Diagnosis of pervasive developmental disorders relies on the detection of deficits in social, play, and communication skills relative to the child's mental age. A case example illustrates the multidisciplinary process of making the diagnosis in very young children. Psychiatric evaluation criteria are examined, and a developmental framework for…

Four adults with moderate/severe disabilities were taught to request objects by using the manual signs "want" or "please" plus an object label sign, within the context of familiar activities in which needed objects were missing. All participants acquired a generic requesting response, and three acquired an explicit requesting…

Interviews with 536 families (White, Hispanic, and American Indian) of infants and toddlers with developmental problems indicated parental needs for more and better information and indicated the importance of medical doctors as a source of information, individualizing information for different ethnic groups, and identifying unique strategies to…

Reports on the assessment of 636 children who were identified in a 1984 Scottish low birth weight study. Discusses adaptations of standardized tests that made it possible to test 27 children who had been judged as impossible to test because of developmental disabilities. (CFR)

A survey of job developers at 11 community-based adult service facilities and 2 major public school systems in rural South Dakota revealed that delivery of supported employment services to persons with developmental disabilities is affected by the rate of unemployment, community size, and percentage of service jobs. Discusses solutions to problems…

This article describes TORCH infections, a congenital cluster of infections including toxoplasmosis, syphilis, rubella, cytomegalovirus, and herpes which often results in developmental disabilities for infected children. Methods of transmission, incidence, and developmental outcomes for common TORCH infections are described, as are program…

Three students (ages 12 and 13) with developmental disabilities and severe behavior disorders were taught independent purchasing skills. To bypass the need for money computation skills, discrimination between three stimulus classes of frequent purchases (vending machine snack, convenience store snack, lunch) were trained. Two students mastered the…

Discusses work on a pilot project to develop guidelines for accessible interpretation that integrates disabled and mainstream visitors. Discusses program and facility designs and suggests ways to make existing interpretive programs more accessible to visitors with disabilities. (LZ)

The development of visual perception skills in children with partial vision as well as developmental disabilities is considered. A model of visual learning is offered which incorporates the role of visual experience, movement, and visual learning. Specific teaching suggestions for developing visual attention and visual search skills are offered.…

Ten two-year-old children with periventricular leukomalacia (PVL), a brain injury associated with prematurity, were evaluated using language samples. The five children with delayed cognitive ability produced significantly fewer lexical tokens and spontaneous verbal utterances than did chronological age-matched nondelayed PVL children. (Author/DB)

This article outlines problems associated with large mental hospitals, describes how knowledge gained from these problems can be used to create alternative treatment programs, and introduces the papers in this special issue on community-based treatment programs for individuals with developmental disabilities. (JDD)

This article addresses the critical role of caregiver interaction styles in the language development and treatment of infants/children with developmental disabilities. An approach to measuring and guiding adult interactive styles is proposed and related to research in parent-child development and intervention. The approach examines five…

This study of 29 children with developmental delays found that parent ratings of children's depression were significantly associated with maternal depression, negative self-image, anxiety, and conduct problems. Data suggest that children with developmental delays exhibit a similar pattern of symptoms and associated characteristics to those found…

This review describes Nonorganic Failure to Thrive, presents developmental outcomes, and discusses psychosocial assessment and intervention issues relevant to this developmental disability of early childhood, focusing on child-specific variables, situational and family variables, parent-child interaction variables, and biopsychosocial formulation…

This paper reports a survey of 1,283 Michigan families of children with severe mental impairment, multiple impairments, or autism, concerning the state's cash subsidy program. Families reported that the subsidy amount was adequate. The greatest need was for sitters and respite care, followed by life planning, speech and physical therapy, and…