This report presents three case reports of male children who meet criteria for autism and also Aarskog syndrome, a genetic disorder characterized by hypertelorism, short nose, long philtrum, short stature, brachydactyly, and shawl scrotum. Two of the children also presented with severe mental retardation. (DB)

The authors of an earlier article, which argued that the social skills deficits typically found in children with learning disabilities (LD) are largely due to the comorbidity of LD with psychiatric disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and depressive disorder, respond to a critique that did not find this relationship…

A study of the sleep patterns of 28 people with severe or profound mental retardation and epilepsy found atypical sleep stages with significant depletion of REM sleep and a predominance of indiscriminate non-REM sleep. Sleep diaries completed by caregivers reveal lengthy sleep periods, especially among those with profound mental retardation.…

This study examined whether dynamic measures of postural stability differentiated stereotyped movement disorder from dyskinetic movement disorder in a severely mentally retarded population. Participants (N=20) with either stereotypy or dyskinesia movement disorders and a control group were given a goal-oriented postural stability task. Both groups…

This article raises four issues in the education of students with emotional and/or behavioral disorders. These are: (1) misidentification, (2) diagnostic omission of comorbidity, (3) psychopharmacologic under treatment, and (4) misunderstanding of developmental psychopathology. (Contains references.) (DB)

Oaklands College provides further education for British adults with profound and multiple learning disabilities. The program emphasizes transition into learning, individual learning plans, and development of community-based progression opportunities. (SK)

The second in seven sets of guidelines based on the consensus of experts in the treatment of psychiatric and behavioral problems in mental retardation (MR) focuses on informed consent. Guidelines cover underlying concepts, usual components, informed consent as a process, information to include, what to provide, when to obtain informed consent, and…

The sixth in seven sets of guidelines based on expert consensus in the treatment of psychiatric and behavioral problems in mental retardation (MR) focuses on managing inadequate response to initial medication treatment. Guidelines cover recommended steps before changing the medication regimen and selecting the next medication or adjunctive…

This review summarizes subject selection and diagnostic procedures documented in 142 empirical articles published between 1993 and 1997. Although most researchers reported use of standard diagnostic criteria in classifying subjects, numerous studies did not report diagnostic methods and there was often a lack of specification of inclusion and…

Discusses the potential uses of literature with people with severe and profound learning disabilities and describes a series of multisensory interactive drama games re-telling the story of "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens. (Author/DB)

We evaluated an enriched teaching program for reducing resistance and indices of unhappiness displayed by 3 individuals with profound multiple disabilities during teaching sessions. The program involved presentation of preferred activities before, during, and after each teaching session, discontinuation of identified nonpreferred activities, and a…

This paper explores the perceptions of a small group of teachers of pupils with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD) in north-eastern England. The focus of the paper is their views of their pupils who have PMLD. A total of 14 teachers were interviewed, both individually and in small groups over a four-year period. This paper stems…

Background: Microswitches can be vital tools to help individuals with extensive multiple disabilities acquire control of environmental stimulation. This study was aimed at extending the evaluation of a computer system used as a microswitch for word utterances with three participants with multiple disabilities. Method: Sets of 7 or 12 word…

Keith Park, advisory teacher for Sense (the National Deafblind Rubella Association) in Greenwich and Lewisham, London, has written about his approach to interactive storytelling for BJSE before. This article describes a series of poetry workshops based on chapters 37 to 45 of the Book of Genesis (the story of Joseph and his family) using the text…

This study examined consequences of the comorbidity of developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and learning disability (LD) for the severity and pattern of perceptual-motor dysfunction. Compared to children with only DCD, those with DCD and LD had poorer perceptual-motor ability, with particular difficulty performing manual dexterity and balance…