This article reports on a study of the methods that 21 ophthalmologists used to assess the visual acuity of children with multiple impairments and the difficulties they encountered. Additional means of assessing visual function and alternative means of communicating the results are suggested. (Author/DB)

Describes current child-count systems that count students with visual impairments and additional disabilities in only one disability area. This results in an undercount of the incidence of visual impairment. Discusses the need for children to be initially counted by the disability of the lowest incidence. (CR)

This paper offers guidelines to compare the characteristics observed in children with autism and blindness and those observed in children with blindness alone. It distinguishes between stereotypic behaviors (blindisms) in blind individuals and similar stereotypic behaviors of children with autism. A table presents typical behavior patterns of…

Educational case studies of three multiply handicapped blind children (five to ten years old) are presented in a discussion of visual stimulation approaches. Objectives of activities such as coupling a light with a sound-producing object are described. (CL)

This article provides guidelines on diagnosing learning disabilities in deaf or hard-of-hearing children and adults, evaluates major tests in terms of their use with deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals who may have a learning disability, and suggests a battery of tests found to be useful. (Author/JDD)

Distributions of psychiatric classifications among 42,479 persons with mental retardation were reviewed to determine relative rates of disorders for persons with both mental retardation and mental disorder. Analyses indicated that rates of reported schizophrenic and psychotic disorders were generally higher than expected relative to rates of other…

This literature review addresses how the mental health professions view and use communication behaviors in their own diagnostic framework, focusing on cooccurrence of communication and psychiatric disorders, and psychiatrists' consideration of communication disorders as only one of a number of neurobehavioral systems. (JDD)

Techniques for evaluating the multiply impaired child's functional level of vision are described and a sequence of visual stimulation instruction for children with visual impairments is presented. (PHR)

This paper offers a model for planning services for children who are both mentally retarded and autistic. The model and recommendations for the residential therapeutic environment are organized according to the main axes of child development (biological, physical, cognitive, and socioemotional). (Author/DB)

The article describes a training program which effectively taught a profoundly retarded and blind nine-year-old boy to use a walker. One year follow-up indicated maintenance of treatment gains. Ambulation training was correlated with a significant reduction in stereotypic behavior. (Author/DB)

A state (California) database of 78,603 individuals with mental retardation receiving state services was examined to determine relations between behavior problems, residential placement patterns, and other characteristics, and the likelihood of being dually diagnosed. Extrapunitive maladaptive behaviors, cognitive abilities, and social skills were…

This study found that, of 18 children with severe visual and multiple impairments assessed using the Acuity Card Procedure (originally developed for assessing the visual acuity of infants), 42 percent responded. A similar group received a simple instructional intervention prior to testing and that group's response rate was 85 percent. (Author/DB)

Effects of a program of motor therapy on the motor ability levels of eight multisensory handicapped children were examined. Participation improved performance for all subjects. The gain scores from pretest to posttest indicated that children with multisensory disabilities may benefit from such a program. (Author)

This article describes addition of a "learn a routine" procedure to functional visual assessments of children with severe neurological and physical disabilities. The procedure capitalizes on the child's interest of the moment and provides information on the child's patterns of responses, ability to accommodate to variations of a stimulus, and…