Most children who are congenitally deafblind are severely delayed in their communication development and many will not achieve symbolic understanding and expression. This article discusses developmental markers cited in the research literature as predictive of or facilitative of the development of symbolism. These markers include the growth toward…

Investigation of determinants of 143 intermediate grade children's attitudes and behavioral intentions toward peers with physical disabilities found that the children's own attitudes toward inclusion of peers was the strongest predictor of behavioral intentions, though attitudes of teachers, principals, and parents were also significant…

A review of the research on parent training programs for parents with intellectual disabilities found that, of 10 studies, 8 applied single-subject designs, two used quantitative methods, one examined basic child-care skills training, 2 examined decision making in child rearing, 5 were about safety, and 3 addressed the mother-child interaction.…

This report describes a database, Database Problem Behavior, which provides professionals in the area of problem behaviors and developmental disabilities with accessible information beyond their own disciplines. The current machine-readable database encompasses 885 empirical studies on the functional analysis and behavioral and pharmacological…

The performance of 25 children with Down syndrome (DS) on delay of gratification tasks was compared with that of mental age-matched typically developing children. DS children were significantly less able to delay gratification on two of the three tasks. Results raise questions about using mental age as the method for matching children with DS and…

This article makes the case for early intervention with young children with both developmental and behavioral problems. It cites intervention research that supports the effectiveness of parent management training and the use of applied behavior analysis, but recognizes the need for randomized controlled trials with adequate follow-up and…

This article discusses research design problems peculiar to work with intellectually disabled subjects, such as discrepancies in uses of control groups and mental age matching, definitions of subject groups and variability within and between subject groups. Suggestions for minimizing these problems are made and alternative methodologies offered.…

Evaluation of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) with 130 primary school children in Zaire revealed three findings: (1) the distinction between sequential processing and simultaneous processing was valid; (2) the K-ABC discriminated effectively among grade levels, health and family environment variables, and tribal membership; and…

A conceptual model of quality of life, developed at the Centre for Health Promotion at the University of Toronto (Canada), and associated instrumentation for collecting data from persons with developmental disabilities are presented. Results from a preliminary study with 41 participants support the reliability and validity of the model's…

Twenty-eight mothers and their preschool children with developmental delays were observed during a storybook activity. The more responsive and engaged the child, the more the mother attempted to involve the child in the book activity. Mothers generally appeared to be sensitive to their children's developmental levels. (Author/DB)

Examination of developmental scores of 198 infants and young children with Down's Syndrome attending exemplary early intervention programs found more similarity to other children in Personal Social and Adaptive Domains and less similarity in Communication and Cognitive Domains of the Battelle Developmental Inventory. These differences were…

A group of 16 infants (ages 6 to 24 months) with Down's Syndrome (DS) were exposed to two operant learning tasks varying in control of reinforcement. Comparison with chronological and developmental age matched controls found DS subjects characterized by increasing adoption of counterproductive learning behaviors with increasing age. (Author/DB)

This study, with 13 mothers of Down's Syndrome children (ages 7 to 8) and comparison groups of mothers of motor handicapped children and of children with both mental retardation and psychotic symptoms, found mood disturbances uncommon in the mothers of DS and motor handicapped children. DS mothers' experience of social support was generally not…

Behavioral ratings by mothers and teachers of 94 children with Down's Syndrome (between 8 and 14 years of age) indicated general support for the amiable personality stereotype, but ratings of low persistence were associated with maternal impressions of difficulty. There was little agreement between mothers and teachers regarding individual child…

Recent experimental research is synthesized to identify distinctive biobehavioral characteristics of Down's Syndrome persons across their lifespan. It is argued that educational and other intervention programs have not demonstrated strong gains having significant durability or generalization. Recommended is an interactionist function-structure…