Aggressive and destructive behaviors are an ongoing challenge for many children, adolescents, and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). What's behind these high-risk behaviors and how can professionals help manage them? Discover the answers in this comprehensive text, the most up-to-date compendium of knowledge on addressing challenging behaviors in the least restrictive settings using evidence-based, empirically supported practices.

With contributions from more than 30 prominent clinicians and researchers, this book gives readers cutting-edge research and clear assessment and intervention guidelines in six key topic areas:

• Self-Injurious Behavior. Explore the behavioral and biological variables that contribute to self-injury, and learn the principles of effective function-based assessment and behavioral intervention.
• Aggressive Behavior. Investigate environmental factors linked with aggression, take a biopsychosocial approach to assessment and therapy, and learn about treatment options such as reinforcement procedures and functional communication training.
• Sexual Offending Behavior. Conduct reliable risk assessment for sexual offenses and consider multiple options for intervention, including the highly effective Problem-Solving Therapy (PST).
• Health-Threatening Eating Disorders. Determine the causes of pica, ruminative vomiting, and obesity--and get strategies for decreasing destructive eating behaviors and encouraging healthful choices.
• Criminal Behavior. Examine the latest information on people with I/DD in the criminal justice system, including demographic data, methods of screening for disabilities, and the death penalty and related legal concerns.
• Therapeutic (Physical) Restraint. Learn from thoughtful exploration of the complex, much-debated issue of restraint. Explore what the research says, find out which strategies can help reduce or eliminate the need for restraint, and get staff training guidelines to ensure safe and ethical physical interventions in cases of emergency.

Ideal for use as a graduate-level textbook or a valuable in-service reference for psychologists, social workers, educators, and other professionals, this book represents the best and latest thinking on an issue of critical importance to people with I/DD. Professionals will come away with the knowledge and proven best practices they need to assess high-risk challenging behavior, intervene appropriately, and improve quality of life for the people they serve.

James K. Luiselli, Ed.D., ABPP, BCBA-D, Clinical Psychologist and Senior Vice President, Applied Research, Clinical Training, and Peer Review, May Institute, 41 Pacella Park Drive, Randolph, Massachusetts 02368

May Institute is a private human services and behavioral health care organization serving children, adolescents, and adults with developmental disabilities, traumatic brain injury, psychiatric disorders, and medically compromised conditions. Dr. Luiselli also maintains a private practice in educational, clinical, and behavioral consultation.

Dr. Luiselli is a licensed psychologist, certified health service provider, diplomate in behavioral psychology from The American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP), and Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). He has held academic appointments at Harvard Medical School, Northeastern University, and Indiana State University. Within the May Institute, he is Director of the Predoctoral Internship Program in Clinical Psychology and the Program of Professional Continuing Education.

He is active in clinical treatment, consultation, and research. In 1996 he was ranked by the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy (AABT) as one of the top 50 most-published authors in the behavior analysis and therapy literature from 1974 to 1994. The journal Research in Developmental Disabilities (2000) listed him as the eighth most-published researcher in the developmental disabilities field from 1979 to 1999. He has authored more than 275 publications, including the books Behavioral Medicine and Developmental Disabilities (Springer-Verlag, 1989), Self- Injurious Behavior: Analysis, Assessment, and Treatment (Springer-Verlag, 1991), Antecedent Control: Innovative Approaches to Behavioral Support (Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., 1998), Behavior Psychology in the Schools: Innovations in Evaluation, Support, and Consultation (The Haworth Press, 2002), Antecedent Assessment and Intervention: Supporting Children and Adults with Developmental Disabilities in Community Settings (Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., 2006), Effective Practices for Children with Autism: Educational and Behavior Support Interventions that Work (Oxford University Press, 2011), and Behavioral Sport Psychology: Evidence-Based Approaches to Performance Enhancement (Springer, 2011).

Dr. Luiselli has been the senior editor of special-topic journal issues published in Behavior Modification, Mental Health Aspects of Developmental Disabilities, Child & Family Behavior Therapy, Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, and International Journal of Behavioral Consultation & Therapy. He was a contributing editor to the Habilitative Mental Healthcare Newsletter and Associate Editor for Education and Treatment of Children. He also is a contributing writer for The New England Psychologist, reviews books for Metapsychology Online Reviews, and serves on the board of editors of six peer-reviewed journals, including Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, Mindulness, and Clinical Case Studies. He has been a national expert consensus panel member for the Treatment of Psychiatric and Behavioral Problems in Mental Retardation for the guideline series published by the American Journal on Mental Retardation.

Craig H. Kennedy, Ph.D., BCBA, Chair, Special Education Department, and Professor of Special Education and Pediatrics, Box 328, Peabody College, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37203

Dr. Kennedy is Chair of the Special Education Department and Professor of Special Education and Pediatrics at Vanderbilt University and is a Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Investigator. He also is Director of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Behavior Analysis Clinic. Dr. Kennedy received a master of science degree in special education and rehabilitation from the University of Oregon and a doctorate in special education with an emphasis in quantitative sociology from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Dr. Kennedy has published more than 140 scholarly works, including the book Single-Case Designs for Educational Research (Allyn & Bacon, 2005). He has served as Associate Editor of the Journal of Applied Behavioral Analysis, Journal of Behavioral Education, and Journal of The Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps.

He is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. He is a member of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Association for Behavior Analysis, Society for Neuroscience, and TASH. He also serves on the editorial boards of many highly respected peer-reviewed journals.

In 1991, Dr. Kennedy received TASHâ (TM)s Alice H. Hayden Award, and in 1993, he received the B.F. Skinner New Research Award from the American Psychological Association, Division 25. He was also recognized in 2003 for his research excellence by Peabody College at Vanderbilt University.

Primary research activities of Frank J. Symons, Ph.D., are supported by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), and they focus on improving the assessment and treatment of severe self-injurious behavior among individuals with developmental disabilities and pervasive developmental disorders. Dr. Symons was a research scientist at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a postdoctoral fellow at the John F. Kennedy Center at the Peabody College of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. He is the co-author of Behavioral Observation: Technology and Applications in Developmental Disabilities (Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., 2000).