What approaches to early intervention, education, therapy, and remediation really help those with mental retardation and developmental disabilities improve their functioning and adaptation? This book brings together leading behavioral scientists and practitioners to focus light on the major controversies surrounding such questions.

In an era of increasing accountability, no one with a professional stake in services to individuals with mental retardation and developmental disabilities can afford not to read this book.

Preface. Introduction. Part I: General Issues. S. Vyse, Where Do Fads Come From? J.E. Favell, Sifting Sound Practice From Snake Oil. C. Newsom, C.A. Hovanitz, The Nature and Value of Empirically Validated Interventions. T. Smith, The Appeal of Unvalidated Interventions. Part II: Historical, Cultural, and Psychological Influences. J.W. Jacobson, J.A. Mulick, R.M. Foxx, Historical Approaches to Developmental Disabilities. S. Vig, Classification Versus Labelling. R.M. Foxx, C.E. Roland, The Self-Esteem Fallacy. D.R. Mock, J.M. Kauffman, The Delusion of Full Inclusion. S. Greenspan, Credulity and Gullibility in Service Providers. J.W. Jacobson, J.A. Mulick, Developmental Disabilities and the Paranormal. Part III: Field-Specific Issues. M.A. Kozloff, Fads in [General?] Education [in General?]. T. Zane, Fads in Special Education: An Overview. W.L. Heward, S.M. Silvestri, Fads in Special Education: Toward More Effective Practice. M. Koenig, C. Gunter, Fads in Speech-Language Pathology. Part IV: Disorder- and Symptom-Specific Issues. B. Metz, J.A. Mulick, E.M. Butter, Autism: A Late Twentieth Century Fad Magnet. S. Kay, S. Vyse, Helping Parents Separate the Wheat From the Chaff: Putting Autism Treatments to the Test. S. Holburn, Severe Aggressive [and Self-?] Destructive Behavior: Mentalistic Attribution. R.M. Foxx, Severe Aggressive [and Self-?] Destructive Behavior: The Myth of Nonaversive Treatment. Part V: Intervention-Specific Issues. J.G. Osborne, Person-Centered Planning. T. Smith, D.W. Mruzek, D. Mozingo, Sensory Integrative Therapy. O.C. Mudford, C. Cullen, Auditory Integration Training. J.W. Jacobson, R.M. Foxx, J.A. Mulick, Facilitated Communication. J.A. Mulick, E.M. Butter, Positive Behavior Support. C. Newsom, K.A. Kroeger, Nonaversive Treatment. C. Cullen, O.C. Mudford, Gentle Teaching. Part V: Ethical and Legal Concerns. P. Sturmey, Ethical Dilemmas and the Most Effective Treatments. E. Tiryak, Judicial [Legal?] Remedies for Fad and Fraudulent Treatment Practices. J.M. Johnston, Afterword. R.M. Foxx, Appendix: The National Institute of Health Consensus Development Conference on the Treatment of Destructive Behaviors.