The area of adult learning disabilities is reviewed from a neurobiological and neuropsychological perspective. The paper covers possible pathophysiologic bases in dyslexia, neurobehavioral disorders that may coexist with learning disorders, neuropsychological assessment methods, treatment in the context of brain plasticity and recovery of…

This article reviews 15 empirical studies in the area of academic skill improvement for students with behavior disorders being served in public school settings. The review addresses the nature of the samples, dependent variables, independent variables, and results. It concludes that the studies contain much useful information for practitioners and…

This review of instruments for assessing psychopathology and behavior problems in people with mental retardation characterizes evaluation tools in such terms as age groups encompassed, levels of mental retardation, number of domains, and types of raters used. The structure of maladaptive behavior is described, and several instruments are…

Eight public school adolescent students with mild mental retardation and severely disruptive classroom behaviors participated in a cooperative behavior management intervention in which student teams were rewarded for appropriate classroom behavior. Rewarding both teams and individuals was most successful in decreasing inappropriate behavior in all…

Key elements of a continuum of services for individuals with autism and other severe behavior disorders are described, focusing on development of a strong central organization; funding; staff recruitment, training, supervision, and evaluation; program evaluation; outreach parent training; home-based early intervention; vocational training;…

This study examined the sustained effects of methylphenidate on reading performance in 42 boys (ages 8 to 11) with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, either with or without conduct disorders. Only the subgroup of those with conduct disorders responded, and significant reading improvement was exhibited in only a subgroup of these students.…

This study assessed the relationship between parent/teacher ratings of hyperactivity and developmental indices in psychiatric clinic children (ages 5-16). Findings suggest that chronological age should be considered when behavior ratings are used to assess cognitively delayed children for hyperactivity but do not support use of mental age in…

A group-administered interview was administered in 16 third- through sixth-grade classes (n=406) including 20 students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). Although boys with EBD were assessed by peers as significantly higher in aggression and disruption and lower in cooperation than general education boys, they tended to associate with…

This article describes children having emotional/behavioral disorders, presents data demonstrating the critical shortage of teachers for this population, discusses factors that contribute to this problem, and offers recommendations including giving teachers of these children an additional salary stipend and providing them the option of…

Three severely retarded persons displaying self-injury, stereotypy, or aggression were trained to emit a communicative response that solicited reinforcement. Results showed that consequence procedures were required in addition to reinforcement. Treating aberrant behavior through use of functional analysis to identify maintaining contingencies and…

Descriptive and functional analysis of the bizarre speech of an adult with moderate mental retardation found that bizarre speech appeared to function as an attention-producing behavior. Two different yet functionally equivalent treatments (noncontingent scheduled attention and social language skill development) were found to be effective in…

The visual event-related potentials and concurrently measured fixation times of 20 nonretarded autistic children (ages 5-15) were compared with those of normal children, "externalizers," and "internalizers." Autistic children had smaller P3 waves compared to normal controls. No intergroup differences were found in…

A survey of 402 teachers of students with behavior disorders gathered information on classroom conditions, perceptions of collegial and administrative support, job satisfaction, and professional judgment regarding student placement. Results indicate that teachers work in relative isolation and are moderately satisfied with their jobs. (Author/JDD)

Describes Project Choices, a residential treatment program for drug-abusing adjudicated adolescents that employs the adventure-based counseling model to instill change. Describes Project Choices goals as being the reduction of conduct-disordered behavior associated with delinquency and drug use. Presents program evaluation results which suggest…

Institutionalized persons (n=149) with severe or profound mental retardation who were treated with heterocyclic antidepressants were divided into responders and nonresponders and compared. Responders were more likely to be those subjects who exhibited symptoms of depression, psychosis, or tantruming and had a higher social age than did…