Students who display the most challenging behaviors are more likely to be excluded from the general education learning environment and placed in more restrictive environments such as residential or juvenile justice (JJ) settings. Historically, the approaches used to address the needs of these students have been rooted in reactionary and punitive…

Frank H. Wood is both a pioneer and a first-generation leader, and his contributions continue to influence the field today. Dr. Wood participated in several "firsts." In the 1950s, he taught the first public school class in Minnesota for emotionally disturbed students, and he later served as the first coordinator of programs for students…

We retrospectively reviewed clinic charts of 21 children and adolescents with developmental disabilities including autism spectrum disorders (ASD) treated consecutively with aripiprazole (ARI) for irritability and severe challenging behaviors. Data extracted include age, sex, and race; level of intellectual disability (ID); "Diagnostic and…

Students who continue to demonstrate at-risk behaviors after a school implements schoolwide primary (Tier 1) interventions require targeted-group secondary (Tier 2) interventions. This study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of a targeted-group behavioral check-in/check-out (CICO) intervention with the school's standard practice (SP) with…

This article charts a strategic research course toward an empirical foundation for the diagnosis of conduct disorder in the forthcoming DSM-V. Since the DSM-IV appeared in 1994, an impressive amount of new information about conduct disorder has emerged. As a result of this new knowledge, reasonable rationales have been put forward for adding to…

The Check in/Check out (CICO) strategy is a secondary tier intervention designed to address those students who are not responsive to universal tier, school-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports (SW-PBIS), and require more targeted support. The present study extended the implementation of the CICO strategy to a residential facility.…

The acutely distressed student, one who exhibits disturbing or disruptive behavior that is outside of the norm of other students due to significant mental illness and who may be at risk to harm oneself or others, poses considerable challenges to today's higher education institutions (Amanda, 1994; Jed Foundation, 2006; McKinley & Dworkin, 1989).…

Base rate information is important in clinical assessment because one cannot know how unusual or typical a phenomenon is without first knowing its base rate in the population. This study empirically determined the base rates of social skills acquisition and performance deficits, social skills strengths, and problem behaviors using a nationally…

Special education teachers' skills with classroom organization and behavior management affect the emergence and persistence of behavior problems as well as the success of inclusive practice for students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). Adequate special education teacher preparation and strong classroom organization and behavior…

Although comorbid or co-occurring psychiatric diagnoses such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety disorders, depression, and oppositional defiant or conduct disorders have been well studied in children or adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), very little research is available on preschool samples. The current study…

Instruction is the most important variable in special education, but it is often overlooked. Special instruction is what makes special education work, yet it is often neglected. We need to know more about how to teach both academic and behavioral skills more effectively, how behavioral and academic skills are interrelated, and how to choose those…

Among adolescents and adults, there appear to be at least four different personality traits that dispose individuals to rash or ill-advised action: sensation seeking, negative urgency, lack of planning, and lack of perseverance. The four are only moderately correlated and they appear to play different roles in dysfunction. It is important to…

Functional behavior assessment (FBA), although mandated by federal law in situations involving students with emotional and behavioral disorders, is not well defined in the literature in terms of how it should best be undertaken in widespread practice in schools. Functional behavior assessment can be defined as a process for determining the reason…

Conduct disorder (CD) is associated with a number of adverse psychosocial outcomes in adulthood. There is consistent evidence that CD is predictive of antisocial behavior, but mixed evidence that CD is predictive of other externalizing and internalizing disorders. Further, externalizing and internalizing disorders are often associated with similar…

This article provides an historical look at how programs and practices for students with emotional or behavior disorders (E/BD) have been evaluated since 1964, leading to a codified, although not universally recognized, set of recommendations for evaluating best practices for students with E/BD set out by The Peacock Hill Working Group (1991). The…