The history of residential care for persons with autism and other developmental disabilities is summarized for the past 200 years. Residential trends toward community integration in the past three decades are traced for autism in general and for the Murdoch Center in North Carolina. Possible negative side effects of current trends are identified.…

Analyzes the Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability, the scholarly professional journal of the Australian Society for the Study of Intellectual Disability for the past 28 years. Examines changes in the nature and orientation of contents, type of publication, the professional background and affiliation of authors, its reflection of…

Explores how the trends toward long-term community care affecting people with developmental disabilities developed. Appropriateness of care and quality of life issues are discussed. Reviews the development of long-term care for frail and disabled elderly people and explores the arguments for a continuum of care that have developed in this area.…

This study identifies the factors that have contributed most to supporting growth of self-advocacy among people with developmental disabilities, by examining the history of self-advocacy and reporting on interviews with six self-advocates and six advisors of the self-advocacy movement. The study concludes that the growth of self-advocacy has been…

This article examines the evolution of the early childhood system, characterizing the stressors facing families of children with developmental disabilities that can adversely affect a child's development and examining the response of the early intervention system to those stressors. Discussion of future directions for the early intervention system…

This paper discusses paradigm shifts in the fields of mental retardation and developmental disabilities--toward facilities-based, services-based, supports-based, and empowering services. The nature of each paradigm shift and forces for change are highlighted. Discussion focuses on recommendations for professional practice in education and services…

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)