Dictionary of Developmental Disabilities Terminology

Pasquale J. Accardo, M.D., is Professor of Pediatrics at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. He received his medical degree from Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York; completed his pediatric residency at James Whitcomb Riley Hospital for Children, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, and obtained his developmental pediatrics training at the John F. Kennedy Institute for Handicapped Children (now called the Kennedy Krieger Institute), an affiliate of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland. He is subcertified in neurodevelopmental disabilities in pediatrics by the American Board of Pediatrics. Dr. Accardo is the author and editor of several books including Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: The Clinical Spectrum (York Press, 2001); Austim: Clinical and Research Issues (York Press, 2000), and Developmental Disabilities in Infancy and Childhood, Second Edition, Volumes I and II (Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., 1996).

Barbara Y. Whitman, M.S.W., Ph.D., is Professor of Pediatrics at St. Louis University School of Medicine. Dr. Whitman obtained her master of social work and doctoral degrees at Washington University in St. Louis and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in psychiatric epidemiology at Washington University School of Medicine. She completed additional postdoctoral training in family therapy at the Menninger Clinic, Topeka, Kansas. Dr. Whitman has published extensively in the areas of parents of children with mental retardation, Prader-Willi syndrome, and attention-deficit disorders. Her publications include Attention Deficits and Hyperactivity in Children and Adults: Diagnosis, Treatment, Management, Second Edition, Revised and Expanded (Marcel Dekker, 1999); Child Maltreatment: A Clinical Guide and Reference, Second Edition (G.W. Medical Publishing, 1998); and Recognition of Child Abuse for the Mandated Reporter, Second Edition (G.W. Medical Publishing, 1996).

Anne Farrell directs an interdisciplinary team that provides evaluation and intervention for children with disabilities. She is also Co-Director of Psychology Training at WIHD. Dr. Farrell earned her doctorate in clinical and school psychology at Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York. She is a member of the Westchester, New York, Local Early Intervention Coordinating Council. Dr. Farrell provides consultation, training, and technical assistance to local, state, and federal agencies and regional intervention programs. She lectures frequently on autism, early communication disorders, behavioral supports for young children, best practice in assessment, and developmental risk in early childhood.

Jill Morrow-Gorton, M.D., is Medical Director of the Office of Mental Retardation for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. A Pennsylvania native, she graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and completed pediatric specialty training at Tufts New England Medical Center, Boston. After completing a 3-year fellowship in developmental pediatrics at St. Louis University, she was on the faculty in pediatric rehabilitation at the Pennsylvania State School of Medicine and the Hershey Medical Center. She also ran the Child Development Center, a multidisciplinary diagnostic center for children with developmental disabilities, at Polyclinic Hospital in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. She is active in the Pennsylvania chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and represented the chapter on the State Interagency Coordinating Council. She is also a member of the Society for Developmental Pediatrics and the American Academy of Child Neurology and Developmental Medicine.