Robert L. Schalock, Ph.D.
Robert L. Schalock, PhD, is professor emeritus at Hastings College (Nebraska),
where he chaired the Psychology Department and directed the Cognitive Behavior Lab
from 1967 to 2000. Since 1972, his work has focused on the development and evaluation
of community-based programs for people with disabilities and the key role that
the concept of quality of life plays in the planning and delivering of individualized
services and supports. Dr. Schalock has published widely in the areas of personal and
program outcomes, the supports paradigm, adaptive behavior, clinical judgment, and
quality of life. He is a past president (1997-1998) and fellow of the American Association
on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) and chaired the
AAIDD Terminology and Classification committee that issued its most recent manual
on diagnosis, classification, and systems of supports. He is also coauthor of the
AAIDD Supports Intensity Scale and the Diagnostic Adaptive Behavior Scale. Dr. Schalock
is a frequent speaker at national and international conferences and has assisted a number
of countries in their efforts to develop community-based programs for people with
intellectual and closely related developmental disabilities within the context of the
supports paradigm, the quality-of-life construct, and outcomes-based evaluation.