Issues in the Developmental Approach to Mental Retardation

Issues in the Developmental Approach to Mental Retardation is one of the first books exclusively devoted to applying the theories, findings and approaches used in work with nonretarded children to several types of retarded individuals. It defines the developmental approach and explores theoretical issues as they relate to retarded populations. Problems involving similar sequences of development, cross-domain relations, the environment, and motivation are all discussed, as is the importance of separating the various etiological groups for research and intervention purposes. This book will be of interest to professionals in the fields of psychology, mental retardation and atypical development. It is also suitable for upper-level undergraduate and graduate-level courses in mental retardation, developmental psychology and developmental disabilities.

This volume is very much a mental retardation work in the developmental psychopathology line. It endeavors to explain the developmental approach and expand it beyond more conventional notions of sequences and stages in understanding mental retardation.