Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities

This article examines the evolution of the early childhood system, characterizing the stressors facing families that can adversely affect a child's development and examining the response of the early intervention system to those stressors. The article concludes with a consideration of future directions for the early intervention system.

The history of educating students with mild mental retardation has, in essence, been one focused heavily on social competence. This article examines the history of educating students with mild mental retardation and includes discussion of general demographic trends, contextual factors that influenced this process, assessment and instructional practices, and teacher roles and preparation. The article then examines these same features currently and provides recommendations for addressing these areas in the future.

It has long been recognized that employment is a critical factor in independence and community integration. This article overviews the status of employment for people with mental retardation, considers emerging approaches to enhancing employment outcomes, and presents some of the future opportunities that will affect employment outcomes.

The field of positive behavior supports has grown rapidly in the last decade as a practice to address the very real and difficult challenges posed by problem behaviors. The present article defines the current status of positive behavior support and provides a vision for where this technology will lead. The article identifies four central messages that will shape the vision for the future and discusses where we are now in relation to those central themes and where we need to go as we head into the 21st century.

The importance of self-determination and self-advocacy to the field of mental retardation has become increasingly evident. This article examines the three "waves" of the disability movement: the professional, parent, and self-advocacy waves. From the perspective of both professionals and a person with a disability, we examine the current circumstances for people with disabilities in relation to control and choice in their lives, examine the development of the self-advocacy movement, and, finally, identify issues that will be important to address in the future.

Over the last few decades, the field of mental retardation has embraced the concept of quality of life as both a sensitizing notion and an overarching principle for service delivery. This article summarizes the current understanding of the quality of life construct by examining previous efforts at defining and clarifying the concept, and examines issues that will affect the utility of the construct well into the new century.