Base expectancy rates were used to evaluate the guidelines of a program intended to "shock" youthful first offenders into law-abiding behavior through brief incarceration followed by probation. Data analysis revealed that prior record was the best predictor of reincarceration. (Author/CS)

Describes a preventive program designed to pre-empt learning difficulties and to ensure each youngster a successful start in school. Discusses the high school drop-out and the underachiever as potential juvenile delinquents. (CM)

Presented are normative data, collected on an unselected sample of 302 seven- and nine-year-old children, for the Missouri Children's Behavior Checklist. The potential usefulness of the checklist as an aid in making important clinical decisions is discussed, as is the need for more extensive normative data. (Editor/SJL)

A screening and assessment procedure has been developed in Newark, New Jersey, to identify gifted inner-city minority kindergarten students. The procedure uses the Brigance K & 1 Screen, a new Gifted Screening intelligence measure, and the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities. The procedure has increased identification of gifted students…

Describes the use of a screening program to identify possible sensory integration dysfunction. Describes characteristics of sensory integration dysfunction. Updates case studies of three children now in sixth grade who were screened for sensory integration dysfunction in nursery school to illustrate the use of the screening program, evaluation,…

The SCAN: A Screening Test for Auditory Processing Disorders was administered to 14 elementary children with a history of otitis media and 14 typical children, to evaluate the validity of the test in identifying children with central auditory processing disorder. Another experiment found that test results differed based on the testing environment…

A study explored the construct of mental restlessness in 20 college students with and without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) using the Internal Restlessness Scale (IRS). Students with ADHD reported significantly higher ratings of internal restlessness. The IRS appears to have adequate test-retest reliability and a four-factor…

This article discusses nutrition problems in people with intellectual disabilities, the need for nutrition risk screening, and the development of the Nutrition and Swallowing Checklist in New South Wales. The checklist ensures carer involvement in identifying risks and an interdisciplinary approach to the assessment and management of nutrition and…

Finds the author most effective when recounting personal experiences of dealing with regulations and bureaucratic procedures of adoption. Finds the book ineffective as a critique of adoption because of a fallacious premise that there is a shortage of children available for those waiting to adopt due to a defective adoption system. (Author/SD)

This article describes two workshops that explained the use of prenatal testing and genetic information to inform choices in pregnancy to people with learning difficulties, explored the issues with them, and describe the contribution subsequently made by these people to a British national conference on this subject. (Contains references.)…

Criterion validity of the Sexual and Physical Abuse Questionnaire was investigated in 134 psychiatric patients using the Structured Trauma Interview. The measures of agreement and the predictive measures of the questionnaire were satisfactory, particularly with sexual abuse. Positive answering increased odds for sexual abuse by a factor of…

A study involving 93 children (ages 10-12), 295 with poor reading skills, found many children with dyslexia and some garden-variety poor readers showed significant left neglect on the Clock Drawing Test. In poor readers with dyslexia, spatial construction deficits were observed like those of parents with acquired right-hemisphere lesions.…

Describes a placement test for incoming college students and its holistic scoring procedures. (MG)

Describes issues facing policymakers dealing with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic. Addresses six challenges for policymakers: (1) protecting people from discrimination; (2) designing testing and screening programs; (3) developing safe and effective antiviral drugs; (4) planning for future vaccine trials; (5) organizing and…