Richard Saunders, Ph.D.

Senior Scientist, Research and Training Center on Independent Living
The University of Kansas, 1000 Sunnyside Avenue
Room 4089 Dole, Lawrence, KS 66045-7561
Phone: (785) 785-864-1618, FAX 785-864-5063, TTY (785) 864-0706
e-mail: rrsaun@ku.edu

Professional Biography

Richard Saunders conducts research with his wife Muriel Saunders in the areas of intellectual, physical and developmental disabilities, including adaptive switch technology, supported routines, health promotion, and weight loss interventions.

He has recently received the following grants.

Weight Loss by Individuals with Physical Disabilities is a three-year grant funded by the Department of Education, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. Principal investigator is Muriel D. Saunders; Richard Saunders is co-investigator on the project, which will compare the NHLBI Step 1 (recommended care) diet with a meal replacement diet in adults with mobility impairments.

Saunders has been principal investigator for Reducing the Incidence of Obesity in Adults with Developmental Disabilities in Kansas, a three year project funded by the Kansas Council on Developmental Disabilities/Administration Developmental Disabilities that concludes in Sept. 2009. The objective of this investigation is to assist at least 100 adults with developmental disabilities to lose weight on a type of diet becoming widely accepted among typically developed adults. The diet, often referred to as “meal replacement,” relies on the concept of volumetrics to yield a diet that curbs hunger while facilitating weight loss. Methods, results, and lessons learned with these participants are updated at www.diet.ku.edu.

Communication of People with Mental Retardation is funded by the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development; Richard Saunders is principal investigator. The objective of this five-year study is the discovery of ways to prevent or remediate incomplete language development often associated with mental retardation. The components of the project range from teaching triadic eye gaze to infants at risk for severe developmental delay to tracking the effects of voice output communication aides on preschool children.

Pilot Evaluation of the Impacts of Special Olympics Healthy Athletes® Screening Events on Referral Follow-up and Health Behavior of Special Olympics Athletes is funded by Special Olympics International. Muriel D. Saunders is principal investigator of this one-year grant, with Richard Saunders the co-PI. The objective of this investigation is to contact 450 athletes andor those who speak for them in the U.S. and Peru to assess the effects of their attendance at Healthy Athlete® screenings in a window 3-6 months following the screenings.

Selected Publications

Saunders, M. D., Timler, G., Cullinen, T. B., Pilkey, S., Questad, K. A., and Saunders, R. R. (2003) Evidence of contingency awareness in people with profound multiple impairments: Response duration versus response rate indicators. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 24, 231-245.

Saunders, M. D., Smagner, J. P., & Saunders R. R. (2003). Improving methodological and technological analyses of adaptive switch use of individuals with profound multiple impairments. Behavioral Interventions.

Saunders, R. R., & McEntee, J. M. 2004). Increasing the probability of stimulus equivalence with adults with mild mental retardation. The Psychological Record, 54, 423-435.

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

Saunders, R. R. (2004, August). An alternative explanation of gradual emergence inequivalence test results: Examining the role of latencies. Invited address at the 13th Annual Meeting of the Brazilian Association for Psychotherapy and Behavioral Medicine and the 2nd International Conference of the Association for Behavior Analysis, Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Saunders, R. R., & McEntee, J. E. (2004, August). Some effects of including stimulus labels in instructions to equivalence research participants with mental retardation. Paper presented at the 13th Annual Meeting of the Brazilian Association for Psychotherapy and Behavioral Medicine and the 2nd International Conference of the Association for Behavior Analysis, Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Saunders, M. D., Saunders, R. R., Mulugeta, A., Henderson, K., Kedziorski, T., Hekker, B., & Wilson, S. (2005). A novel method for testing learning and preferences in people with minimal motor movement. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 26, 255-266.

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

Saunders, R. R., & Saunders, M. D. (2005). In search of contingency learning: Something old, something new, something borrowed. . . Behavioral Development Bulletin, 1, 23-30. 

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.

Schroeder, S. R., Schiefelbusch, R. L., Reese, R. M., Lindeman, D. P., Olson, K., & Saunders, R. R. (2006). The Kansas University Center on Developmental Disabilities. In R. L. Schiefelbusch & S. R. Schroeder (Eds.), Doing science and doing good (pp. 285-310). Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes.

Saunders, R. R., Spradlin, J. E., & Sherman, J. A. (2006). The communication of people with mental retardation program project. In R. L. Schiefelbusch & S. R. Schroeder (Eds.), Doing science and doing good (pp. 351-369). Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes.

de Souza, S., Goyos, C., Silvares, E. F. M., & Saunders, R. R. (2007). Emergence of printing and spelling skills from constructed-response matching-to-sample instruction (CRMTS). European Journal of Behavior Analysis, 8, 49-64.

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.

Saunders, R. R. (2007). Residential and day services. In J. W. Jacobson, J. A. Mulick, & Rojahn, J. (Eds.). Handbook of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, (pp. 209-226). New York: Springer.

Saunders, R. R., & Saunders, M. D. (May, 2007). Data as communication: Translating messages from persons with profound multiple impairments without a Rosetta Stone. Invited Address, 2nd International Come to Your Senses Conference, Toronto, Ontario, CA.

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, R., Saunders, M., Donnelly, J., Smith, B., Sullivan, D., & Erickson, B. (October, 2008). Reducing the incidence of obesity in adults with developmental disabilities in Kansas. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association, San Diego, CA.

Saunders, M. D., & Saunders, R. R. (October, 2008). Pilot evaluation of the impacts of Special Olympics Healthy Athletes screening events on referral, follow-up and health behavior of Special Olympics athletes. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association, San Diego, CA.

Saunders, R., Saunders, M., Donnelly, J., Smith, B., Sullivan, D., Guilford, B., Erickson, B., & Rondon,, M. (2009, May). Clinic-based evaluation of the 5-3-2 diet for overweight adults with developmental disabilities. Paper presented at the 35th annual meeting of the Association for Behavior Analysis International, Phoenix, AZ.

Saunders, M., Saunders, R., Donnelly, J., Smith, B., Sullivan, D., Guilford, B., Erickson, B., & Rondon,, M. (2009, May). Home-based evaluation of the 5-3-2 diet for overweight adults with developmental disabilities. Paper presented at the 35th annual meeting of the Association for Behavior Analysis International, Phoenix, AZ.

Current Professional Service

Consulting Editor, American Journal on Mental Retardation
Board of Editors, Behavioral Interventions
Board of Editors, Research in Developmental Disabilities