The prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)--a group of developmental disabilities that cause severe problems with socialization, behavior, and communication--continues to grow. In 2008, the year that "Odyssey" focused on autism, the estimated prevalence of ASD for hearing children was 1 in 150 (CDC, 2007), while today estimates suggest…

According to the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (DSM-IV-TR; American Psychiatric Association, APA, 2000), autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is characterized by impairments in social and communicative behaviors with great variations in ability, depending on developmental level, intelligence, and chronological…

We assessed the relationship between brain structure and function in 10 individuals with specific language impairment (SLI), compared to six unaffected siblings, and 16 unrelated control participants with typical language. Voxel-based morphometry indicated that grey matter in the SLI group, relative to controls, was increased in the left inferior…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine whether citizens with language impairment understand legal rights as conveyed in Miranda warnings. Method: Grisso's Instruments for Assessing Understanding and Appreciation of Miranda Rights (1998) was administered to 34 young adults, half of whom met the diagnostic criteria for specific language…

This study measured the quality of life of two groups of families with children who had severe developmental disabilities-families whose child lived at home and families whose child lived in a residential facility. Participants were 54 primary caregivers of children who had severe intellectual disabilities and who lacked the ability to both…

Purpose: In this study, the authors compared a multiple-domain strategy for assessing developmental age of young children with developmental disabilities who were at risk for long-term reliance on augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) with a communication-based strategy composed of receptive language and communication indices that may…

The dearth of information on the pain experience of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) calls for a more comprehensive understanding of pain in this population. The Non-Communicating Adults Pain Checklist (NCAPC) is an 18-item behavioral scale that was recently found to be reliable, valid, sensitive and clinically…

Purpose: This study was designed to identify and describe between-word simplification patterns in the continuous speech of children with speech sound disorders. It was hypothesized that word combinations would reveal phonological changes that were unobserved with single words, possibly accounting for discrepancies between the intelligibility of…

Developmental disabilities such as intellectual disability and autism are often accompanied by special sets of behaviors which are major challenges for the person and those in their community. Among the most worrisome of these are compulsions, rituals and obsessions. Often these behaviors are left untreated; however, when intervention does occur…

A common recommendation for implementing time-out procedures is to include a release contingency such that the individual is not allowed to leave time-out until no problem behavior has occurred for a specific amount of time (e.g, 30 s). We compared a fixed duration time-out procedure to a release contingency time-out procedure with 4 young…

Given the effectiveness of putative escape extinction as treatment for feeding problems, it is surprising that little is known about the effects of escape as reinforcement for appropriate eating during treatment. In the current investigation, we examined the effectiveness of escape as reinforcement for mouth clean (a product measure of…

Recent insight into the underlying molecular and cellular mechanisms of fragile X syndrome (FXS) has led to the proposal and development of new pharmaceutical treatment strategies, and the initiation of clinical trials aimed at correcting core symptoms of the developmental disorder. Consequently, there is an urgent and critical need for outcome…

The field of developmental disabilities is as multi-faceted, varied and intricate as anything imaginable. Most of the author's management and professional experience has centered on vocational opportunities and supported employment for people with significant disabilities. The author shares some thoughts and experiences about supporting people in…

This preliminary study compares the family functioning, caregiver burden, and coping abilities between mothers of 300 children with developmental disorders and mothers of 100 children with no such disorders in the Bedouin community in Israel. The mothers completed the McMaster Family Assessment Device Scale, the Caregiver Burden Index, and the…

This commentary includes a brief discussion of issues raised by the articles and systematic review contained in this special issue addressing technology applications for persons with severe developmental disabilities. Topical areas include a discussion of: (1) a need to compare "high tech" with "low tech" applications, (2) procedural fidelity, (3)…