About the Book
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.
Table of Contents:
1: Introduction
2: Origins, Changing Concepts, and Legal Safeguards
3: The Classification of Intellectual Disability
4: Epidemiology: Who Is Affected?
5: Etiology and Assessment
6: Understanding and Evaluating Emotional and Behavioral Impairment
7: Genetics, Behavior, and Behavioral Phenotypes
8: A Lifespan Developmental Approach
9: Family, Behavioral, Interpersonal, Psychoeducational, Pharmacologic, and Community Interventions
10: Ethics and Spirituality
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.
Review :
"...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
"...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,
Director of Neurogenetics Research, Kennedy Krieger Institute
"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., Director Emeritus 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
"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."--Regina Lopez, MD, Doody's
"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
"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
"This book is an exceptional and important addition to the growing number of textbooks and handbooks on intellectual disability that have been published in the last few years....Although scholarly in style, the book is easy to read, enjoyable from cover to cover, and written with compassion and the utmost respect for people with disabilities....In summary, the book is timely, eminently practical and can be highly recommended as a standard resource book and a
teaching text for the field....an invaluable tool..."--Dr. Dimitrios Paschos in Child and Adolescent Mental Health
