The evolution of federal government mental retardation financial assistance programs from the formation of the U.S. Public Health Service in 1798 through the appointment of the President's Panel on Mental Retardation in 1961 is reviewed. (Author/CL)

Results from the real-time analysis of the Child Success Through Parent Training project (a project stressing parent training for the birth-3 years developmentally delayed population) are reported for three service components: telephone screening, home screening, and initial developmental assessment. Advantages of the method are discussed, as are…

Performance on a battery of cognitive measures was analyzed in terms of hand preference for 62 children (5-17 years old) with Pervasive Developmental Disorders including autism. There was a clear (though nonsignificant) trend on all tests for left-handers to have higher scores than right-handers. Mixed-hand preference Ss demonstrated the lowest…

In a study involving 101 severely developmentally disabled children (1-16 years old), stereotyped behaviors without objects was positively correlated with self-manipulation and chronological age and was negatively correlated with complex object manipulation, developmental age, developmental quotient, and teacher attention. Stereotyped behavior…

In a study involving 20 Down's Syndrome children and 4 normal but language delayed preschoolers, standardized change score analyses revealed that the total communication group scored significantly higher on the Expressive scale and in the number of acquired signs. (Author/CL)

Analysis of free play interaction between 40 mothers and their mentally retarded, retarded cerebral palsied, and nonretarded infants revealed that mothers of both groups of developmentally disabled (DD) infants were more directive than mothers of nonretarded infants. DD infants were more compliant and demonstrated lower levels of behavior and less…

Four developmentally disordered, speech deficient children (11-16 years old), who were being taught sign language as an alternative to speech, were taught to use manual signs as mediators in a delayed auditory-picture matching-to-sample task. (Author/CL)

The study examined the relationship between direct clinical services provided to persons who are mentally retarded/developmentally disabled in 338 group homes and program and occupant characteristics. Findings suggest that group homes differ significantly in on-site service provision. (Author/CL)

Compared the Revised Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-R) and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (Revised) for 53 rural children. The PPVT-R was highly correlated with WISC-R scale and subtest scores. Examination of a subsample of developmentally handicapped students revealed substantial reduction in correlational relationships. (JAC)

Administered questionnaires to abusive (N=21) and nonabusive (N=21) employees to identify potential for institutional child abuse. Results corroborated earlier findings of institutional child abuse and demonstrated an attempt at developing an assessment tool needed to screen staff who are working with the developmentally disabled and children in…

The problem discussed are: (1) Infants seen with medical conditions that have associated psychosocial problems including child abuse. (2) Infants seen who have recovered from critical illnesses, but are "at risk" for later developmental disability. (3) Infants seen with normal variations of behavior that are misinterpreted by their parents or…

This article provides information on how Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) can be adapted for use in rehabilitation counseling. It states that although clients with an average range of intelligence have responded well to REBT, clients with borderline intellectual functioning are not suitable candidates for cognitive disputing but can be…

Results of a study involving 24 developmentally delayed preschoolers revealed that training on two or fewer exemplars of a stimulus class was sufficient to produce concept acquisition regardless of the training program employed (stimulus fading, stimulus delay, or reinforcement only). (CL)

Variables from three categories were inspected as correlates of HOME (Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment) inventory ratings for 43 severe perinatal risk or developmentally disabled infants at 8 to 9 months postexpected date of delivery. (Author)