David Hammer

The Nisonger CBRF : a Child Behavior Rating Form for children with developmental disabilities

Although the rate of behavior and emotional problems of children with mental retardation is considerably higher than the rate among typically developing children, there is a shortage of tools for assessing persons with mental retardation. The Child Behavior Rating Form (CBRF) was modified by altering instructions and adding new items describing behavior problems known to occur in children with mental retardation. The adapted scale was named the Nisonger CBRF. Three hundred sixty-nine children being assessed at a University Affiliated Program for MR/DD were rated on the CBRF by their parents and teachers. Independent factor analyses of parent and teacher ratings produced two Social Competence subscales and six Problem Behavior subscales. These results were largely consistent across rater types and similar to prior findings with the CBRF. Internal consistency was generally high, parent-teacher agreement was satisfactory, and subscales from the Nisonger CBRF correlated highly with analogous subscales from the Aberrant Behavior Checklist. The Nisonger CBRF appears to be a promising new tool for assessing behavioral and emotional problems in children with mental retardation; however, further psychometric work is warranted.

The Nisonger Child Behavior Rating Form" Age and Gender Effects and Norms

The Nisonger CBRF is a new informant behavior rating scale that was adapted for assessing children and adolescents with mental retardation. A total of 369 children referred to interdisciplinary diagnostic clinics for children with developmental disabilities were rated on the Nisonger Child Behavior Rating Form by their parents and teachers. Normative data (means, T scores, and percentiles) are presented Subscale scores were analyzed as a function of age and gender. Age influenced 3 of 8 subscales on the parent ratings and 1 subscale on the teacher ratings. Gender did not influence subscale scores. Age and gender results are discussed in relation to previous studies of subject variables.

Relaxation therapy and compliance in the treatment of adolescent headache

SYNOPSIS

Shaping Oral Feeding in a Gastronomy Tube–Dependent Child in Natural Settings

A 3-year-old medically fragile girl who refused to eat after prolonged and frequent hospitalizationswas started on a feeding program in the home and school settings. She exhibited food aversions and received all nourishment via a gastronomy tube. Preevaluation observations of her feeding behavior revealed that she refused all presented drinks and foods. Treatment was twofold. First, food acceptance was followed by social praise and access to preferred toy play, and second, food refusal and disruptive behaviors were ignored. Gagging, vomiting, and crying occurred periodically during initial feedings. In addition, there were medical complications during the course of treatment necessitating continuous modifications of the program. Results of a multiple-phase design showed marked increases in the amount of food consumed at home, which then generalized to the school setting.

Parenting stress and depression in children with mental retardation and developmental disabilities

Although many types of behavioral and emotional disorders are prevalent in children with developmental delays, the phenomenology of childhood depression in this population remains poorly understood. This study examined the relationships among symptoms of depression, child problem behaviors, and parenting stress in a sample of 29 children with developmental delays. Results supported the usefulness of the Childrens Depression Inventory (CDI) in assessing depression in these children initially reported by Matson, Barrett, and Helsel (1988). Parent ratings from the CDI were significantly associated with maternal depression, an index of DSM-III-R depression criteria, and negative self-image, anxiety, and conduct problems in children. A matched subsample of children (n = 12) with high versus low depression ratings revealed significant differences in total scores from the Parenting Stress Index (Abidin, 1986) and the index of DSM-III-R depression criteria. Together, these data suggest that children with developmental delays exhibit a similar pattern of symptoms and associated characteristics to those found in normal children with diagnoses of depression.

Put your money where your mouth is: direct and indirect measures of attitude toward community integration.

We compared direct (a survey) and indirect (mock petition drive) attitude measures regarding opening a group home for people with mental retardation in the neighborhood. We systematically assigned participants to one of three groups: positively worded petition statement, negative statement, or no petition. All participants answered survey questions about attitudes toward persons with disabilities. Order of the measures was counterbalanced in the first two groups. The point-biserial correlation between the petition response and survey was a moderate .40, suggesting that the survey was not a very reliable predictor of how people would react when asked whether they agreed or objected to a group home being opened in their neighborhood. Survey responses were influenced further by the wording of the petition drive statement.

Establishing independent microcomputer use in people with multiple handicaps, profound mental retardation, and a history of learning failure

Abstract Microcomputers have recently been introduced as habilitative tools in programming efforts with children who have multiple handicaps and profound mental retardation. Microcomputers offer great promise as habilitative tools if spontaneous interaction between the person and the computer can be established. Our experience suggested that aspects of traditional instruction could prevent effective teaching of independent microcomputer use. Consequently, a training paradigm was designed to evaluate the viability of the computer instruction in an extraneous stimulus restricted environment. We found that two of four subjects responded to the computer software and the training paradigm. The role of innovative strategies in habilitative programming is discussed.

Bladder-Control Problems and Self-Catheterization

Bladder-control problems are, for the most part, defined by societal norms and attitudes. Starfield (1972) noted that the age at which children’s bed-wetting normally stops varies across cultures and social class. In countries of the Western hemisphere, Starfield reports that 20% of children were still wetting the bed at a high frequency by age 4–5 years. Bed-wetting was reported at a rate of 13% for children 6–7 years and 2–3% in children 14 years old. These data are consistent with those reported by Vogt (1975) taken from the U.S. National Health Survey. The U.S. data showed that bed-wetting was reported by parents at the rate of 15% in the age range of 6–11 years and 5% in ages 12–17 years.