Disorders of Human Learning, Behavior, and Communication - Böcker

The richness of interactive approaches to psychoeducationalassessment has just begun to be explored and exploited. Thisbook demonstrates the extensive nature of developments ininteractive asessment and points to future directions ofapplied work and theoretical research in the field.

Recently, in the area of learning disabilities, a subarea of special educa­ tion, an interesting development has become discernible. This develop­ ment centers on the increasing focus of learning disabilities professionals on theory building and empirical research, and it is reflected in the spate of books currently being published. With their clear emphasis on con­ ceptual and methodological issues along with directions for future re­ search, these newly published books differ essentially from the bulk of learning disabilities textbooks. They include S. Vaughn and C. Bos (Eds. ), Research in Learning Disabilities: Issues and Future Directions, published in 1987 by College-Hill; T. E. Scruggs and B. Y. L. Wong (Eds. ), Intervention Research in Learning Disabilities, published in 1990 by Springer-Verlag; and L. Swanson (Ed. ), Learning Disabilities: Theore­ tical and Research Issues, published in 1991 by Lawrence Erlbaum Asso­ ciates. As reflected in these three books, the discipline began with a service orientation and has evolved beyond that to come of age with aspirations of becoming a scientific discipline. These books can be taken to voice the concerted efforts ,of learning disabilities professionals to promote theory building and empirical research. Undeniably these books provide valuable information on conceptual issues and research in learning disabilities. Nevertheless, they appear to have one drawback, namely, they focus exclusively on learning disabilities research in North America.

The field of education is under pressure, both external and internal, to improve the services provided to all students. In American society, and elsewhere, there is a concern that current educational practices fail to adequately prepare many students to be productive citizens. There has been a call for educational services that are more responsive to the needs of students, that use effective educational practices, that involve parents and the local community, and that adequately prepare teachers to assume more professional roles. Over the last several decades special educators have addressed these and other critical issues as they relate to students with disabilities. The knowledge gained from these endeavors can be useful in the reshaping of schools for all students, those with disabilities and those without. Indeed, this information may be useful for services beyond school whether for young children or adults. This volume has been written to address how people with disabilities can be effectively served in settings with their nondisabled peers. Because many of the students who are not well served by current educational practices have similar needs as students with disabilities, it is anticipated that some of this information may be useful in the discussion regarding the reshaping of educational systems. It is also anticipated that the mate­ rial presented will help in the design of more effective coordinated sys­ tems that serve people with disabilities throughout their lives.

More than 10 years ago, with funding from the Connecticut State Depart- ment of Education and the encouragement of its consultant on early child- hood special education, Virginia Volk, we began our studies offamilies of infants who were hospitalized on the newborn intensive care unit of the John Dempsey Hospital located at the University of Connecticut Health Center. BettyJo McGrade, Deborah Allen, and Maria McQueeney played pivotal roles in the early years ofthis research program. Additional funding from the National March of Dimes Foundation, the University of Con- necticut Research Foundation, and the National Institute ofMental Health prepared the ground for the study we describe in this book. The study began in 1984 through a National Institute of Disability and Rehabilitation Research center grant to the University of Connecticut Pediatric Research and Training Center, directed by Robert Greenstein and then by Mary Beth Bruder. LindaWalkercoordinated the project and conducted the interviews with families before hospital discharge. Pamela Higgins conducted all follow-up interviews and assisted with data manage- ment and analysis.Elizabeth Trueb Roscher provided support services to a portion of the fanrilies who were studied. Deborah Begin transcribed interviews and handled the administrative details of the project. Richard Mendola was theconsultanton data analysis and the selectionofcomputer software and hardware.

"Ecobehavioral analysis", the merging of social ecological studies and J.R. Kantor's theory of interbehavioral psychology, was termed just over a decade ago. Since then, innovative trends emerging in the field of developmental disabilities warrant a comprehensive update. Ecobehavioral Analysis and Developmental Disabilities: The Twenty-First Century offers such an update of current research, as Dr. Stephen Schroeder compiles the work of twenty-one noted authorities in this volume. Each contributor discusses his/her research on a personal level, providing fresh insights into various aspects of the field. Experiential research ranging from the naturalistic observations of behavior-environment interactions in the classroom to ecobehavioral studies in pharmacotherapy is also presented.

Habilitation Planning for Adults With Disabilities presents a comprehensive approach to habilitation planning and service delivery for adults with disabilities. This book investigates the increased demands and expectations by adults with disabilities regarding personalized service and quality of life, including independence, productivity, and community integration, and discusses historical and current treatment and trends. This book is presented in five main sections: definitions and background material; lifestyles and living, work, and recreational environments; habilitation strategies; personal growth and quality of life for the affected adult; and the present and future trends in habilitation planning. Rehabilitation personnel in the areas of administration, assessment/training, case management, or evolution; applied psychologists; and professionals and students in special education, rehabilitation counseling, human service or health adminstration will be interested in this volume.

In late 1985, The President's Committee on Mental Retardation (PCMR) spon­ sored a National Strategy Conference on Mental Retardation and Mental Health in Washington, D.C. The purpose of this conference was to bring together our nation's leadership in the fields of mental retardation and mental health in order to delineate the state of the art relative to the diagnosis, care, and treatment of citizens with mental retardation/mental illness, as well as to chart a national course for the support and integration of citizens with these challenging needs into the confluence of family and community life. The President's Committee on Mental Retardation recognized that citizens with these needs constitute one of the most underserved and, at times, forgotten segments of the population. With this in mind, the PCMR called together govern­ mental, professional, and parental representatives from across the nation to define the nature and extent of the problem, programs, and services that promise hope for substantive improvement in the quality of life of citizens with mental retardation/mental illness.

The terms interactive and dynamic would never have been associated with psychological and psychoeducational assessment a generation ago. They have currency now because of widespread dissatisfaction with the normative, standardized testing model, criticism of theoretical concepts of intelligence, recognition of abuses of standardized intelligence testing, and frustration with prediction and classification as primary goals of assessment. It is almost certainly true that public policy concerns propel scientific activity far more often than science propels public policy! In the case of psychological assessment, public policy concerns have arisen in the last 20 years primarily around issues of possible "discrimination" against members of ethnic minorities. At the same time, there has been a re­ surgence of dedication to "excellence in education" goals. These concerns have led to such extreme measures as prohibition of the use of standard­ ized intelligence tests to determine school placement decisions, especially for minority children. They have led also to a search for alternatives to standardized, normative testing. The chapters in this volume represent a variety of answers to this need.

Psychopharmacology of the Developmental Disabilities explores the use of psychotropic and antiepileptic medications in developmentally disabled patients. A distinguished group of international experts offers comprehensive coverage of traditional psychotropic as well as novel pharmacological agents, antiepileptic drugs, and diet and vitamin treatments. Issues related to litigation, measurement of blood levels, tardive dyskinesia, and behavioral pharmacology are discussed in detail. Psychopharmacology of the Developmental Disabilities provides an excellent overview of what is known about psychoactive drugs and an awareness of the principal social and medical issues posed by these agents.

The thinking that began this book arose out of some dissatisfaction with the rela­ tively simplified, unidimensional model of development, which seems to have come to dominate the fields that address the needs of atypically developing chil­ dren. It seemed impossible to us that developmental differences could explain the range of learning and coping styles we have seen and read about in children iden­ tified as mentally retarded, slow learning, learning disabled, nonhandicapped, and gifted. If a typical model of development did not account for what children with handicaps to learning could do, when they would do it, and how they would accomplish it, such a model was not likely to imply anything important about how to intervene with and help them. Unfortunately, when we first began to examine this problem, turning away from a developmental model for interpreting atypical behavior meant turning toward a behaviorist one. This was not very satisfying either. Again the assumptions were bothersome. We were expected to accept that all children, this time at all ages as well as with all kinds of diagnoses, learned in essentially the same way with perhaps some variation in rate, reac­ tivity, reinforcement preferences, and, according to more liberal applications, expectancy. In our search for a more satisfying view of the atypical learner, we were lucky to be lost at the moment when cognitive psychology and systems theory were being found.

As a graduate student a decade ago, I recall vividly reading the inaugural issue of the Journal of Behavioral Medicine when it appeared in 1978. Its purpose was described as "a broadly conceived interdisciplinary publication devoted to fur­ thering our understanding of physical health and illness through knowledge and techniques of behavioral science:' The articles in that first issue addressed such topics as the biofeedback treatment of neuromuscular disorders, anxiety manage­ ment of Type A behavior, and premorbid psychological factors related to cancer incidence. At that time, coursework in behavioral medicine was in its infancy at my university, and I, along with many classmates, was eager to learn more of this "new and emerging field:' Thinking back to those times, it is astonishing for one to reflect on the rapid evolution of behavioral medicine and its current status as a clinical and scientific discipline. Organizations such as the Society of Behavioral Medicine now include a broad-based membership that is convened yeady at a major convention. In addition to the Journal of Behavioral Medicine, professionals can avail them­ selves of several other specialty journals (Annals of Behavioral Medicine, Behavioral Medicine Abstracts, Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pedi­ atrics) as well as the numerous articles on behavioral medicine that appear regu­ larly in the clinical psychology, psychiatry, rehabilitation, and behavior therapy literature. And behavioral medicine services and training programs are encoun­ tered with increasing frequency within clinic, hospital, and academic settings.

DEVELOPMENT OF NON-LINGUISTIC COMMUNICATION SKILLS, whichpresents the results of research accomplished through thejoint sponsorship of the SonomaDevelopment Center (SDS) andthe College of Education of Florida Atlantic University(FAU), examines the development of prelanguage and nonlingu-istic skills in individuals with various types and degreesof developmental disabilities. Utilizing the dichotomiesthat may exist betweencommunication and language, the bookexplores communication skills rather than formal languagesystems acquisition.

When you look at the advances in the field of mental retardation over the past 30 years, it is hard to imagine that more change is inevitable. Yet, I think back to the time when, early in his presidency, President Kennedy called together the brightest scientists, researchers, doctors, and educators to develop a comprehensive plan for the nation to effectively care for, treat, educate, and house persons with mental retardation. In the early 1960s the call for new research into the causes and the amelioration of mental retardation, the development of community-based programs, and the development of family care for appropriate education, vocational training, and jobs were seen as revolutionary. But, in the 30 years since then, we have seen time and time again that it is persons with mental retardation themselves who have led the way. When the schools were opened to them, they learned more than any­ one ever thought possible; when vocational training was provided, they learned skills that led to jobs; when employment became available, they proved to be good steady workers who earned money and paid taxes. When the playing fields were made available to them through programs such as Special Olympics, they showed the world they could train and compete and WIN in the sports of the Olympics. When communities welcomed them, they became our neighbors. They have earned the right to play on any field, to study in any school, to hold a paying job, and to be anyone's neighbor.

This volume addresses the topic of self-injurious behavior (SIB) in per­ sons with developmental disabilities. Among professionals and the lay public alike, there is little debate over the seriousness of self-injury, its detrimental effects, and the need for therapeutic intervention. At the same time, there are divergent views concerning its etiology and treat­ ment. Understanding the causes of self-injury, for example, requires an analysis of biological factors, socioenvironmental variables, communica­ tion competencies, and in complex clinical cases, the interrelationships among these influences. There is also uncertainty with regard to the function of self-injury. Put simply, why would people willingly inflict injury upon themselves? Finally, although there is little disagreement about the necessity to intervene for self-injury, clinicians do not make uniform therapeutic recommendations, and, in fact, considerable dif­ ferences in treatment selection are common. This fact is most apparent when one considers the ongoing controversy with regard to aversive and nonaversive programming. Our premise for this volume is that a greater understanding of self­ injurious behavior is dependent upon an empirical research base. Theories of causality must be conceptually valid and capable of being evaluated objectively. Treatment must be functionally determined, operationalized, and replicable across personnel and settings. For these reasons, we have assembled chapters by individuals who are experi­ enced clinicians and researchers in the fields of psychology, medicine, psychiatry, education, psychopharmacology, and developmental dis­ abilities.

It is important to reaffirm the reality of the learning disabilities (LD) phenomenon as a condition that imposes genuine constraints on a student's ability to function, and not as some chimerical entity defined by an ever-changing political situation. Perceptual, memory, attention, linguistic, social, cognitive and neuropsychological factors are an integral part of LD. By mapping out in great detail and with much new data the acquired knowledge on learning disabilities, both empirical and theoretical, this book unravels many mysteries. This book is a landmark in learning disabilities studies, and it lays down solid foundations for future research and practical intervention in the field.