Areas of Interest

Intellectual, physical and developmental disabilities—communication thru adaptive switch technology, supported routines, health promotion, weight-loss interventions

University Affiliations

Parsons Research Center

Research and Training Center on Independent Living

Weight Management Center

Kansas Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Center

Recent Grants

Co-Investigator: Communication of People with Mental Retardation
Agency: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Type: P01 (HD18955, Years 21-25)
Period: April 10, 2007 – March 31, 2012
Objective: To discover ways to prevent or remediate incomplete language development often associated with intellectual disabilities.

Co-Investigator: Reducing the Incidence of Obesity in Adults with Developmental Disabilities in Kansas
Agency: Kansas Council on Developmental Disabilities/Administration on Developmental Disabilities
Type: DDP 07-831
Period: October 1, 2006-September 30, 2009
Objective: To assist overweight adults with developmental disabilities to lose weight. Methods, results, and lessons learned with these participants are updated at www.diet.ku.edu.

Co-Investigator: Closing the Loop: Exploring Best Practices in Healthy Athletes Referral Follow-up
Agency: Special Olympics International
Type: Contract Period: January 15, 2010-January 15, 2011
Objective: To examine follow-up to dental screening recommendations by Special Olympics Athletes

Principal Investigator: Weight Loss by Individuals with Physical Disabilities
Agency: Department of Education, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research
Type: FIR Period: October 1, 2009-September 30, 2012
Objective: To compare the NHLBI (recommended care) diet with a meal replacement diet with adults with mobility impairments.

Co-Investigator: Weight Loss and Maintenance by Adults with IDD
Agency: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
Type: R01 Period: September 1, 2010-August 31, 2015
Objective: To compare the NHLBI (recommended care) diet with a meal replacement diet with adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities.

Representative Publications and Presentations

Murphy, K. M., Saunders, M. D., Saunders, R. R., & Olswang, L. B. (2004). Effects of ambient stimuli on measures of biobehavioral state and microswitch use in adults with profound multiple impairments, Research in Developmental Disabilities, 25, 355-370.

Mellstrom, B. P., Saunders, M. D., Saunders, R. R., & Olswang, L. B. (2005). Interaction of biobehavioral state and microswitch use in individuals with profound impairments. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, 17, 35-53.

Saunders, R. R., Chaney, L., & Marquis, J. (2005). Equivalence class establishment with two-, three-, and four-choice matching to sample by senior citizens. The Psychological Record,55, 539-559.

Saunders, R. R., McEntee, J. E., Saunders, M. D. (2005). Interaction of reinforcement schedules, a behavioral prosthesis, and work-related behavior in adults with mental retardation. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 38, 163-176 .

Saunders, R. R., Saunders, M. D., Struve, B., Munce, A. L., Olswang, L. B., Dowden, P. A., & Klasner, E. R. (2007). Discovering indices of contingency awareness in adults with multiple profound disabilities. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 112, 246-260.

Elias, B, C., Goyos, C., Saunders, M., & Saunders, R. (2008). Teaching manual signs to adults with mental retardation using matching-to-sample procedures and stimulus equivalence. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 24, 1–13.

Saunders, M. D., Questad, K. A., Cullinan, T. B. & Saunders, R. R. (2011), Adapted digital music players for individuals with severe impairments. Behavioral Interventions, 26(2), 161–166.

Saunders, R. R., Saunders, M. D., Donnelly, J. E., Smith, B. K., Sullivan, D. K., Guilford, B., & Rondon, M. F. (2011). Evaluation of an approach to weight loss in adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities. Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 49(2), 103-112.

Saunders, R. R., & Saunders, M. D (2011). Innovation of a reinforce preference assessment with the difficult to test. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 32(5), 1572-1579. [Presently online at: http://www.sciencedirect.com.www2.lib.ku.edu:2048/science/journal/08914222]

Saunders, M. D. (January 2011). The story of the good behavior game. Invited address, Good Behavior Game Training Conference, Baltimore, MD.

Current Professional Service

Board of Editors, Research in Developmental Disabilities

Awards

Recipient, Kansas Special Educator of the Year Award, 1990

Recipient, Clarissa Hug Teacher of the Year Award, 1991, from the Federation of the Council for Exceptional Children