Intellectual Disability: Understanding Its Development, Causes, Classification, Evaluation, and Treatment / Edition 1

by James C. Harris

Overview

It is estimated that 7.2 million people in the United States have mental retardation or associated impairments - a spectrum now referred to as "intellectual disability." This book provides professionals with the latest and most reliable information on these disabilities. It utilizes a developmental perspective and reviews the various types of intellectual disabilities, discusses approaches to classification, diagnosis, and appropriate interventions, and provides information on resources that may offer additional help. Case examples are included in each section to highlight specific diagnostic and treatment issues. The emphasis in this book is on the development of the person, the provision of interventions for behavioral and emotional problems associated with intellectual disability, and the positive support necessary for self-determination. It discusses the facilitation of transitions throughout the lifespan from infancy to maturity and old age. Additionally, the book reviews evaluations for behavioral and emotional problems, genetic factors, appropriate psychosocial, medical, and pharmacological interventions, and family and community support.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195178852
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	09/01/2005
Series:	Developmental Perspectives in Psychiatry
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	448
Product dimensions:	9.46(w) x 6.36(h) x 0.98(d)

About the Author

James C. Harris, MD is a Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Pediatrics, and Mental Hygiene at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction2. Origins, Changing Concepts, and Legal Safeguards3. The Classification of Intellectual Disability4. Epidemiology: Who Is Affected? 5. Etiology and Assessment6. Understanding and Evaluating Emotional and Behavioral Impairment7. Genetics, Behavior, and Behavioral Phenotypes8. A Lifespan Developmental Approach9. Family, Behavioral, Interpersonal, Psychoeducational, Pharmacologic, and Community Interventions10. Ethics and Spirituality

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Regina Rosa Lopez, MD (University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine)
Description: This book provides the most recent information on intellectual disability, covering the classification, evaluation, and treatment of the intellectually disabled from a developmental perspective. The book's approach shifts the focus to the individual rather than the label.
Purpose: According to the author, the purpose is to provide professionals with the latest and most reliable information on intellectual disability and associated impairments. These are worthy objectives because oftentimes those who work with this group of individuals do not have the time to research this useful information. The objectives are more than sufficiently met.
Audience: This is written for all professionals who work with clients with intellectual disability. This being said, it is written at an appropriate level for varying educational backgrounds. The author is a credible authority, a professor in both psychiatry and pediatrics. He also has been involved in a wide range of clinical research on this topic.
Features: The book attempts to enhance our knowledge and understanding of those with intellectual disability by providing a comprehensive book of the recent literature. It is written in such a way that it can be read cover to cover or used as a reference. The book covers diagnosis, classification, epidemiology, etiology, and interventions from a developmental approach. It attempts to address the dichotomy of intellectual disability as an educational problem versus a medical problem.
Assessment: The book covers the associated emotional and behavioral problems thoroughly. As a clinician, I find treating psychiatric comorbidities in these patients to be difficult. This book helps to make this seem more manageable. Unique features include the appendixes, which provide additional information such as resources for getting help in the community and the Special Olympics. Also unique are the case examples. This is an excellent book for all those working with clients with intellectual disability. It is readable and clinically applicable. The developmental approach will assist with finding appropriate interventions for each individual.

Doody's Review Service

"...covers the associated emotional and behavioral problems thoroughly... Unique features include the appendixes, which provide additional information such as resources for getting help in the community and the Special Olympics. Also unique are the case examples. This is an excellent book for all those working with clients with intellectual disability. It is readable and clinically applicable. The developmental approach will assist with finding appropriate interventions for each individual." —Doody's Book Review

"This important textbook unequivocally demonstrates that developmental disabilities variably impact cognitive and emotional capabilities. The implications of this new formulation are a much more individualized approach to treatment that recognizes assets as well as areas that require specific remediation. This text should not just be in the library but open on the desk of any clinician or educator involved with the treatment of the intellectually disabled."—Joseph T. Coyle, MD Eben S. Draper Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Harvard Medical School Editor-in-chief of the Archives of General Psychiatry

"Dr. Harris's book fills a major gap at a critical time. The title Intellectual Disability defines and delimits in a non-pejorative way what we have named so badly in the past. Dr. Harris' life-long, uniquely broad experience, and his personal commitment and humanity, have permitted him to bring together the threads that need to be joined. I will use this book to great advantage; so will many others, be they administrators, lawyers, educators, therapists, ministers, physicians, basic scientists, parents, or the intellectually handicapped themselves. I recommend it highly."— Hugo W. Moser MD Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University

"With this book, Intellectual Disability, Dr. Harris has accomplished the feat of writing a book that is absolutely encyclopedic in scope, scholarly and authoritative, but which can and will be enjoyed from cover to cover. Indeed, most of us will read it more than once, and there are many sections that are destined to be dog-eared. This will unquestionably become a standard reference text for the field, and should have a place on the shelves and desks of clinicians at all levels of training and from every discipline that intersects this field."—Bryan H. King, MD, Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, Director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Dartmouth Medical School, Medical Director, New Hampshire Division of Developmental Services

"Dr. Harris has achieved the seemingly impossible: a book that is a state-of-the art, comprehensive reference on current research as well as a practical guide for clinicians of all disciplines who diagnose and treat persons with intellectual disabilities (and developmental disabilities in general). It is an invaluable resource both for researchers and for health and human services professionals, whose goal is to help disabled individuals to achieve optimal quality of life. It is highly readable and imbued with compassion for people with disabilities. It should be a required reading and an everyday companion for clinicians of all disciplines who work with children and adults with disabilities."—Ludwik S. Szymanski, M.D., Directors Emeritus of Psychiatry, Institute for Community Inclusion, Children's Hospital, Boston, Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

"I am impressed by how this valuable book has integrated all of what the field has learned about how to improve people's lives and put it into the context of a resource for practicing clinicians. As we are moving towards including all people with intellectual disability in our communities, Dr. Harris' book is a resource for psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, special education teachers and administrators, and everyone who works in this field to improve their practice."—Steven M. Eidelman, Executive Director, The Arc of the United States

"This book contains a rich mine of material. The psychiatric and behavioral symptoms that accompany intellectual disability are thoroughly described, and their psychopharmacologic management is authoritatively discussed. In addition, there is extensive material on legal, social, ethical, and spiritual aspects of intellectual disability, and appendixes containing lists of resources and agencies and reports of governmental and research conferences...developmental pediatricians, child psychiatrists, administrators, educators, and others caring for children or adults with intellectual disabilities—and especially trainees in these fields—will benefit from reading this book and taking to heart the major themes. For the reader, the time spent is rather like that on clinical rounds with a broadly experienced senior professor."—New England Journal of Medicine

"Harris offers a thorough and readable summary and discussion of the scientific literature, providing a useful introduction and reference work for individuals involved with the treatment, education, and care of persons with intellectual disability...In this volume, Harris has provided the field with a textbook and a reference work that will serve us well. In it he not only offers an overview of whence the field of developmental disabilities has come and where we presently find ourselves but also addresses the question of whither we are headed."—PsycCRITIQUES

"Harris refuses to treat intellectual disability as a static condition but as an evolving process in the life span of a person. He details changes that can occur with proper diagnosis, treatment, care, and vocational placement. He touches on moral development and the role of the family. Overall this is a remarkable and timely book that will be welcomed by all professionals and students who venture into the thorny field of intellectual disability."—Psychiatric Services

"With publication of Intellectual Disability: Understanding Its Development, Causes, Classification, Evaluation, and Treatment, Dr. James Harris has provided an inspired 'blueprint' that translates current scientific and clinical advances to individuals and patient populations with intellectual disability and has thereby charted a course for the future...Intellectual Disability is truly a book that can be read cover to cover and one that is destined for the shelves of physicians, other health professionals, and those in other disciplines who work with this population, from educators and administrators to parents."—JAMA

"Harris's skill as a writer and organizer cannot be overstated. He uses a mixture of technical and lay language to paint the multifaceted picture of a complex field that stretches from historical accounts to the latest advances in in genomic sciences to issues of social policy and ethics. To achieve this coverage in a single volume is a remarkable achievement."—Journal of Clinical Psychiatry

"The content of this book is broad, deep, and useful. Harris's skill as a writer and organizer cannot be overstated. He uses a mixture of technical and lay language to paint the multifaceted picture of a complex field that stretches from historical accounts to the latest advances in genomic sciences to issues of social policy and ethics. To achieve this coverage in a single volume is a remarkable accomplishment."—Journal of Clinical Psychiatry

From the Publisher

4 Stars! from Doody