The Gatlinburg Conference on Research and Theory in Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities is in its seventeenth year of operation. It has been successful in providing a forum for researchers in metal retardation to present research and theory to other scientists in the area. It has been less successful, however, in providing opportunities for exchanges with scientists working in other relevant areas. When efforts have been made to encourage such exchanges, they have been most useful to mental retardation research and to the participants from other areas. The best example is the special symposia on infancy held at the 1965 Gatlinburg Conference. Participants in those symposia have returned to the conference on a regular basis. The present proposal is a request for funds to hold special symposia at the Gatlinburg Conference in 1985-1989. Such symposia would not only improve the Gatlinburg Conference but could have a significant impact on research in mental retardation. In addition, funding is requested to support student travel and other presently unsupported aspects of the conference.
