A Japanese translation of the Childhood Autism Rating Scale was used with 167 developmentally disabled children under age 16. Total score demonstrated a satisfactory level of taxonomic validity and discriminated infantile autism and other pervasive developmental disorders from mental retardation alone. A satisfactory concurrent validity on the…

Two experiments comparing 114 good and poor readers in second and fourth grades as well as 26 college students found poor readers did not interpret spoken sentences as accurately as good readers and that their performance was like that of younger children suggesting a developmental lag in phonological processing skills. (Author/DB)

Data are summarized from 152 single-subject analyses of the reinforcing functions of self-injurious behavior (SIB) in individuals with developmental disabilities. Overall results indicated that functional analysis methodologies are extremely effective in identifying the environmental determinants of SIB on an individual basis and, subsequently, in…

This study compared selection of a preferred reinforcing stimulus just prior to a training session by either the trainer or subject with profound developmental disabilities. Results obtained with four adult subjects indicated little or no difference in reinforcement effects when reinforcing stimuli were selected by subjects rather than trainers.…

Ten infants, 2 to 11 months of age, who tested positive for cocaine at birth, were assessed by means of the Battelle Developmental Inventory and a questionnaire administered to the infants' foster parents. Seven of the infants evidenced measurable delays that legally (in California) mandated intervention. The most effective caretaking behaviors…

This meta-analysis of the developmental disabilities literature on remediation of problem behaviors evaluated relations between standards of practice, intervention and participant characteristics, and treatment validity. Results largely failed to support widespread assumptions of clinical practice such as the superiority of more intrusive…

The Verbal Interaction Analysis System is presented as an assessment of initial, dyadic conversations. Application of the VIAS to two case studies featuring mildly to moderately intellectually disabled adults shows how the VIAS provides an index of competence and assists in the development of specific treatment strategies. (Author/JDD)

The Questionnaire on Resources and Stress (short form) was completed by 51 mothers and 42 fathers of children with severe developmental disabilities. Factor analysis of parcels found that gender of parent seemed to have minimal effect on perceptions of stress and coping. Validity of the questionnaire for use with mothers and fathers was supported.…

A review of studies that used the Questionnaire on Resources and Stress with families rearing children with developmental disabilities identified three primary difficulties: (1) definitional problems: (2) multiple measures of the same construct that do not converge: and (3) failure to replicate. Solution strategies include separating demands,…

Differences in comprehension, production, and appreciation of humor were explored among a total of 47 second and fourth graders, of whom 26 fourth graders had learning disabilities or developmental handicaps. Although children without disabilities comprehended cartoons better, no production differences were observed. (Author/DB)

This study sought to differentiate pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDDNOS) from similar nonautistic disorders on the basis of a cognitive deficit, theory of mind (ToM), which is the ability to infer mental states in others, a deficit highly prevalent in autism, a disorder similar to PDDNOS. Results suggest that children…

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)

Interactions between 25 mothers and their developmentally delayed children (ages 2-5) during 15 minutes of semi-structured free play were coded independently with a global rating scale and a behavior count coding scheme. Correlational analyses were performed around three central themes: (1) the nature of the relationship between maternal…

The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale-Revised and the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) were compared using a sample of 26 developmentally disabled children, aged 32 to 73 months. The focus of the study was to determine the feasibility of the K-ABC both for assessment and for planning more effective remediation programs for this…

This report describes a database, Database Problem Behavior, which provides professionals in the area of problem behaviors and developmental disabilities with accessible information beyond their own disciplines. The current machine-readable database encompasses 885 empirical studies on the functional analysis and behavioral and pharmacological…