Predicting adaptive behaviour of severely and profoundly mentally retarded children with early cognitive measures

A longitudinal study was conducted to determine the ability of the Uzgiris and Hunt scales to predict adaptive behaviour including, but not limited to, language. The Uzgiris and Hunt scales, six of the ABS domains and the Receptive-Expressive Emergent Language (REEL) scale were administered to 61 children who were severely or profoundly mentally retarded. The ABS domains and the REEL were readministered 4 years later. The findings generally supported earlier cross-sectional research and theory. However, this methodology permitted the finding that the earlier score on the ABS domain or REEL was by far the best single predictor of the later score on that same measure, an intuitively obvious, but nevertheless, important finding. The findings were interpreted regarding their implications for theory, practice and methodology.