This paper describes the development of a Quality of Care and Support (QOCS) scale for use with adult persons with physical and intellectual disabilities. In the pilot phase of the study, 12 centers from around the world carried out focus groups with people with physical and disabilities, their carers, and with professionals in order to identify…

This study assessed the possibility of training two individuals with cognitive impairments using a system that reduced breaks in performance. This study was carried out according to an ABAB sequence in which A represented the baseline and B represented intervention phases. Data showed that the two participants significantly increased their target…

This study combines multi-mice technology (people with disabilities can use standard mice, instead of specialized alternative computer input devices, to achieve complete mouse operation) with an assistive pointing function (i.e. cursor-capturing, which enables the user to move the cursor to the target center automatically), to assess whether two…

The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is a widely used picture/icon aided augmentative communication system designed for learners with autism and other developmental disorders. This meta-analysis analyzes the extant empirical literature for PECS relative to targeted (functional communication) and non-targeted concomitant outcomes…

This study describes a national data audit of the National Intellectual Disability Database (NIDD). The NIDD is a national information system for intellectual disability (ID) for Ireland. The purpose of this audit was to assess the overall accuracy of information contained on the NIDD, as well as collecting qualitative information to support the…

Deficits in short-term memory are common in adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but their current ADHD symptoms cannot well predict their short-term performance. Taking a developmental perspective, we wanted to clarify the association between ADHD symptoms at early childhood and short-term memory in late childhood and…

The Taiwan Birth Cohort Study (TBCS) is the first nationwide birth cohort database in Asia designed to establish national norms of children's development. Several challenges during database development and data analysis were identified. Challenges include sampling methods, instrument development and statistical approach to missing data. The…

Objectives: (1) To assess the distribution of parental age and birth weight in a large cohort with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and to compare them to Israeli national data. (2) To examine possible relationships between these risk factors and functioning. Methods: The study included 529 participants diagnosed with ASD using standardized tests:…

Historically residential facilities for individuals with intellectual disabilities have served the role of segregation and congregation with no real focus on integration into the community. More recently the focus has been to get people out of residential institutions and into community-based living settings. This work examines an approach to…

In this study socio-demographic, deafness-related and diagnostic characteristics of hearing impaired children and adolescents referred to a national mental health service for deaf and hard of hearing children and adolescents were examined. Socio-demographic and diagnostic characteristics were compared to corresponding characteristics of hearing…

Primary prevention of intellectual disability (ID) has long been a goal of public health professionals, without a clear picture of the ID population, efforts to understand its nature and improve the lives for this group of people will be impossible. The purpose of this paper was to describe the over time prevalence of ID from 2000 to 2007 in…

The present study focused on the objective components of quality of life (QOL) of people with profound multiple disabilities (PMD). More specific, we aimed at evaluating different dimensions of QOL of people with PMD and investigating the association between their QOL and several personal (age, gender, intellectual capabilities, motor limitations,…

Currently there are no available sleep disorder measures for individuals with severe and profound intellectual disability. We, therefore, attempted to establish the external validity of the "Diagnostic Assessment for the Severely Handicapped-II" (DASH-II) sleep subscale by comparing daily observational sleep data with the responses of…

A number of researchers have explored the attributions that care staff make about challenging behavior. The expectation, based on behavioral and cognitive models, is that these attributions may help predict why staff inadvertently reinforce challenging behavior. Two studies of staff attributions about challenging behavior are reported. In the…