PDD Behavior Inventory (PDDBI) by Ira L. Cohen, Ph.D., and Vicki Sudhalter, Ph.D. Do you need to find out whether, and to what extent, children with pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) are responding to intervention? If so, consider this convenient new rating scale. The PDDBI gives you a complete picture of children's functioning in areas typically affected by PDD -- communication, reciprocal social interaction, ritualistic activities, and learning skills. And, unlike many other autism/PDD assessments, it measures both adaptive and maladaptive behavior. The PDDBI can be used to evaluate children (ages 1 year, 6 months to 12 years, 5 months) who have been diagnosed with a pervasive developmental disorder as defined by the DSM-IV. Rating forms completed by parents and teachers yield age-standardized scores that are helpful in planning treatment, monitoring progress, assessing outcome, and making placement decisions. Both Teacher and Parent Rating Forms come in standard and extended formats (124 versus 180 to 188 items) -- so you can choose, on a case-by-case basis, which to use in a given situation. Each Rating Form contains the items for both the standard and extended forms. The standard forms are a good choice when the reason for evaluation is related specifically to autism (e.g., testing to find out whether intervention is affecting targeted behaviors). The extended forms are appropriate when you are making placement decisions or treatment recommendations and want to assess behaviors (e.g., aggression) beyond those specifically associated with autism. The standard forms can be completed in just 20 to 30 minutes, the extended forms in 30 to 45 minutes.  While the teacher and parent standard forms assess 6 domains, the extended forms measure 10 domains in two broad categories: Approach/Withdrawal Problems Sensory/Perceptual Approach Ritualisms/Resistance to Change Social Pragmatic Problems Semantic Pragmatic Problems Arousal Regulation Problems (extended form) Specific Fears (extended form) Aggressiveness (extended form) Receptive/Expressive Social Communication Abilities Social Approach Behaviors Expressive Language Learning, Memory, and Receptive Language (extended form) Within each domain, item clusters help to identify the specific behaviors that contribute most to the domain score. In addition, the domain scores generate the following composite scores: Repetitive, Ritualistic, and Pragmatic Problem Behaviors Approach/Withdrawal Problems Expressive Social Communications Abilities Receptive/Expressive Social Communications Abilities Autism Composite  The PDDBI was standardized on a representative sample of 369 parents and 277 teachers of children with well-defined autism, from a broad range of racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Therefore, you can use it with confidence to evaluate virtually any child with PDD.