Background: Adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) commonly live in specialised residential settings. Data collected from these adults are often nested. The aim of this study is to examine the impact of this data structure. Method: Referent caregivers completed the Reiss Screen for Maladaptive Behaviour for each of the 571 adults with ID who…

The present study employed the Disability Assessment Schedule (DAS) to assess problem behaviors in a large sample of adults with ID (N = 568) and evaluate the psychometric properties of this instrument. Although the DAS problem behaviors were found to be internally consistent (Cronbach's [alpha] = 0.87), item analysis revealed one weak item…

Two experiments are reported: one with autistic children in a day-care treatment program. the other with "hopeless" rating behavior in a grade six school setting. Although the samples were small (seven in the autistic group, 43 in the sixth grade group), the results indicated conclusively the increased rate of cooperative responses and decrease of…

Describes research on the causes, treatments, and diagnoses of autism. Describes a statewide outpatient program in North Carolina which includes elements of behavior modification, developmental assessment, problem-oriented goal setting, community support, and the training of both child and parent. (Author/DS)

The medical director of the Kibbutz Child and Family Clinic (Tel Aviv, Israel) reviews developmental patterns as well as the incidence and nature of emotional disorders of 3,000 3-to 18-year-old Kibbutz children referred to the clinic during 20 years. (MC)

This paper attempts to provide a brief overview of the diagnosis, etiology, and treatment strategies presently being used with atuistics. Discussion of treatment strategies revolves around the use of operant techniques; from Lindsley and Skinner (1954) to more recent attempts of Lovaas (1976). Generalization and maintenance are also discussed in…

Social inadequacy and lack of social cooperation is one of the defining characteristics of mental deficiency, yet there have been comparatively few investigations into how such children respond to each other. Of even greater significance is the finding that among the reported studies investigating social cooperation between mentally deficient…

In studies of preschool children, four clusters of symptoms seem most useful in characterizing those children who manifest autism: (1) failure to establish human relatedness and meaningful social attachments; (2) impairment of motivation to become competent; (3) disturbances of perceptual integration; and (4) impairment of the development of…

The concepts of symbiosis and separation-individuation are explained, and the symbiosis theory of infantile psychosis is presented. Diagnostic considerations and clinical cases of child psychosis are reviewed; prototypes of mother-child interaction are described; and therapy is discussed. A summary of the symbiosis theory and a bibliography of…