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This study aims to indicate the autism awareness of Faculty of Education students in North Cyprus. The main purpose of this study was to obtain more information about Faculty of Education students’ knowledge, awareness and attitudes about autism. “The Autism Awareness of College of Education Students in Turkey” questionnaire which was developed by Yasar and Cronin (2014) was used to collect the data. Participants for this study were randomly selected from among the students in the Faculty of Education of a private university in North Cyprus. The departments which was selected to include in this study were Pre-school Teaching, Psychological Counseling and Guidance, Turkish Language and Literature Teaching, Classroom Teaching, Gifted Education, Teaching the Mentally Retarded and Teaching the Hearing Impaired. The survey statements were designed to answer the research questions and provide considerable information on Faculty of Education students’ awareness and attitudes about autism. The data from the questionnaire were analyzed with descriptive statistics to understand attitudes, beliefs, and thoughts of Faculty of Education students in North Cyprus and make interpretations to improve the quality of education policies, programs and practices in universities.

This study aimed to assess opinions of preschool teacher and teacher of mentally retarded candidates’ opinions about mainstreaming. This research was conducted with 110 teacher candidates who study in the departments of Preschool Teaching (third year) and Teaching the Mentally Retarded (second year) in a private university in Nicosia in TRNC. Demographic information form which was composed of 4 questions about teacher candidates and attitude scale which was composed of 30 items related with mainstreaming were used in this research. According to the answers given to the surveys, it was determined that teacher candidates should be made more conscious about mainstreaming.

WOS: 000383719900019, PubMed ID: 26949367, An 8-year-old mentally retarded boy is brought to the hospital because of itching and burning at his right eye for 10 days. He was on full time right eye occlusion therapy for left amblyopia. Slit lamp examination revealed nits and adult lice anchored to the eyelashes in his occluded eye. Eyelashes and all detected lice and nits were mechanically trimmed, and sent for parasitological examination, which confirmed the diagnosis. Upon familial evaluation for additional infestation, the father was also found to have genital phthiriasis pubis and received appropriate treatment. While phthiriasis palpebrarum in children may signify sexual abuse, a detailed investigation by a child psychiatrist was performed and revealed no sign of abuse. Since the infestation was at only on occluded eye, the most possible explanation for the transmission was evaluated as the misusage of the adhesive patch in our case. In conclusion, sexual abuse should be excluded in children with phthiriasis palpebrarum and parents of amblyopic children on occlusion therapy should be warned about the importance of the hygiene of the patching in order to avoid any kind of infection and infestation.

Since the presence of an exceptional child imposes many irreversible negative effects on the mental health of the family, and deeply influences the communication methods between family members, implementing some coping strategies for stressful situations is essential. These strategies are, in fact, coping skills which include emotion – focused and problem –focused methods.This study is conducted to evaluate stress levels and coping strategies in parents of exceptional (mentally retarded, blind and deaf) and normal children .The method used in this study is of descriptive- surveying type which was implemented among parents of exceptional (mentally retarded, blind and deaf) and normal children, enrolled as students of elementary schools in Zahedan. The samples were randomly chosen from parents of 110 normal, 55 mentally retarded, 40 deaf and 21 blind children. Two questionnaires on stress origins and coping strategies by Lazarus and Folkman were applied as the methods of research. Analysis of data was carried out by spss soft ware, especially using its descriptive and inferential statistics. The mean stress score in parents of exceptional children is significantly higher than parents of normal children. The parents of normal and exceptional children use stress coping strategies to the same extent.

The relationship between people with disabilities and their siblings appears as an important issue because of the important implications that it has in child development. It attracted the attention of many researchers to itself. The purpose of this study was to study the relationship between siblings of mentally retarded, deaf and nondisabled children. The method is a causal- comparative. Statistical population was including all mentally retarded, deaf and nondisabled students’ mothers in Rasht in 2012. The subject was consisted of parents that were selected by cluster sampling method. Shaffer and Edgerton's behavioural indexes of siblings scale was used in this study. Results of one-way analysis of variance showed that there is no significant difference in Siblings Relationships in any of the groups. It can be concluded by the finding of this study that probably growing up with a disabled sibling cannot explain the reason of psychiatric and behavioural problems.

The aim of the present research was to study the Family cohesion in families with mentally retarded children. The sample of the study was the parents of 138 Mental Retarded students at primary and secondary schools in Amol and Babol cities in year 2007 - 2008. Bloom and Naar's (1994) scale of family cohesion was used in this study. Findings of the research showed there is a significant difference between understanding of father and mother family cohesion. Family cohesion can play an important role as one of the major supportive resources for families with mentally disable children.

This study was carried out in order to determine the effectiveness of relaxation exercises on the anxiety of mothers who have mentally retarded children. The method of this research was semi-experimental and effect study. For this purpose, 64 mothers, 32 of them were healthy children's mothers as a control group, and 32 of them were disordered children's mothers, who had at least one disordered child, example; mentally retarded, autistic, or CP, in rehabilitation centers, as an experimental group, were selected. Relaxation exercises were administrated on experimental group for two months, as every other day. The Beck Anxiety Inventory was administrated on two groups. Obtained data were analyzed by One Way Co-variation Analysis method. Results indicated that after emitting the effect of pre-test to post-test of groups, the difference of anxiety between two groups were meaningful. These results indicated that relaxation exercises were reduced the anxiety of disordered children's mothers.

Disabilities assigned into many categories such as visual impairments, physical disabled, deaf, and mentally retarded. This inferiority complex formed the feelings of less confident, isolated and insecure working in the hospitality industry. The job opportunities also are limited and discrimination in the workplace occurred among disabilities workers. Remarkable, negative perceptions occurred between others included an employers’. This study focuses on the barriers that deaf workers confront in their workplace especially when they are working in hospitality industry. This study examines the discrimination and communication barriers among deaf workers in hospitality sector. The research was carried out in order to have a better understanding toward deaf worker difficulties in workplaces. Qualitative or secondary data were used in order to gather the data collection method in this study. Previous literature reviews on barriers and discrimination among hearing impaired workers in the hospitality industry being examine and used to response the objectives of this studies.

The purpose of the present research is Comparison mental health normal and retarded students’ teachers. the population of this study was all teacher of normal and retarded (educable mentally retarded) students in rafsanjan city. using of census method. Measurement tools in this research were (mental health and religious attitude) questionnaires which have sufficient reliability and validity.The results showed that in mental and physical scales, retarded students’ teachers face with less mental health Also results of independent t-test showed that there are a significant different between teachers of normal and retarded students in loneliness and fatigue scales(p

The article purports to approach a less studied theme in Romania, which is the quality of the institutionalised mentally retarded adults’ life in large residential centres. Quality of Life Questionnaire was used to determine life satisfaction, competence, independence and community integration of participants. Aberrant Behaviour (irritability, lethargy, stereotypy, hyperactivity and inappropriate speech) was assessed using Aberrant Behaviour Checklist –Community. Data obtained allowed us to conclude that the negative effects the large institutions have on the quality of life of people with disabilities and also on their behaviour could be reduced by providing an environment similar to a family type (small centers).

To date, more than 100 cases with a deletion of chromosome 2q have been identified, although studies reporting small interstitial deletions involving the 2q24.2-q24.3 region are still rare. Here, we have described the genotype and the phenotype of a boy with a 5.3 Mb de novo deletion in this region, identified by SNP array analysis. The selected region included 20 genes, of which 4 are prominently expressed in the brain. Their combined haplo-insufficiency could explain the main clinical features of this patient which included mental retardation, severe hypotonia, joint laxity and mild dysmorphic traits.

The objective of this study was to investigate the presence and rate of civic values and the components forming each of these values embedded in the content of Persian literature textbooks provided for mentally-retarded primary school students In this content analysis study, the content of all seven Persian literature textbooks for mentally-retarded students were studied. Word,illustration and content were used as recording units. Codification was made deductively based on four civic values, named individual identify, national-cultural identify, religious identify and norms. All of these values included 23 forming components.

The purpose of the present research is to examine the effects of anger management training on mother's relationship with their educable mentally retarded and slow learner children. The design of this study is quasi-experimental with pretest-posttest and control group. This study was conducted on 46 mothers who were assigned equally into experimental and control groups. The anger management training was implemented on experimental group in seven sessions, 2 hours each. Data were collected utilizing Anger Evaluation Scale and Multidimensional Anger Inventory. An analysis of covariance was used for this research. Findings showed that intensity and frequency of anger decreased and the use of anger control strategies increased, indicating the effectiveness of anger management techniques.

From the investigation by microarray-based comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH), a new syndrome with "atypical" proximal interstitial deletion of 1p36.23-36.11 has been suggested. Here, we report on an 8.5-year-old girl with psychomotor developmental delay and a dysmorphic appearance. Although her G-banded chromosomal analysis showed inv(3)(p14.1q26.2), detailed FISH analyses denied pathogenic deletions around the breakpoints of chromosome 3. Accordingly, aCGH analysis was performed to identify a genomic aberration related to her phenotype, and a 3.5-Mb interstitial deletion of 1p36.13-36.12 was revealed. This deletion was the most proximal interstitial deletion of 1p36. Compared to the previously reported patients, abnormally shaped teeth, delayed tooth eruption, and leg malformation are unique phenotypes only to this patient, which might be due to the centromeric unique deletion region with 0.8-Mb.

תקציר בעברית: כשרותו להעיד של אדם לקוי בנפשו או בשכלו הייתה מוטלת בספק זמן רב. החשש מפני הכשרת עדות אדם לקוי בנפשו או בשכלו היה מרוכז בחמישה גורמים עיקריים: היעדר מוחלטת בין מציאות ובין דמיון, בעיות זיכרון, הבנה מוגבלת של המציאות, הבנה מוגבלת של מעמד מסירת העדות ופוטנציאל גבוה להיפגע נפשית ממסירת העדות. מטעמים אלה ואחרים העדיפו שיטות המשפט בעולם שלא להטיל על בתי המשפט את המשימה של בחינת עדות אדם לקוי בנפשו או בשכלו באשר סבירות היותה לא מהימנה היא גבוהה למדי. עם זאת לא היה בכך כדי ליתן מענה למקרים של פגיעה באוכלוסיית הלוקים בנפשם או בשכלם באופן המוסתר מעיני הציבור, כאשר האדם נפגע העברה הוא העד היחיד לעצם התרחשותה. ברשימה זו תוצגנה הכשרות להעיד של הלקויים בנפשם או בשכלם וההשפעות של כשרות זו להעיד על דיני הראיות המודרניים. במסגרת זו יובחנו הליקויים השכליים מן הנפשיים, יובחן שלב הכשרות להעיד משלבי הקבילות והמשקל בדיני הראיות המודרניים, תיבחן התפתחות הכשרות להעיד בעניין הלקויים בנפשן או בשכלם, יותוו הקווים לעיצובה המודרני של כשרותם להעיד של הלקויים בנפשם או בשכלם בשיטות המשפט השונות, ולבסוף תיבחן העדות בפועל בישראל.English Abstract: The competence to testify of the mentally disordered and mentally retarded persons was questionable for a long time in most legal systems. This questionability was concentrated on five major factors: incapability to distinguish between reality and imagination, memory problems, insufficient understanding of factual reality, insufficient understanding of the meaning of testimony and high potential to be mentally damaged by the testimony. These were major reasons for incompetence of these persons to testify. Nevertheless, it was not an adequate solution for cases that the victim was mentally disordered or mentally retarded and no one could have testified on the case or when that person was the only witness to the case. This article examines the competence to testify of mentally disordered and mentally retarded persons under modern evidence law and suggests reshaping it according to modern developments.

To study the AGG interspersion pattern in mentally retarded patients of unspecified cause.FMR1 CGG substructure in 104 normal and 232 mentally retarded (MR) males was determined by CGG repeat and AGG interspersion analyses. Genomic DNA of the study subjects was obtained for PCR and Southern hybridization analyses.All study subjects had less than 53 CGG repeats and none had fragile X syndrome of mental retardation. There was a significant difference (P0.006) in the AGG interspersion pattern. MR males had (1) more variable internal substructures, (2) proportionally less 2 and 3 AGG but more 0 and 1 AGG, less (CGG)(9)AGG(CGG)(9)AGG(CGG)(9) but more (CGG)(9)AGG(CGG)(19) alleles and (3) a longer pure 3' CGG repeat.Our results suggest that the MR alleles have a lesser number of interspersed AGG and a longer pure 3' CGG repeat than the normal population. They are thus more prone to instability and expansion to long repeat lengths as in the fragile X syndrome of mental retardation.

Colorectal foreign bodies (FBs) may be ingested or introduced transanally and then migrate proximally. Without a reliable history, it may be impossible to determine which way a certain colorectal FB gained access. We present a case of a nonverbal mentally retarded boy with a flat piece of plastic impacted in the sigmoid colon, the colonoscopic extraction of which failed. He underwent laparotomy more than a year later to remove the FB, where chronic perforation of the sigmoid colon was discovered. The perforation was sealed with extensive adhesions to the pelvic wall, and histologically, the colon showed a chronic granulomatous reaction. We discuss the types, presentations, and diagnosis of intestinal perforation with FBs. Chronic perforation may present with radiologic and pathologic features that suggest inflammatory bowel disease.

We report a young, mentally retarded apprentice cook with a 2-month history of right upper extremity dystonia, for whom diazepam therapy was efficacious. We evaluated brain perfusion by single photon emission tomography (SPECT) before and after diazepam treatment. The abnormal hyperperfusion in the left thalamus and hypoperfusion in the left frontal cortex were normalized on the second SPECT under the successful diazepam treatment. These findings were indicative of functional changes in the left thalamus and left frontal cortex.

Behavioral disturbance is common in many individuals with mental retardation. Its presence in those with coexisting epilepsy provides a further challenge to the individual, caretakers, and family members. In particular, concerns that antiepileptic medication is causing such behavioral disturbances are often raised. For the clinician, assessment is crucial to minimize morbidity by appropriately identifying the cause of the behavioral disturbance. The assessment should aim to delineate whether the disturbance is due to a direct effect of epilepsy, its treatment, social impact, or factors unrelated to the epilepsy. However, before being able to make this differentiation, the clinician needs to understand the behavior itself. Assessing behavior in people with mental retardation requires a multifactorial approach. These factors include an objective and reliable description of the behavior and an assessment of its function. Detailed description requires a functional analysis of behavior. Such analysis may indicate the behavior is associated with epilepsy treatment or represents a seizure disorder in itself. In the majority of cases, though, it is likely that any disturbance seen is independent of epilepsy or its management.

The accelerator based ion beam analysis method of proton induced X-ray emission (PIXE) has been used for analysing up to 14 elements in the blood serum of patients, collected from rehabilitation centres for the mentally retarded and from Medical College Hospital, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. The experimental subjects of the different groups displayed significant variations in their levels of certain trace elements such as zinc, iron, copper, phosphorus, chlorine, and rubidium. The results are compared with those of healthy control subjects and are discussed in detail in this paper. Hence, PIXE as a method of trace element analysis can be used to determine trace element content in mentally challenged patients.

Welcome: We’re Glad Georgia is On Your Mind. Georgia is on many minds as Warren Hill prepares for a state court hearing to once again begin the process of trying to show that he is intellectually disabled. As Warren Hill continues to flirt with death, one must ask, is Georgia really going to execute someone that nine experts and a lower court twice found to be mentally retarded? The answer is yes, and the Georgia courts do not understand why we are scratching our heads. The answer is simple: executing an intellectually disabled man is akin to strapping a ten-year old child in the electric chair. Georgia’s standard for determining intellectual disability -- beyond a reasonable doubt -- is itself intellectually disabled. In 1986, Georgia became the first state to ban executions of the intellectually disabled. It should also be the next state to eliminate a standard that, as a practical matter, ensures execution of the intellectually disabled. Ultimately, the Georgia legislature must explain why it chooses to execute defendants like Warren Hill, and the Georgia courts must explain why they allow it to happen. Intellectually disabled defendants do not appreciate or understand why they are being executed. Their crimes may be unspeakable, but the punishment is never proportional. Until Georgia provides an answer that extends beyond platitudes and biblically inspired notions of justice, the fact will remain that executing Warren Hill is as heinous as the crimes he committed. The only acceptable answer should come from the Supreme Court, holding that Georgia’s beyond a reasonable doubt standard violates the Eighth Amendment.

Some individuals with developmental disabilities fail to acquire functional speech despite extensive teaching efforts. To help such individuals develop functional communication skills, a “reading and writing” program was developed. This study was designed to evaluate early parts of the program. Acquisition, transfer, and maintenance of “reading and writing” skills was examined and compared with the acquisition, transfer, and maintenance of sign language. Participants were four children with autism, who scored within the mentally retarded range on standardized tests of intellectual, adaptive, and language functioning, and three 3-year-old non-disabled children. A simultaneous-treatment design was employed to compare the rate of acquisition of “reading and writing” skills to the rate at which the participants acquired receptive and expressive signs. For the participants with autism, acquisition of “reading and writing” was more successful than receptive and expressive signing on all variables assessed. All non-disabled participants acquired all of the “reading and writing” and sign language skills, but participants with autism did not. However, “reading” was acquired slightly quicker by the participants with autism than the non-disabled participants, and the participants with autism also showed some evidence of better transfer and maintenance than the non-disabled participants did.

Outerdirected behavior in a discrimination learning task was examined in 55 individuals with mental retardation at three CA levels: children, adolescents, and adults. These groups were compared to each other and to 55 mental age (MA)-matched individuals without mental retardation. Adults with mental retardation required more trials to reach criterion and showed higher levels of outerdirectedness than did mentally retarded children and adolescents despite adults having a higher MA. Nonretarded students showed the reverse trend, with the highest MA group requiring fewer trials to reach criterion and showing lower levels of outerdirectedness than the lowest MA group. These findings focus attention on the genesis of outerdirectedness and the possibility of preventing or remediating this unproductive style of problem solving.

To heighten the effectiveness of chemical diagnosis for inborn errors of metabolism (IEM) using urease pretreatment and GC-MS analysis, a sample collection and transportation method was contrived. The resulting "filter paper set" allows simple urine collection and transportation, and enables anyone from anywhere to receive the GC-MS analysis without the limitations of place or time. Using filter paper sets, high-risk screening of undiagnosed children or mentally retarded children with unknown cause was conducted in cooperation with hospitals and universities in several Asian countries. During 8 months 203 patients from China and India were analyzed and 20 cases of IEM were chemically diagnosed. These diagnoses greatly contributed to the treatment of children with intractable diseases who lived in Asian countries where analytical techniques and facilities for IEM were not sufficient.

This study aimed to examine the prevalence of antibodies against hepatitis A (anti-HAV) in a population of institutionalized mentally retarded persons compared with that of institutionalized non-mentally retarded persons in an area with moderate endemicity of HAV infection.The study population was a group of mentally retarded persons aged between 10 and 30 years, institutionalized in one residence in Madrid, Spain. A group of non-mentally retarded subjects in the same age range was chosen as controls. Information about demography and duration of institutionalization was obtained by the investigator. Four drops of whole blood were obtained from each person by finger-stick, collected on filter paper, air-dried and stored at +4 degrees C until antibody determination. Eluates were tested by an ELISA method.A total of 314 institutionalized subjects were included: 157 mentally retarded (mean age and mean duration of institutionalization were 24.4+/-3 and 9.7+/-5 years respectively) and 157 non-mentally retarded (mean age and mean duration of institutionalization were 19.2+/-5 and 4.6+/-3 years respectively). The prevalence of anti-HAV antibody was 54% (95% confidence interval (CI) 50-58) in mentally retarded and 22% (95% CI 19-25) in non-mentally retarded [P0.001; odds ratio (OR): 4.2 (95% CI 2.5-7)]. In both groups, these differences were not statistically significant for anti-HAV antibody prevalence between persons institutionalized for5 years compared with those institutionalized foror = 5 years.There results indicate that in an area of moderate endemicity the institutionalized mentally retarded are at increased risk of having acquired hepatitis A infection compared to the non-mentally retarded. In these institutionalized persons, regardless whether they are mentally retarded or not, prevalence is not influenced by age or length of stay in institutions.

Gynecologic care of women with mental retardation often is overlooked because of the physical and ethical difficulties involved in providing such care. Nurse practitioners can use their assessment skills to understand these women better and provide safe care for them. Fertility and hygiene problems can be helped with medroxyprogesterone or low-dose contraceptives. Examinations can be accomplished by using a combination of desensitization classes and sedatives. Clinicians using such a protocol have been able to examine mentally retarded residents at Tacachale (a community for developmentally disabled people in Florida) without the use of general anesthesia.

Amyloid beta protein 1-40 (A beta40) and A beta42 levels were quantitated in plasma from 43 persons with Down syndrome (DS; 26-68 years of age), 43 age-matched normal controls, and 19 non-DS mentally retarded (MR) persons (26-91 years of age) by using a sandwich enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. A beta40 levels were higher in DS and MR than controls, but were similar between DS and MR groups. A beta42 levels were higher in DS than controls or MR persons. The ratios of A beta42/A beta40 were higher in DS than controls or MR persons. The findings are consistent with those seen in DS brains.

The aim of this study was to assess motor and sensory functions in a population-based series of 88 mentally retarded children with epilepsy. A new standardized physiotherapy protocol was developed for the heterogeneous population of children with epilepsy; the Cailler-Azusa scale was also found to be useful. For children with cerebral palsy, the gross motor function measure was used. Sensorimotor impairments, resulting in disabilities and handicap, were found to be very common but often overlooked and neglected. Sensorimotor dysfunctions need to be identified in order to provide rational training, understanding and care to children with epilepsy and mental retardation.

Auditory event-related potentials were recorded from subjects performing an active and/or a passive oddball task. The subjects belonged to three groups: 27 nonretarded (NR) subjects; 39 “discriminating” retarded (DR) subjects; and 12 “nondiscriminating” retarded (NDR) subjects. With respect to NR subjects, DR subjects had significantly longer latencies for peaks N1, P2, N2, and P3 in the active task and for N2 in the passive task, and NDR subjects had significantly longer latencies for peaks N2 and P3 in the passive task. We conclude: that the generation of P3 may involve both a permanent automatic basis and controlled processes whose intervention depends on the attention paid to the P3-inducing stimuli; and that whether a mentally retarded subject exhibits significantly lengthened P3 latency in a particular task depends on the degree to which the cognitive processes involved in performance of that task are affected by the causes of his or her retardation.

The prevalence of psychiatric disorder in mentally retarded children and adolescents is considerably higher than it is in nonretar ded youngsters. This is due to greatly increased neurobiologic and psychosocial risk. The types of psychiatric disorders that are found in this population include all major categories found in the nonretarded population. Particularly in more severely retarded youngsters, however, unusual patterns of aberrant behavior also are found. These latter disorders often are very severe and require vigorous treatment. Accurate diagnosis of these types of disorder is particularly critical but also complex and controversial. A wide variety of pharmacologic treatments has been described for these disorders, and these are reviewed.

This paper reviews the published research literature on the use of physical restraint with mentally retarded adults and children. Research on three types of restraint is included. One type involves one or more person(s) holding another. A second method is where a mechanical device is fitted to limit movement or reduce injury. The third type is where the person voluntarily applies a personal or mechanical restraint. The following conclusions emerged: (a) there are numerous processes which contribute to the outcomes associated with restraint, and these are poorly understood; (b) different processes mediate the outcomes for contingent and noncontingent restraint; (c) both noncontingent and contingent restraint can result in long-term reductions in target behaviours, especially when fading procedures are employed (noncontingent restraint) and where staff or carers are involved in the treatment plan (contingent restraint); (d) self-restraint seems to be maintained by the reinforcing effects of the restraint procedure or by escape from the aversive consequences of self-injury; (e) there are (negative) reinforcing consequences for staff who use restraint procedures in service settings; (f) and both staff and clients risk injury, especially from emergency or unplanned restraint.

The withdrawal of phenobarbital (PB) from antiepileptic drug (AED) regimens of individuals can be safety and successfully completed without losing control of seizures. We analyzed the effect on seizure frequency and number of AEDs after PB was eliminated from the AED regimen. Thirty-four individuals with mental retardation (MR), developmental disabilities, and epilepsy residing at the St. Louis Developmental Disabilities Treatment Centers had PB withdrawn from their AED regimens. Charts were retrospectively reviewed for a 212-year period of monitoring seizure frequency and AED therapy. Seizure frequency was not significantly changed when a less-sedating AED regimen was used. The number of AEDs per individual was reduced from 2.03 to 1.47 immediately after the discontinuation of PB and 1.59 1 year later. Our study suggests that PB may be unnecessary for optimal seizure control and may be withdrawn safely from the AED regimen

Eighty-nine mildly mentally retarded adults were assessed using the Psychopathology Inventory for Mentally Retarded Adults (PIMRA). This study reports on the psychometric properties of the PIMRA in a Dutch population, the correlation between self-report and ratings-by-others forms, and the relationship of the PIMRA to both behavior problems and subject characteristics. It was revealed that internal consistency was good for both forms on total scores but modest for most of the subscales. Furthermore, interrater reliability was low to modest. Both forms of the PIMRA showed good criterion validity. The correlation between the two forms was modest. A strong relationship was found between PIMRA scores and behavior problems, as measured using the Reiss Screen of Maladaptive Behavior. Furthermore, the relationship between PIMRA scores and subject characteristics was weak.

A model for the clinical delineation of atypical cases of Rett syndrome is presented. It is based on the presence, at age > or = 10 years, of combined clusters of at least 3 of 6 primary criteria and at least 5 of 11 supportive manifestations appearing through childhood with advancing age. The model was applied to 16 mentally retarded females, aged 11-47 years (median: 23) who were considered to manifest atypical variants of the syndrome (8 formes frustes, 6 late regression, 2 congenital variants). Two of the 16 patients had an early seizure history as the initial abnormality. In parallel, the number of supportive manifestations in a series of 41 females over 10 years of age with classic Rett syndrome are given. The differentiating power was tested on 8 patients with a chromosome-verified Angelman syndrome. It is concluded that the model applied here has the capacity to identify and distinguish Rett syndrome variants of different types, to sift out other developmental disorders in routine clinical work, and to have potential as a useful research tool.

The Kaufman Adolescent and Adult Intelligence Test (KAIT) represents a reconceptualization of the measurement of intelligence that is more consistent with current theories of intellectual development. The KAIT has been very carefully developed and field-tested. Administration is facilitated by high-quality materials and visual/auditory presentation formats. The KAIT has been standardized by state-of-the-art measurement techniques. The utilization of fluid and crystallized scales enhances the richness of clinical interpretations that can be drawn from this instrument. Limitations of the KAIT are discussed regarding its use with the mentally retarded, developmentally delayed, and borderline clients.

Mentally retarded (MR) and non-mentally retarded (NMR) adults matched for parental occupational levels were compared in their responses to a modified version of the Fear Survey Schedule (FSS-III) allowing only three response categories. The fear items were subdivided into five dimensional categories of fear types: Social Rejection (SR), Agoraphobia (Ag), Tissue damage (TD), Sex and Aggression (SA) and Animal (An). The MR group showed a higher level of self-reported fear overall, modified by a significant group by fear type interaction. All fear types except SR contributed to the overall difference, particularly An and TD type fears. For SR fears, the direction of the difference was marginally reversed. In the NMR group, the usual finding that women express more fears than men was replicated, but there was no sex difference in the MR group. Explanations in terms of linguistic competence, parenting, and social and gender-identity factors are discussed.

The responses of mentally retarded (MR) and non-mentally retarded (NMR) adults matched for parental occupational levels to a modified version of the Fear Survey Schedule (FSS-III) allowing only three response categories were compared. The fear items were subdivided into five dimensional categories of fear types: Social Rejection (SR), Agoraphobia (Ag), Tissue Damage (TD), Sex and Aggression (SA) and Animal (An). There was also a small group of Miscellaneous fears (Misc). Independent analyses of the prevalence and intensity of responses on individual items showed that both measures had contributed to the overall higher fear level in the MR group. The MR group showed a greater tendency to express high fear than the NMR group, while the NMR group was characterized on the SR and SA fear types by more frequent expression of moderate degrees of fear than the MR group. Within the NMR group, response distributions on all fear types were J-shaped and on individual items were almost entirely J-shaped. By contrast, for the MR group, U-shaped distributions, in which the frequency of high fear responses exceeded that of moderate ones, were found for the TD, SA and An fear types; distributions on about 25 per cent of the individual fears were also U-shaped. The results are discussed with reference to some large scale studies of the prevalence of fears and phobias in the general population.

Down's Syndrome (DS) is a genetic disorder involving mental retardation which is reported to be a condition of accelerated aging. However, few studies exist which examine age-dependent changes in DS and these studies fail to include a control group. In the present study a non-invasive, painless, and easily obtainable measure reflecting age-dependent topographical changes of the skin(skin wrinkling) was obtained in 15 DS subjects, 14 developmentally disabled (DD) (mentally retarded) controls (DD controls) and 16 healthy controls of similar ages ranging from 22 to 51 years. The healthy control group failed to show correlations of skin measures with age, as predicted for the age-range of these subjects, based on results of previous studies. However, the DS group showed significant correlations of all skin measures from relatively non-sunexposed and sunexposed skin sites, with age. The DD control also showed significant correlations with age of several but not all skin sites and the correlation coefficients tended to be less than that of the DS; at least, when contrasted with the healthy controls the DS showed greater value of several skin measures suggestive of accelerated skin wrinkling. These results provide evidence for accelerated aging of the skin, and possibly greater effects of sunexposure on skin wrinkling, in DS and possibly (DD) individuals in contrast to healthy individuals without a genetic disorder and without mental retardation.

The applicability of the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) in the informant-rating version to mentally retarded adults (> 19 years of age) of all degrees of severity is researched here for the first time. The sample (N = 798) consisted of residents in community-based group homes (56.9%) and residents of a variety of institutions (43.1%). On average, 23 of the 24 CDI items were to be assessed. Internal consistency, interrater reliability, and the item-total score correlations were adequate. The three factors derived from factor analysis were open to clear interpretation. The CDI score proved to be independent of age, sex, and degree of mental retardation. Persons with behavior problems, psychotropic drug treatment, non-Down syndrome status, as well as the residents of a psychiatric clinic, all returned a higher CDI score. Among those having a CDI score > or = 17 (n = 54), there were 57% with DSM-III-R depressive disorders. These results suggest that the CDI in an informant-rating version is suitable as a diagnostic and screening instrument for mentally retarded adults.

Research on mentally retarded subjects indicates that the well established relationship between learning rate and intelligence is not accompanied by a comparable relationship between forgetting rate and intelligence. To date, however, almost nothing is known about the link between intelligence and forgetting when subjects are exclusively drawn from the normal ability ranges. In the present study, one hundred and sixteen normal young men were asked to recall problem solutions after performing a distractor task consisting of one, two, or three speeded math items. The results indicate that longer distractor intervals result in diminished recall, but, more importantly, that high and low ability subjects forget at equal rates.

It is not true that mirror self-recognition has nothing to do with self-awareness and, contrary to Suddendorf and Butler's claim [1], that self-recognition is ‘universally acquired in toddlers’, there are failures to find mirror self-recognition in mentally retarded children, adolescents, and adults, as well as in autistic children, schizophrenics, patients with damage to the frontal cortex, and those with dementia [2]. Also consistent with predictions based on self-awareness, chimpanzees show an ensemble of intricate reactions to the death of companions that parallel responses humans make [3].

Intuitive (e.g., Sternberg, Conway, Ketron, & Bernstein, 1981) and informed (e.g., Brown & Campione, 1984; Campione & Brown, 1984; Resnick & Glaser, 1976) perspectives on intelligence emphasize the importance of strategy learning, maintenance, and transfer. There is, however, surprisingly little relevant data, and they conflict (cf. Campione & Brown, 1987; Campione, Brown, & Ferrara, 1982). The purpose of this study was to examine whether intelligence-related differences in strategy learning, maintenance, and transfer exist. Intellectually gifted, average, and mentally retarded children were taught strategies on a version of the balance-scale problem, and were then given additional training until they transferred these strategies to a related version of the problem. Maintenance was assessed 2 weeks after the completion of strategy training. We found that mentally retarded children needed more training to learn and transfer balance-scale strategies, and were less likely to maintain strategies that either gifted or average children. The implications of these findings are discussed.

In 1988, Norway's parliament instituted the systematic deinstitutionalization of the nation's health care system for mentally retarded persons. Professionals have recognized that deinstitutionalization will succeed only if treatment personnel can provide effective treatment for their clients. A study is presented in which 152 hands-on staff members were assigned to 76 clients with moderate to severe mental retardation. The study asked whether staff training in behaviorally oriented treatment and assessment would produce greater improvement in the behavior of clients and staff than would training in treatment alone. Data failed to support this hypothesis, but did provide clear evidence that both clients and staff improved with staff training. The assessment of such programs is seen to be of great importance in view of the fact that deinstitutionalization will leave the majority of mentally retarded clients in Norway in the care of persons who have received such limited forms of training.

During recent years there has been greater recognition of the impressive degree of psychiatric disturbance that affects those with mental retardation. An increasing number of systematic studies are focusing on the prevalence, risk factors, and clinical characteristics of psychiatric disturbance within this population. In addition, traditional neuropsychiatrie assessment and treatment approaches are being evaluated, and new approaches are being developed. Such efforts will undoubtedly improve the ability to effectively diagnose and treat mentally retarded individuals suffering from psychiatric disorders. This paper is the second of two reviews that explore several recent developments in biological, phenomenological, and psychopathological aspects of mental retardation.