The relationship of social skills to psychopathology for individuals with severe or profound mental retardation

The curious selection process of treatments for Autism Spectrum Disorders

“…They can exacerbate a variety of problems such as feeding behaviors, self-injury, and other maladaptive behaviors (Kuhn & Matson, 2002;Matson, Cooper, Malone, & Moskow, 2008;Matson & Kuhn, 2001). These comorbid conditions can also further exacerbate core symptoms such as social skills (Matson, LeBlanc, & Weinheimer, 1999;Matson, Smiroldo, & Bamburg, 1998) and emotional disorders Matson & Smiroldo, 1997;Wu, Desarkar, Palucka, Lunsky, & Liu, 2013). Challenging behaviors are also reported at high rates, and can markedly complicate the treatments used (Lane, Paynter, & Sharman, 2013).…”

Socialization and nonverbal communication in atypically developing infants and toddlers

“…In a study of 9-to 13-year old children with CP, Voorman and colleagues (2006) found that co-occurring cognitive impairment was a major factor associated with both social life and communication skills. Children with decreased social communication skills are at significantly increased risk of decreased academic achievement, depression, and other mood or conduct disorders (Gilmour, Hill, Place, & Skuse, 2004;Matson, Carlisle, & Bamburg, 1998;Matson, Smiroldo, & Bamburg, 1998;Matson, Leblanc, & Weinheimer, 1999;McClelland, Morrison, & Holmes, 2000;Segrin, 2000), suggesting a need for intervention applied earlier, rather than later, in development. Communication and social deficits in CP may be affected by motor difficulties or other commonly co-occurring conditions including ASD and ID (Matson, Leblanc, et al, 1999;Njardvik, Matson, & Cherry, 1999).…”

Functional Assessment of Challenging Behavior

“…Persons with fragile X syndrome were much less likely to display attentionmaintained behavior. Greater social behavioral deficits and mental health problems also exacerbate CB and affect the factors most likely to maintain the behavior [64,65], and thus various genetic and mental health disorders, as well as IQ level, should be taken into account when exploring the maintaining variables of CB.…”