The report presents findings regarding the characteristics of 22,256 persons with severe or profound mental retardation in New York institutional and community settings. A subpopulation with profound disabilities who were additionally classified as physically frail is described in terms of physical and adaptive characteristics, therapeutic service…

The article reviews the evolution of socio-political attitudes toward developmentally disabled and other handicapped children in Italy and analyzes the current role of behavior modification in rehabilitation efforts in that country. (CL)

Three topics are discussed: (1) history and legal structure of the care system, (2) conflicting approaches pertaining to education and training, and (3) training and research efforts in the field. It is concluded that the implementation of behavior modification in residential facilities for the developmentally disabled is still a difficult process…

The paper reviews research on behavioral staff management strategies in institutions for developmentally disabled persons, considering procedural effectiveness of four approaches: antecedent, contingency management, self-control, and multifaceted interventions. Methodological problems in the research are noted, along with needs for research on…

The model for assessing young developmentally handicapped children provides for general assessment through interviews (with parents and teachers); a developmental checklist, observations (in natural and training settings and with structured materials); identification of instructional targets; individual instruction; and a four-component assessment…

The author reports on recent Soviet studies of developmentaly delayed (DD) children, which compare clinical characteristics of DD, mentally retarded, and normal children relative to such aspects as attention, memory, intellectual functioning, and verbal facility. Noted is the similarity of DD children to American learning disabled children.…

To facilitate periodic developmental screening of all children, a Prescreening Developmental Questionnaire was created to identify those children under 3 years of age who require a more thorough screening with the Denver Developmental Screening Test. (Author)

Research has shown that children with disabilities are often rejected by their peers and are rarely selected as playmates. The purpose of this study was to investigate preschoolers' preferences for children with physical or developmental disabilities or typically developing children in hypothetical situations. Sixty-four preschool children from…

This useful new book focuses on how to teach adaptive skills to individuals with developmental disabilities. You'll also learn how to manage problem behaviors that often occur during adaptive skill training. This book is ideal for special education teachers, behavioral specialists, and for use in graduate and undergraduate special education…

The fourteen brief articles in this theme issue all examine challenges in the development of direct support staff working with people who have developmental disabilities. The articles also include the views of direct support providers and people with developmental disabilities themselves, as well as examples of strategies used by provider agencies…

Administered the Stanford-Binet and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (Revised) to 121 children with developmental problems. Results showed 28 children received absolute differences of 12 points or greater between the Binet and the WISC-R. There were 10 instances of complete incongruence between the Binet and all the WISC-R IQs. (JAC)

The effects of passive exercise of the extremities on peripheral vision of muscular dystrophic children aged 9 to 13 years was investigated. Compared to control subjects, those who experienced six minutes of passive exercise evidenced increased peripheral vision. Curriculum revisions for muscular dystrophic children indicate the importance of…

An observation code was found to discriminate reliably between correct and incorrect behavior modification skills of 12 parents of developmentally disabled children (two to six years old). Parents were more proficient teachers after a training program focusing on behavior change principles and language acquisition. (CL)

Employed a developmental context to discuss the problem of assessing both quantitative and qualitative deficits in the behavioral profiles of various diagnostic subcategories of developmentally disabled children. Methods of appropriate matching of control groups are suggested to help delineate specific and general deficits in subgroups of…

Evaluated the personality functioning of learning disabled children, who ranged in age from 7 through 11. Significant externality was noted for both males and females. Older children were significantly more external than their younger counterparts. (Author)