This commentary discusses how existing technology and application of functional assessment can be expanded to improve the lives of more people with severe disabilities. It emphasizes how functional assessment can enhance life quality in typical settings in which people with severe disabilities and challenging behavior live, work, and play.…

Five camp counseling styles are discussed: punishment, guilt, the buddy and monitor approaches, and success counseling. Success counseling is preferred because it teaches campers how their emotions, needs, and behaviors are linked to outcomes and how to find a prosocial way to meet the need behind their behavior. The other methods simply focus on…

Discusses the use of aversive treatment on children with behavior disorders. Suggests that aversive treatment should be used primarily in conjunction with behavior analysis and therapy. Argues that the primary ethical concern of aversive treatment should be whether there are safeguards against potential abuses of aversive procedures. (SNR)

This study compared the relative efficacy of providing simultaneous or delayed reinforcement on food acceptance during meals with a seven-year-old boy with pervasive developmental disorder and a history of food selectivity. Although both procedures were effective, the simultaneous reinforcement procedure produced more rapid behavior change and a…

Assessment of 84 children diagnosed with controlled or uncontrolled complex partial or absence seizures but no documented learning or emotional disorders found no influence of seizure type on achievement test scores or behavioral ratings. A main effect was found for degree of control, with poorly controlled seizures correlating with lower reading…

School archival records and interviews with school personnel were used to obtain measures of the school-related problems of four groups of eight students: those receiving both foster care and special education for emotional/behavioral disorders (FCED), foster care only, special education only, or neither. The FCED group exhibited the most…

Examined processes in socialization that might account for an observed relationship between early socioeconomic status (SES) and later child behavior problems. Subjects were 585 children, followed from preschool to grade 3. Found that SES in preschool significantly predicted teacher-rated externalizing problems and peer-rated aggressive behavior.…

A 3-year follow-along study of 422 students with disabilities in their last year of high school and 1 year later found that students with serious emotional disturbances and demonstrated low personal/social achievement skills were more likely to be victimized than those with other disabilities. Prior victimization, gender, and arrest record also…

Updates a 1993 article describing two successful full-inclusion cases involving disabled students. In a 1994 case, a disruptive junior high student with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Tourette Syndrome was placed temporarily in an off-campus, self-contained program. The Ninth Circuit Court affirmed the trial court's decision…

Presents the implementation of Teacher-Child Interaction Therapy (TCIT) within the preschool setting, using a case study approach. TCIT was found to increase the number of positive interactions between child and teacher. It was also effective in decreasing the child's disruptive behaviors, increasing compliance, and decreasing the need for the…

A study assessed the prevalence and structure of antisocial behavior among 440 Head Start 4-year-olds. Findings indicate overall levels of aggression of the children were higher than in children in community child care classrooms, however, the percentage of highly aggressive children did not differ significantly between samples at this age.…

Identifies the steps involved in changing behavior as a process over time: (1) becoming aware of desire to change; (2) announcing intentions and noticing actions; (3) recognizing detours and catching them during the act; (4) effecting change; (5) managing roadblocks; (6) reinforcing the changed behavior; and (7) completing the process of change.…

Provides a stepwise procedure for addressing the needs of normal middle school students who display dysfunctional behaviors of distraction or disorganization. Outlines the major categories of dysfunctional behaviors and steps for helping children cope with them, including skills development, instructional assistance, study partners, and daily…

Results from two studies indicate the nonselective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SRI) clomipramine is more efficacious than the relatively selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor desipramine and placebo in children with autism. A study of the selective SRI fluvoxamine found it to be significantly better than placebo for reducing repetitive…

A study compared 27 participants with Angelman syndrome to clinical and community participants (n=948) with developmental disabilities of mixed etiology to determine whether Angelman syndrome is associated with a distinctive patterns of behavioral functioning. Those with Angelman syndrome had significantly lower scores on measures of irritability…