A Study of the Adaptive Behavior of Retarded Children and the Resultant effects of this use in the diagnosis of Mental Retardation

Abstract

Parents of 50 elementary educable mentally retarded students were administered the Adaptive Behavior Inventory for Children. A factorial ANOVA design was performed on the independent variables of race, sex, IQ, and current educational placement with the adaptive behavior scores as the dependent variable. A two-dimensional model of mental retardation was developed using IQ scores and adaptive behavior scores with the third percentile designated as a cutoff point. Significant F scores (p < .01) were found for the main effects of IQ and current educational placement. The use of the two-dimensional model resulted in an 80% declassification rate. Eighty-eight percent of the minority EMR children would be declassified-if this model were applied-resulting in a smaller, more severely impaired group of children with the EMR classification.

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