Characteristics of stereotypic movement disorder and self-injurious behavior assessed with the Diagnostic Assessment for the Severely Handicapped (DASH-II).
DASH-II spots stereotypy and self-injury in severe ID, but newer work says also check impulsivity and emotional development to predict risk.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team gave the DASH-II to people with severe or profound intellectual disability. They wanted to see if the tool could spot stereotypy and self-injury in this group.
They also checked if people who had both ID and autism showed more of these behaviors.
What they found
The DASH-II correctly flagged stereotypic movement and self-injury in adults with severe ID. People who also had autism scored even higher on these items.
How this fits with other research
Faso et al. (2016) watched at-risk toddlers for a year. They found that early stereotypy predicted later self-injury, showing the link is not just a one-time snapshot.
Capio et al. (2013) looked at autism without severe ID. They learned that impulsivity and stereotypy, not IQ, forecast self-injury. This widens the focus beyond the DASH-II's severe-ID sample.
Sappok et al. (2014) added that low emotional-development level, more than ID severity, predicts self-injury in adults. Together these studies move us from simply counting behaviors to asking why they start.
Why it matters
If you assess an adult with severe or profound ID, the DASH-II gives a quick yes/no on stereotypy and self-injury. Pair it with checks for impulsivity and emotional-development level to spot who is most at risk. For any client showing early stereotypy, start intervention now—don't wait for self-injury to appear.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The first experiment involved 143 individuals with severe and profound mental retardation. Individuals with Stereotypic Movement Disorder, Self-Injurious Behavior (SIB), and Stereotypic movement disorder with self-injurious behavior as assessed by the Diagnostic Assessment for the Severely Handicapped-II DASH-II were validated against Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) criteria. In a second study DASH-II scores for 1480 individuals with severe and profound mental retardation were compared on demographic variables, core and associated features of each disorder. Characteristics of persons in each group were reviewed. Persons with profound mental retardation were more likely to evince stereotypies or self-injury compared to their severely impaired counterparts. Also, those with stereotypies were more likely to present with Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)/autism, organicity, and eating disorders, while persons with SIB were more likely to evince sleep, sexual, and eating disorders.
Research in developmental disabilities, 1997 · doi:10.1016/s0891-4222(97)00022-x