) were compared with 36 typical children matched on age, gender, and verbal IQ. Both a competence-importance discrepancy and social support/positive regard construct were significant predictors of self-worth for controls; however, for those with DCD, only the competence-important…

Compares the efficacy of a combination of phonological and strategy-based remedial approaches for reading disability with that of each approach separately. Study was based on interventions with 85 children with severe reading disability. Results indicate that a combination of Phonological Analysis and Blending/Direct Instruction and Word…

This literature review finds that efforts since the 1950s to develop research-based selection tools for recruiting direct-care staff to work with people with developmental disabilities have not been successful. However, researchers have identified practices that can reduce staff turnover, such as articulating the mission and improving human…

Describes a multisensory approach to making science accessible to students with profound learning disabilities. (WRM)

This article discusses using the term "general learning disorder" instead of "mental retardation." It addresses the offensiveness of the current label, discusses ingredients needed in a more appropriate diagnostic term, and offers a proposed grouping of developmental disabilities based on cognitive ability, language ability, physical ability, and…

This article presents the case of a delusional disorder associated with high functioning pervasive developmental disorder in an 18-year-old Japanese male. Effective drug treatment with bromperidol and trihexyphenydil is reported. (DB)

An approach based on Skinner's (1957) theory of verbal behavior has been developed to understand and teach elementary communication skills to children with autism and developmental disabilities (Sundberg & Partington, 1998). However, few studies have directly examined the characteristics of emerging language in children with developmental…

Late talkers with specific language impairment and developmental delay make up a large portion of our early childhood caseloads; therefore, an understanding of best clinical practices for these populations is essential. Early lexical learning was examined in 2 interactive treatment approaches with 29 late-talking preschoolers with language and…