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This study was conducted to demonstrate feasibility of utilizing a modified SEIQoL-DW with children by examining self-generated domains of quality of life in children with and without cerebral palsy. Study samples were children, ages 6–12, (mean 8.9, SD 1.8) including 41 children with cerebral palsy (CP) and 60 children who were age and gender matched peers without disability. Quality of life was assessed with a modified Schedule for the Evaluation of Individual Quality of Life-Direct Weight (SEIQoL-DW). Group differences in overall ratings of quality of life were not significant; however, there were significant group differences in the frequency and hierarchy of self-generated domains. Within the group with CP, functional ability was not associated with quality of life.

Children with visual impairments (VIs) in mainstream education often experience social participation difficulties during peer play with sighted children. It was investigated whether augmented toys were effective to facilitate peer play and social interaction in 18 dyads of children with VIs and their sighted classmates. Eighteen children aged 4-to-11 with a visual impairment (mean age = 7.46, SD = 2.19) and eighteen sighted classmates (mean age = 7.56, SD = 2.08) played with an augmented and with a non-augmented toy, using a counterbalanced crossover repeated measures design. A Playmobil® knight’s castle was augmented with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, such that each play figure produced audio feedback during play. Video fragments were coded for social and cognitive aspects of play and peer directed interaction behaviors. Data were analyzed using multilevel logistic regression. Children showed more parallel play and object exploration, but less cooperative play when they repeatedly used the augmented castle compared to the non-augmented castle. Social interaction behaviors did not differ as a function of play condition. No differences were found between the play or interaction behaviors of children with VIs and sighted classmates. The addition of sounds to physical toys increased shared attention between children with VIs and sighted classmates, yet interfered with cooperative peer play.

In the primary study, 10 patients were enrolled in a 10-week double-blind evaluation of the effectiveness of naltrexone in reducing self-injurious behavior (SIB) in adults with developmental disabilities. Within this study, the effects of naltrexone on acquisition of a paired associates task were investigated. The effects of three doses of naltrexone (0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 mg/kg orally) were tested on separate weeks. Learning evaluations were conducted on Wednesday of each week. Naltrexone improved measures of independence and attention, and decreased trial rate.

A modified version of Azrin & Foxx’s Rapid Toilet Training (RTT) was implemented with a 12-year-old boy with developmental disabilities. Modifications included (1) shortened training hours (i.e., from 8 to 3 h/day), (2) omission of the overcorrection procedure, and (3) omission of the urination detection devices. After 2 weeks of the modified RTT at school, the participant demonstrated a marked increase in successful urination in the toilet, which continued throughout the maintenance periods at school. His performance generalized to the home setting without formal training. The participant, however, continued to show incontinence, showed no evidence of self-initiation, and was prompt-dependent for other toileting subskills. Clinical implications for using the modified RTT, possible explanations for his lack of progress in certain subskills, an alternative treatment component to address those areas of difficulties, and future research directions are discussed.

This paper describes the development of anger management groups for people with moderate to severe mental retardation. The group was based on work developed by Novaco (1976) and extended to people with mild mental retardation. Modifications to group techniques, such as participants being accompanied by a support worker in the group and more effort to help participants label emotions, were required for this more disabled group. An evaluation of the group is described and it was found that a reduction in aggressive behavior occurred after group treatment. Suggestions are made for future efforts in this area.

Mechanical or manual manipulation of food (i.e., texture manipulation) can influence food consumption for children with feeding difficulties. The processes (e.g., using a blender, mashing food items with a fork, adding water) used to modify texture do not always produce a consistent viscosity. The differences may be due to varying liquid added to modify the texture and the liquid content of the food. An individual’s preference for food items has also been shown to influence acceptance of food. In the current study, we conducted a food viscosity assessment to determine the effect on bite acceptance with lip closure on the spoon for a high- and low-preferred food at high, medium, and low viscosities. Results indicated that both preference and viscosity of food affected bite acceptance with lip closure. The results suggest that viscosity of manipulated texture is one variable to consider in the consumption of preferred and nonpreferred foods for individuals with feeding difficulties.

“Diagnostic overshadowing” is illustrated by two cases of unplanned, motiveless bank robbery, initially merely attributed to “antisocoial” or “schizoid/avoidant” (loner) personality disorder, respectively. Both disorders, however, were comorbid with their potentially unobservable counterparts, with brief partial seizures, supported by both men's abnormal scalp-EEG's, their symptomatology with psychosis, and their histories of closed head injury in childhood. Such injuries are known to render particularly the temporo-limbic brain system susceptible to later partial seizure: Mr. A. had temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) with stereotypic auditory command hallucinations and clouding of consciousness. (His past “antisocial” aggressive behavior might also have reflected TLE-related inter-ictal events.) Mr. B. had the symptomatology proposed as limbic psychotic trigger reaction (LPTR). Mr. B., a social loner, typically ruminated on past intermittent moderate stresses, a specific precondition of seizure kindling, ultimately elicited by a specific stimulus, resembling his past hurts. As is typical for LPTR, Mr. B. had no clouding of consciousness and no amnesia for his atavistically regressive acts, committed with flat affect, nausea, and fleeting delusions of grandeur (being gifted, like Rembrandt).