This dissertation presents findings from an ethnographic study of students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) enrolled in a specialized postsecondary education program at a public university in North Carolina. Specifically, it discusses how 10 students engaged in postsecondary education activities and developed student…

This study investigates whether distinct neurodevelopmental disorders show distinct patterns of impairments in particular grammatical abilities and the relation of those grammatical patterns to general language delays and intellectual disabilities. We studied two disorders (autism and Williams syndrome [WS]) and two distinct properties (Principle…

Psychotropic medications are a common treatment for mental illness in people with developmental disabilities. Medication adherence is a critical determinant of the effectiveness of psychotropic drugs, but psychotropic medication adherence research specific to this population remains limited. This retrospective study analyzed Marketscan®…

Although hyperphagia and compulsivity in Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) are well described, recreation and adaptive skills are relatively unexplored. Parents of 123 participants with PWS (4--48 years) completed measures of their child's adaptive, recreation, and problem behaviors. Offspring received cognitive testing. Watching TV was the most…

Background: Competence in the motor domain is associated with positive, health-related outcomes. Physical education teachers often administer assessments into their programs to measure motor competence for a variety of reasons. Recently, researchers have questioned the relatedness of performance on different assessments. Purpose: The purpose of…

There is a need for further investigation of evidence-based practices for students with autism spectrum disorders and developmental disabilities leading to students' success within the general education curriculum (Cihak & Foust, 2008; Rockwell, Griffin, & Jones, 2011; Schaefer-Whitby, Travers, & Harnik, 2009). The purpose of this…

Three levels of investigation underlie all biologically based attempts at classification of behaviorally defined developmental and psychiatric disorders: Level A, pseudo-categorical classification of mostly dimensional descriptions of behaviors and their disorders included in the 2013 American Psychiatric Association's Fifth Edition of the…

This mixed methods study reports on the perspectives of 143 preservice early childhood educators (ECE) and 208 elementary teacher candidates (TC) on teaching children with developmental disabilities and delays (DDD) in inclusive classrooms. A questionnaire was administered which included items on demographic characteristics, experience, knowledge,…

Objectives: This report examines two measures that identify children with emotional and behavioral problems: high scores based on questions in the brief version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and a single question about serious (definite or severe) overall emotional and behavioral difficulties. Children were classified into…

This study extended Battery-free wireless mouse functionality to assess whether two people with developmental disabilities would be able to actively perform designated simple occupational activities according to simple instructions by controlling their favorite environmental stimulation using Battery-free wireless mice with a newly developed…

Research has shown that different maladaptive behavior categories may be maintained by different contingencies. We examined whether behavior categories or behavior topographies determine functional properties. The "Questions about Behavioral Function" with its five subscales ("Attention", "Escape", "Nonsocial", "Physical", and "Tangible") was…

Research on families living with developmental disability generally and autism specifically is dominated by a deficit view that elicits an elaborate representation of problems and risks without the benefit of considering families' potential for adaptation and resilience. A central tenet of developmental psychopathology is that the study of…

This study evaluated two methods of training staff who were working with individuals with developmental disabilities: pyramidal training and consultant-led training. In the pyramidal training, supervisors were trained in the principles of applied behavior analysis (ABA) and in delivering feedback. The supervisors then trained their direct-care…

Stimulus over-selectivity is a phenomenon often displayed by individuals with many forms of developmental and intellectual disabilities, and also by individuals lacking such disabilities who are under cognitive strain. It occurs when only one of potentially many aspects of the environment controls behavior. Adult participants were trained and…

This is the first study that examines the coping of siblings of children with developmental disabilities in comparison with siblings of children without disabilities in the Bedouin community in Israel. For this purpose, the study examines the components of self-esteem, stress, and growth. Data were collected from 200 adolescents. The findings of…