A review of the literature concluded that (1) hearing impairment and any additional handicapping condition constitutes a multihandicap; (2) one-third of all hearing-impaired students are estimated to be multihandicapped; (3) appropriate school programs are lacking; (4) there is a scarcity of teacher training programs in this area; and (5) training…

The article reports preliminary prevalence data of pervasive developmental disorders (including autism) in developmental disorders, and makes suggestions for diagnosis and treatment of pervasive developmental disorders in this group. (Author/CL)

The article describes the extent of co-occurrence of autism, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and mental retardation within a New York population of 43,692 developmentally disabled persons and presents a method for developing nonduplicative estimates for intrastate planning. Three tables present frequency and conditional probability figures. (Author/MC)

The investigation surveyed a sample of 650 speech-language pathologists providing services in elementary schools to obtain information on the concomitant problems of stutterers in their caseloads. The results of the survey revealed that 32% of all the young stutterers were free of any other problems. (Author)

Students with a hearing loss often have an additional disability. Although the number of deaf students with multiple disabilities is growing, research on this population has significantly decreased over the past quarter-century. The article reviews the literature on identification and placement of deaf students with multiple disabilities,…

The study examined correlates of psychiatric illness in 600 children (ages 2-16) with speech and language disorders. Findings indicated that 50% had diagnosable psychiatric disorders. The majority of differences between "ill" and "well" children were found in the areas of linguistic functioning, suggesting an association between linguistic and…

The Annual Survey of Hearing Impaired Children and Youth (1971-72) obtained information on 42,513 students enrolled in 636 preschool, elementary, and secondary educational programs for the hearing impaired. Data were gathered on the number of hearing impaired students with additional handicapping conditions, the types of conditions reported, the…

A review of annual survey data revealed that hearing impaired children under age 6 reported in 1984, when compared to those reported in 1977, tended to be younger; had higher percentages of heredity, meningitis, and prematurity as causes of hearing loss; and were more likely to have additional handicaps. (CL)

Through the use of surveys, the article discusses the number of noninstitutionalized visually impaired individuals who also have other disabilities. The main finding is that, even excluding many chronic conditions, a majority of severely visually impaired persons have one or more additional impairments. (PHR)

Medical charts of 150 multihandicapped children (aged 3-19) admitted to a psychiatric hospital were examined to determine the extent and characteristics of abuse/neglect. Results indicated maltreatment in 39 percent of the cases, 40 percent of whom had been assaulted by multiple perpetrators. Severity of maltreatment and severity of handicaps were…

The article presents findings of a survey of disabled populations (3,216 responses) in Wisconsin concerning alcohol abuse and disability. The survey results suggest that people with disabilities consume more alcohol than nondisabled people and some disability groups (including the blind or visually impaired) drink more than others. Assessment and…

Data from 348 patients (mean age 37) with postacute spinal cord injury revealed that 95% reported at least 1 secondary problem, and 58% reported 3 or more. The number and severity of complications varied with time since the injury. Obesity, pain, spasticity, urinary tract infections, pressure sores, and lack of social integration were common…

This study estimated the incidence of speech delay based on a demographically representative sub-sample of 1,328 monolingual English-speaking 6-year-old children. Among six major findings were: (1) the prevalence of speech delay was 3.8 percent; (2) speech delay was 1.5 times more prevalent in boys than girls; and (3) comorbidity of speech delay…

This article criticizes the term "comorbidity" used to describe the overlap of developmental syndromes or disorders. Data from 179 school-age children are evaluated for criteria of seven disorders. Since fully 50 percent of the sample met the criteria for at least two diagnoses, the premise that these disorders are discrete categories on…