A study explored the construct of general anxiety in 69 individuals with severe and profound mental retardation and evaluated the validity of the DASH-II anxiety subscale to determine its value in categorizing individuals with and without anxiety. Results indicated only behavioral symptoms associated with anxiety could be reliably assessed.…

To assess diagnostic accuracy and test-retest reliability, two forms of a nonword repetition task were administered to 22 preschool children with specific language impairment and 22 controls. Nonword repetition scores provided excellent sensitivity and specificity for discrimination. Scores on nonword repetition and digit span tasks improved from…

A study of 233 individuals with severe mental retardation examined the validity of the Diagnostic Assessment for the Severely Handicapped-II (DASH-II) through correlation with the Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC). DASH-II as a whole was found to have a high degree of convergent validity with the ABC total score. (CR)

A study of 684 individuals yielded special population norms on the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales for individuals with autism for mute children under 10, children with some verbal skills under 10, mute individuals who are 10 or older, and individuals with some verbal skills who are 10 or older. (Author/CR)

Discusses hypotheses and methodologies needed to extend understanding of the ethnic representation of students with serious emotional disturbances. Technical methods are discussed to ensure that estimates for the extent of disproportionate representation are accurate. Research needed to produce better conceptual understanding of why…

This article reviews "Facing Learning Disabilities in the Adult Years" by Joan Shapiro and Rebecca Rich, a book that discusses the definitions, causes, and characteristics of learning disabilities as well as many interventions for successful adult adjustment. The information is aimed at helping families and professionals, as well as the adults…

Two studies used a scaling approach to measure components of modifiability in children. Modifiability differentiated between children having low language ability and typically developing children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Furthermore, the individual components of modifiability, with the exception of motivation,…

When developmental concerns arise in children, a clinical assessment focuses on the child's developmental profile to achieve three goals (1) determine diagnosis, (2) develop interventions, and (3) evaluate progress. Parents often have needs during this time that are not addressed by professionals because of the exclusive focus on the child during…

Assessment of nonvisual neuropsychological impairments in visually impaired persons can be achieved through modification of existing intelligence, memory, sensory-motor, personality, language, and achievement tests so that they do not require vision or penalize visually impaired persons. The Halstead-Reitan and Luria-Nebraska neuropsychological…

The Koppitz Human Figure Drawing (HFD) Test was examined for use in early identification of academically not-ready kindergarten children. HFD scores of children who later "passed" the Metropolitan Readiness Test were compared with HFD scores of children who later "failed." Results indicate that HFD scores are useful in…

The article reviews the literature on the quantification of achievement-aptitude differences in learning disabled students, outlines and discusses criteria for new and more adequate procedures, and presents step-by-step procedures that can be routinely followed. (Author/DLS)

A study of 319 individuals with autism (ages 3-43) and 113 other subjects found that a single set of criteria, as operationalized by individually structured questions in the Autism Diagnostic Interview and Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised, was effective in differentiating autism from mental disabilities and language impairment. (Author/CR)

Comparison of the speech of 37 preschool children with speech-language impairment (SLI), 40 language-matched children, and 45 age-matched children found that errors in a set of morphemes marking tense characterized the SLI children. Evidence supporting the use of these morphemes as clinical markers for SLI is offered. (DB)

Presents the theoretical background for the concept of mastery motivation and describes three characteristics of mastery motivation in toddlers: behavioral manifestations in multiple domains, developmental changes in those manifestations, and the influence of the socializing environment. Implications for assessment of individual differences and…

Grammatical morpheme (GM) production was studied in 15-minute spontaneous language samples from 100 4-year-olds. Substantial variability was observed in both the frequency of obligatory contexts and in the percentages of correct usage of GM. For only one morpheme did all 100 participants contain the minimum number of 3 obligatory contexts.…