Identifying Subtypes among Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder and Mathematical Learning Disabilities, Using Model-Based Clustering

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pieters, Stefanie; Roeyers, Herbert; Rosseel, Yves; Van Waelvelde, Hilde; Desoete, Annemie

2015-01-01

A relationship between motor and mathematical skills has been shown by previous research. However, the question of whether subtypes can be differentiated within developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and/or mathematical learning disability (MLD) remains unresolved. In a sample of children with and without DCD and/or MLD, a data-driven…

Working Memory and Learning in Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder and Specific Language Impairment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alloway, Tracy Packiam; Archibald, Lisa

2008-01-01

The authors compared 6- to 11-year-olds with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and those with specific language impairment (SLI) on measures of memory (verbal and visuospatial short-term and working memory) and learning (reading and mathematics). Children with DCD with typical language skills were impaired in all four areas of memory…

Training a new generation of speech-language pathologists with competences in the management of literacy disorders and learning disabilities in Hong Kong.

PubMed

Yuen, Kevin C P

2014-01-01

One of the recent developments in the education of speech-language pathology is to include literacy disorders and learning disabilities as key training components in the training curriculum. Disorders in reading and writing are interwoven with disorders in speaking and listening, which should be managed holistically, particularly in children and adolescents. With extensive training in clinical linguistics, language disorders, and other theoretical knowledge and clinical skills, speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are the best equipped and most competent professionals to screen, identify, diagnose, and manage individuals with literacy disorders. To tackle the challenges of and the huge demand for services in literacy as well as language and learning disorders, the Hong Kong Institute of Education has recently developed the Master of Science Programme in Educational Speech-Language Pathology and Learning Disabilities, which is one of the very first speech-language pathology training programmes in Asia to blend training components of learning disabilities, literacy disorders, and social-emotional-behavioural-developmental disabilities into a developmentally and medically oriented speech-language pathology training programme. This new training programme aims to prepare a new generation of SLPs to be able to offer comprehensive support to individuals with speech, language, literacy, learning, communication, and swallowing disorders of different developmental or neurogenic origins, particularly to infants and adolescents as well as to their family and educational team. © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Practitioner Review: Early Adversity and Developmental Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taylor, Eric; Rogers, Jody Warner

2005-01-01

Background: Knowledge of genetic influences, on developmental disorders such as autism spectrum, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and learning disabilities, has increased the opportunities for understanding the influences of the early environment. Methods: This paper provides a selective, narrative review for clinicians of the effects of…

Finger-Writing Intervention Impacts the Spelling and Handwriting Skills of Children with Developmental Language Disorder: A Multiple Single-Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Reybroeck, Marie; Michiels, Nathalie

2018-01-01

Learning to use grapheme to phoneme correspondences (GPCs) provides a powerful mechanism for the foundation of reading skills in children. However, for some children, such as those with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), the GPC learning process takes time, is laborious, and impacts the entire reading and spelling processes. The present study…

Teaching Language Skills to Preschool Students with Developmental Delays and Autism Spectrum Disorder Using Language for Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flores, Margaret M.; Schweck, Kelly B.; Hinton, Vanessa

2016-01-01

Language intervention using Direct Instruction (DI) has shown positive results. There is a growing body of investigation of Language for Learning (LL), a DI program, on the performance of students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and students with developmental delays (DD). There is need for replication and extension of research to include…

Nonlinear Developmental trajectory of fear learning and memory

PubMed Central

King, Elizabeth C.; Pattwell, Siobhan S.; Sun, Alice; Glatt, Charles E.; Lee, Francis S.

2013-01-01

The transition into and out of adolescence represents a unique developmental period during which neuronal circuits are particularly susceptible to modification by experience. Adolescence is associated with an increased incidence of anxiety disorders in humans,1–3 and an estimated 75% of adults with fear-related disorders met diagnostic criteria as children and adolescents.4,5 Conserved neural circuitry between rodents and humans has facilitated neurodevelopmental studies of behavioral and molecular processes associated with fear learning and memory, which lie at the heart of many anxiety disorders. Here, we review the non-linear developmental aspects of fear learning and memory during a transition period into and out of adolescence and provide a discussion of the molecular mechanisms that may underlie these alterations in behavior. We provide a model that may help to inform novel treatment strategies for children and adolescents with fear-related disorders. PMID:24176014

Co-Occurrence of Developmental Disorders: The Case of Developmental Dyscalculia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rubinsten, Orly

2009-01-01

Five to seven percent of children experience severe difficulties in learning mathematics and/or reading. Current trials that are focused on identifying biological markers suggest that these learning disabilities, known as Developmental Dyscalculia (DD) and Dyslexia (for reading), are due to underlying brain dysfunctions. One ongoing controversy…

Learning Disability: An Educational Adventure. The 1967 Kappa Delta Pi Lecture.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kephart, Newell C.

Educational implications and symptoms are described for learning disorders, the disruption in the processing of information within the central nervous system caused by brain damage, emotional disturbance, or inadequate presentation of learning experiences. Developmental sequences, developmental progression, and restoration of development are…

Developmental Learning Disorders: From Generic Interventions to Individualized Remediation

PubMed Central

Moreau, David; Waldie, Karen E.

2016-01-01

Developmental learning disorders affect many children, impairing their experience in the classroom and hindering many aspects of their life. Once a bleak sentence associated with life-long difficulties, several learning disorders can now be successfully alleviated, directly benefiting from promising interventions. In this review, we focus on two of the most prevalent learning disorders, dyslexia and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Recent advances have refined our understanding of the specific neural networks that are altered in these disorders, yet questions remain regarding causal links between neural changes and behavioral improvements. After briefly reviewing the theoretical foundations of dyslexia and ADHD, we explore their distinct and shared characteristics, and discuss the comorbidity of the two disorders. We then examine current interventions, and consider the benefits of approaches that integrate remediation within other activities to encourage sustained motivation and improvements. Finally, we conclude with a reflection on the potential for remediation programs to be personalized by taking into account the specificities and demands of each individual. The effective remediation of learning disorders is critical to modern societies, especially considering the far-reaching ramifications of successful early interventions. PMID:26793160

Cerebellum: links between development, developmental disorders and motor learning

PubMed Central

Manto, Mario U.; Jissendi, Patrice

2012-01-01

The study of the links and interactions between development and motor learning has noticeable implications for the understanding and management of neurodevelopmental disorders. This is particularly relevant for the cerebellum which is critical for sensorimotor learning. The olivocerebellar pathway is a key pathway contributing to learning of motor skills. Its developmental maturation and remodeling are being unraveled. Advances in genetics have led to major improvements in our appraisal of the genes involved in cerebellar development, especially studies in mutant mice. Cerebellar neurogenesis is compartmentalized in relationship with neurotransmitter fate. The Engrailed-2 gene is a major actor of the specification of cerebellar cell types and late embryogenic morphogenesis. Math1, expressed by the rhombic lip, is required for the genesis of glutamatergic neurons. Mutants deficient for the transcription factor Ptf1a display a lack of Purkinje cells and gabaergic interneurons. Rora gene contributes to the developmental signaling between granule cells and Purkinje neurons. The expression profile of sonic hedgehog in postnatal stages determines the final size/shape of the cerebellum. Genes affecting the development impact upon the physiological properties of the cerebellar circuits. For instance, receptors are developmentally regulated and their action interferes directly with developmental processes. Another field of research which is expanding relates to very preterm neonates. They are at risk for cerebellar lesions, which may themselves impair the developmental events. Very preterm neonates often show sensori-motor deficits, highlighting another major link between impaired developments and learning deficiencies. Pathways playing a critical role in cerebellar development are likely to become therapeutical targets for several neurodevelopmental disorders. PMID:22291620

Parent Beliefs about the Causes of Learning and Developmental Problems among Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Results from a National Survey

PubMed Central

Lindly, Olivia J.; Sinche, Brianna

2017-01-01

This study aimed to assess variation in parent beliefs about causes of learning and developmental problems in U.S. children with autism spectrum disorder, using data from a nationally-representative survey. Results showed that beliefs about a genetic/hereditary cause of learning/developmental problems were most common, but nearly as many parents believed in exposure causes. 40% of parents had no definite causal beliefs. On multivariate analysis, parents who were non-white, publicly-insured or poor were more likely than other parents to endorse exposure causes, or less likely to endorse genetic causes, compared to other parents. Further research should assess how these beliefs modify health care quality or services utilization. PMID:27611353

Developmental Right-Hemisphere Syndrome: Clinical Spectrum of the Nonverbal Learning Disability.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gross-Tsur, Varda; And Others

1995-01-01

This study reports clinical characteristics of developmental right-hemisphere syndrome, a nonverbal learning disability, in 20 children (mean age 9.5 years) who also manifested attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, graphomotor problems, and slow performance. Diagnostic criteria included emotional and interpersonal difficulties, paralinguistic…

Current Approaches to Intervention in Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sugden, David

2007-01-01

This review analyzes approaches to intervention in children with developmental coordination disorder within the framework of how children develop and learn motor skills, drawing upon maturational, cognitive, and dynamic systems models. The approaches to intervention are divided into two categories: (1) process or deficit-oriented approaches; and…

Specific Language Impairment as a Language Learning Disability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bishop, Dorothy V. M.

2009-01-01

Compared with autistic disorder and developmental dyslexia, specific language impairment (SLI) attracts considerably less media coverage and research funding. Whereas most members of the public have some idea of the characteristics of autistic disorder and developmental dyslexia, this is not so for SLI. It is intriguing to consider why this might…

Learning through Seeing and Doing: Visual Supports for Children with Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rao, Shaila M.; Gagie, Brenda

2006-01-01

Autism is a life-long, complex developmental disorder that causes impairment in the way individuals process information. Autism belongs to heterogeneous categories of developmental disabilities where neurological disorders lead to deficits in a child's ability to communicate, understand language, play, develop social skills, and relate to others.…

Procedural Learning in Children With Developmental Coordination, Reading, and Attention Disorders.

PubMed

Magallón, Sara; Crespo-Eguílaz, Nerea; Narbona, Juan

2015-10-01

The aim is to assess repetition-based learning of procedures in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD), reading disorder (RD) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Participants included 187 children, studied in 4 groups: (a) DCD comorbid with RD and ADHD (DCD+RD+ADHD) (n = 30); (b) RD comorbid with ADHD (RD+ADHD) (n = 48); (c) ADHD (n = 19); and typically developing children (control group) (n = 90). Two procedural learning tasks were used: Assembly learning and Mirror drawing. Children were tested on 4 occasions for each task: 3 trials were consecutive and the fourth trial was performed after an interference task. Task performance by DCD+RD+ADHD children improved with training (P < .05); however, the improvement was significantly lower than that achieved by the other groups (RD+ADHD, ADHD and controls) (P < .05). In conclusion, children with DCD+RD+ADHD improve in their use of cognitive-motor procedures over a short training period. Aims of intervention in DCD+RD+ADHD should be based on individual learning abilities. © The Author(s) 2015.

What Is a Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrician?

MedlinePlus

... dyslexia, writing diffi culties, math disorders, and other school-related learning problems Attention and behavioral disorders including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and associated conditions including oppositional-defiant behavior, conduct ...

Developmental disorders: what can be learned from cognitive neuropsychology?

PubMed

Castles, Anne; Kohnen, Saskia; Nickels, Lyndsey; Brock, Jon

2014-01-01

The discipline of cognitive neuropsychology has been important for informing theories of cognition and describing the nature of acquired cognitive disorders, but its applicability in a developmental context has been questioned. Here, we revisit this issue, asking whether the cognitive neuropsychological approach can be helpful for exploring the nature and causes of developmental disorders and, if so, how. We outline the key features of the cognitive neuropsychological approach, and then consider how some of the major challenges to this approach from a developmental perspective might be met. In doing so, we distinguish between challenges to the methods of cognitive neuropsychology and those facing its deeper conceptual underpinnings. We conclude that the detailed investigation of patterns of both associations and dissociations, and across both developmental and acquired cases, can assist in describing the cognitive deficits within developmental disorders and in delineating possible causal pathways to their acquisition.

Developmental disorders: what can be learned from cognitive neuropsychology?

PubMed Central

Castles, Anne; Kohnen, Saskia; Nickels, Lyndsey; Brock, Jon

2014-01-01

The discipline of cognitive neuropsychology has been important for informing theories of cognition and describing the nature of acquired cognitive disorders, but its applicability in a developmental context has been questioned. Here, we revisit this issue, asking whether the cognitive neuropsychological approach can be helpful for exploring the nature and causes of developmental disorders and, if so, how. We outline the key features of the cognitive neuropsychological approach, and then consider how some of the major challenges to this approach from a developmental perspective might be met. In doing so, we distinguish between challenges to the methods of cognitive neuropsychology and those facing its deeper conceptual underpinnings. We conclude that the detailed investigation of patterns of both associations and dissociations, and across both developmental and acquired cases, can assist in describing the cognitive deficits within developmental disorders and in delineating possible causal pathways to their acquisition. PMID:24324246

Developmental Disorders of Language and Literacy: Special Issue

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marshall, Chloe R.; Messaoud-Galusi, Souhila

2010-01-01

Language and literacy are cognitive skills of exceptional complexity. It is therefore not surprising that they are at risk of impairment either during development or as a result of damage (e.g. stroke) later in life. Impaired language and literacy can arise from a general learning impairment. However, two developmental disorders, specific language…

Learning and Processing Abstract Words and Concepts: Insights From Typical and Atypical Development.

PubMed

Vigliocco, Gabriella; Ponari, Marta; Norbury, Courtenay

2018-05-21

The paper describes two plausible hypotheses concerning the learning of abstract words and concepts. According to a first hypothesis, children would learn abstract words by extracting co-occurrences among words in linguistic input, using, for example, mechanisms as described by models of Distributional Semantics. According to a second hypothesis, children would exploit the fact that abstract words tend to have more emotional associations than concrete words to infer that they refer to internal/mental states. Each hypothesis makes specific predictions with regards to when and which abstract words are more likely to be learned; also they make different predictions concerning the impact of developmental disorders. We start by providing a review of work characterizing how abstract words and concepts are learned in development, especially between the ages of 6 and 12. Second, we review some work from our group that tests the two hypotheses above. This work investigates typically developing (TD) children and children with atypical development (developmental language disorders [DLD] and autism spectrum disorder [ASD] with and without language deficits). We conclude that the use of strategies based on emotional information, or on co-occurrences in language, may play a role at different developmental stages. © 2018 Cognitive Science Society Inc.

Speech and Communication Disorders

MedlinePlus

... to being completely unable to speak or understand speech. Causes include Hearing disorders and deafness Voice problems, ... or those caused by cleft lip or palate Speech problems like stuttering Developmental disabilities Learning disorders Autism ...

Spelling performance of students with developmental dyslexia and with developmental dyslexia associated to attention deficit disorder and hyperactivity.

PubMed

Alves, Débora Cristina; Casella, Erasmo Barbante; Ferraro, Alexandre Arcanjo

2016-04-01

Purpose to analyze and classify the spelling performance according to the semiology of spelling error of children with developmental dyslexia (DD) and with developmental dyslexia associated to attention deficit disorder and hyperactivity(DD and ADHD) comparing them to a group of children without learning process complaints. Methods Seventy students, from the third to fifth grade, participated in this study divided as follows: 32 children without complaints of learning difficulties (GI), mean age 9.5 years; 22 students with developmental dyslexia (GII), mean age 10 years; 16 scholars with developmental dyslexia associated to attention deficit disorders and hyperactivity (GIII), mean age 9.9. Spelling skills were assessed through a standardized word dictation task. Results Data indicated that GII and GIII children presented lower performance when compared with typically developed children. There was no statistical difference between the performance of GII and GIII children regarding the score reached in spelling, although GIII children presented the lowest performance. We observed differences between GII and GIII only in the type of misspelling. Conclusion Data from this research contribute to develop better programs for intervention in the studied population.

Movement Difficulties Affect Children's Learning: An Overview of Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Caçola, Priscila

2014-01-01

The study of children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) has emerged as a vibrant line of inquiry over the last three decades. DCD is defined as a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by poor motor proficiency that interferes with a child's activities of daily living (sometimes also known as dyspraxia). Common symptoms include…

Neuromotor Deficits in Developmental Coordination Disorder: Evidence from a Reach-to-Grasp Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Biancotto, Marina; Skabar, Aldo; Bulgheroni, Maria; Carrozzi, Marco; Zoia, Stefania

2011-01-01

Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) has been classified as a specific learning disability, nonetheless the underlying cognitive mechanisms are still a matter of discussion. After a summary of the main hypotheses on the principal neuromotor causes of DCD, this study applies a causal model framework to describe the possible coexistence of more…

Facts about Developmental Disabilities

MedlinePlus

... Children with kernicterus are more likely to have cerebral palsy, hearing and vision problems, and problems with their ... developmental disabilities, such as: ADHD , autism spectrum disorder , cerebral palsy , hearing loss , intellectual disability , learning disability, vision impairment , ...

Attentional Learning Helps Language Acquisition Take Shape for Atypically Developing Children, Not Just Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Field, Charlotte; Allen, Melissa L.; Lewis, Charlie

2016-01-01

The shape bias--generalising labels to same shaped objects--has been linked to attentional learning or referential intent. We explore these origins in children with typical development (TD), autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and other developmental disorders (DD). In two conditions, a novel object was presented and either named or described.…

Predicting Developmental Status from 12 to 24 Months in Infants at Risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Preliminary Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Macari, Suzanne L.; Campbell, Daniel; Gengoux, Grace W.; Saulnier, Celine A.; Klin, Ami J.; Chawarska, Katarzyna

2012-01-01

The study examined whether performance profiles on individual items of the Toddler Module of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule at 12 months are associated with developmental status at 24 months in infants at high and low risk for developing Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). A nonparametric decision-tree learning algorithm identified sets of…

Information for Parents and Teachers on the European Academy for Childhood Disability (EACD) Recommendations on Developmental Coordination Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blank, Rainer

2012-01-01

Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is a condition characterized by difficulty in the development of motor coordination and learning new motor skills. It impacts on a child's ability to carry out everyday tasks such as getting dressed, using cutlery, writing or drawing, running, and playing sport. It is not due to any intellectual difficulty…

Reading and Writing Performances of Children 7-8 Years of Age with Developmental Coordination Disorder in Taiwan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cheng, Hsiang-Chun; Chen, Jenn-Yeu; Tsai, Chia-Liang; Shen, Miau-Lin; Cherng, Rong-Ju

2011-01-01

Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) refers to a delay in motor development that does not have any known medical cause. Studies conducted in English speaking societies have found that children with DCD display a higher co-occurrence rate of learning difficulties (e.g., problems in reading and writing) than typically developing (TD) children.…

What Are Treatments for Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities (IDDs)?

MedlinePlus

... Browse AZTopics Browse A-Z Adrenal Gland Disorders Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Down Syndrome Endometriosis Learning Disabilities Menstruation and ... NICHD Research Information Find a Study More Information Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) About NICHD Research Information Find a Study ...

[Left temporal arachnoid cyst and specific learning disorders associated with Pervasive Developmental Disorders - Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS): contributions of an integrative neuropsychomotor, neuropsychological, psychopathological and neurosurgical approach about a case report in a child (François)].

PubMed

Vaivre-Douret, L; Boschi, A; Cuny, M L; Clouard, C; Mosser, A; Golse, B; Philippe, A; Bourgeois, M; Boddaert, N; Puget, S

2016-12-01

Left temporal arachnoid cyst and specific learning disorders associated with pervasive developmental disorders - not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS): contributions of an integrative neuro-psychomotor, neuropsychological, psychopathological and neurosurgical approach about a case report in a child (François). With DSM-IV and DSM-IV-TR, the terminology of pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) covers two main categories of infantile disorders: disorders of "strictly" autistic nature and pervasive developmental disorders - not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS). Under the terminology of multiple complex developmental disorder (MCDD), it is proposed to classify children presenting symptoms approaching the psychotic disharmonies and usually diagnosed as PDD-NOS. Such a category of developmental disorders is now included without nosographic distinction in the autistic spectrum in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of mental disorders (DSM-V). We are reporting a case report of a 6-year-old boy which shows a PDD-NoS/MCDD complex symptomatology type. This child presents multiple disorders: minor neurological signs (soft signs), neuro-psychomotor disorders, developmental coordination disorder (DCD), communication, thought, and regulation of emotions disorders, attention deficit disorders (ADD); in the presence of a high verbal intellectual potential, which makes it difficult to establish a clear diagnosis. A cerebral magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was carried out due to the presence of minor neurological signs (soft signs) and of neurodevelopmental multiple disorders. The MRI revealed a voluminous arachnoid temporo-polar left cyst with a marked mass effect on the left temporal lobe. A neurosurgical intervention allowed to observe the gradual disappearance of the specific symptomatology (in particular soft signs, neuro-psychomotor functions and autistic symptoms) secondary to the interference of the cyst's pressure with intracranial areas involving neurological and psychopathological abnormalities, underlying at the same time the reversibility of the disorders after decompression as demonstrated in some studies. There are always, with a quantitative and qualitative decrease, an emotional dysregulation, a DCD, an ADD as well as impairments in the executive functions. This clinical case underlines the necessity of an evaluation in a transdisciplinary way and to follow the developmental evolution of the child in order to focus adapted therapeutics. Furthermore, with neurodevelopmental disorders not specified, it is important to examine the presence of soft signs with standardized neuro-psychomotor assessment, and then, to propose an MRI investigation. To our knowledge, this is the first report in the literature with a school age child of an unusual association between a temporal arachnoid cyst associated with PDD-NOS/MCDD. Copyright © 2016 L’Encéphale, Paris. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Specific Learning Disorders: A Look Inside Children's and Parents' Psychological Well-Being and Relationships

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bonifacci, Paola; Storti, Michele; Tobia, Valentina; Suardi, Alessandro

2016-01-01

Despite their ascertained neurobiological origin, specific learning disorders (SLD) often have been found to be associated with some emotional disturbances in children, and there is growing interest in the environmental and contextual variables that may modulate children's developmental trajectories. The present study was aimed at evaluating the…

The Role of Self-Regulatory and Metacognitive Competence in the Motor Performance Difficulties of Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder: A Theoretical and Empirical Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jokic, Claire Sangster; Whitebread, David

2011-01-01

Children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) experience difficulty coping with everyday demands due to difficulties in performing motor tasks. Recently, a cognitive learning paradigm has been applied to studying the nature of the problems experienced by children with DCD, which assumes that these children have fewer cognitive and…

Developmental Dyslexia and Widespread Activation across the Cerebellar Hemispheres

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baillieux, Hanne; Vandervliet, Everhard J. M.; Manto, Mario; Parizel, Paul M.; De Deyn, Peter P.; Marien, Peter

2009-01-01

Developmental dyslexia is the most common learning disability in school-aged children with an estimated incidence of five to ten percent. The cause and pathophysiological substrate of this developmental disorder is unclear. Recently, a possible involvement of the cerebellum in the pathogenesis of dyslexia has been postulated. In this study, 15…

The Comorbidity between Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in Children and Arabic Speech Sound Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hariri, Ruaa Osama

2016-01-01

Children with Attention-Deficiency/Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) often have co-existing learning disabilities and developmental weaknesses or delays in some areas including speech (Rief, 2005). Seeing that phonological disorders include articulation errors and other forms of speech disorders, studies pertaining to children with ADHD symptoms who…

Sensitive periods in fear learning and memory.

PubMed

King, Elizabeth C; Pattwell, Siobhan S; Glatt, Charles E; Lee, Francis S

2014-01-01

Adolescence represents a uniquely sensitive developmental stage in the transition from childhood to adulthood. During this transition, neuronal circuits are particularly susceptible to modification by experience. In addition, adolescence is a stage in which the incidence of anxiety disorders peaks in humans and over 75% of adults with fear-related disorders met diagnostic criteria as children and adolescents. While postnatal critical periods of plasticity for primary sensory processes, such as in the visual system are well established, less is known about potential critical or sensitive periods for fear learning and memory. Here, we review the non-linear developmental aspects of fear learning and memory during a transition period into and out of adolescence. We also review the literature on the non-linear development of GABAergic neurotransmission, a key regulator of critical period plasticity. We provide a model that may inform improved treatment strategies for children and adolescents with fear-related disorders.

Sensitive periods in fear learning and memory

PubMed Central

King, Elizabeth C.; Pattwell, Siobhan S.; Glatt, Charles E.; Lee, Francis S.

2015-01-01

Adolescence represents a uniquely sensitive developmental stage in the transition from childhood to adulthood. During this transition, neuronal circuits are particularly susceptible to modification by experience. In addition, adolescence is a stage in which the incidence of anxiety disorders peaks in humans and over 75% of adults with fear-related disorders met diagnostic criteria as children and adolescents. While postnatal critical periods of plasticity for primary sensory processes, such as in the visual system are well established, less is known about potential critical or sensitive periods for fear learning and memory. Here, we review the nonlinear developmental aspects of fear learning and memory during a transition period into and out of adolescence. We also review the literature on the non-linear development of GABAergic neurotransmission, a key regulator of critical period plasticity. We provide a model that may inform improved treatment strategies for children and adolescents with fear-related disorders. PMID:23611461

Prediction of Autism at 3 Years from Behavioural and Developmental Measures in High-Risk Infants: A Longitudinal Cross-Domain Classifier Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bussu, G.; Jones, E. J. H.; Charman, T.; Johnson, M. H.; Buitelaar, J. K.; Baron-Cohen, S.; Bedford, R.; Bolton, P.; Blasi, A.; Chandler, S.; Cheung, C.; Davies, K.; Elsabbagh, M.; Fernandes, J.; Gammer, I.; Garwood, H.; Gliga, T.; Guiraud, J.; Hudry, K.; Liew, M.; Lloyd-Fox, S.; Maris, H.; O'Hara, L.; Pasco, G.; Pickles, A.; Ribeiro, H.; Salomone, E.; Tucker, L.; Volein, A.

2018-01-01

We integrated multiple behavioural and developmental measures from multiple time-points using machine learning to improve early prediction of individual Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) outcome. We examined Mullen Scales of Early Learning, Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, and early ASD symptoms between 8 and 36 months in high-risk siblings (HR; n…

Neuropsychological Aspects of Developmental Dyscalculia.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shalev, R. S.; Manor, O.; Gross-Tsur, V.

1997-01-01

Classification of arithmetic disorders is predicated on neuropsychological features and associated learning disabilities. Assesses the compatibility of these classifications on a nonreferred, population-based cohort of children (N=139) with developmental dyscalculia. Concludes that children with dyscalculia and disabilities in reading and/or…

Sex Differences in Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Examination of Developmental Functioning, Autistic Symptoms, and Coexisting Behavior Problems in Toddlers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hartley, Sigan L.; Sikora, Darryn M.

2009-01-01

Little is known about the female presentation of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) during early childhood. We investigated sex differences in developmental profiles using the Mullen Scales of Early Learning, autistic symptoms on the ADOS-G, and coexisting behavior problems on the CBCL in 157 boys and 42 girls with ASD aged 1.5-3.9 years. Overall,…

Feedforward motor control in developmental dyslexia and developmental coordination disorder: Does comorbidity matter?

PubMed

Cignetti, Fabien; Vaugoyeau, Marianne; Fontan, Aurelie; Jover, Marianne; Livet, Marie-Odile; Hugonenq, Catherine; Audic, Frédérique; Chabrol, Brigitte; Assaiante, Christine

2018-05-01

Feedforward and online controls are two facets of predictive motor control from internal models, which is suspected to be impaired in learning disorders. We examined whether the feedforward component is affected in children (8-12 years) with developmental dyslexia (DD) and/or with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) compared to typically developing (TD) children. Children underwent a bimanual unloading paradigm during which a load supported to one arm, the postural arm, was either unexpectedly unloaded by a computer or voluntary unloaded by the subject with the other arm. All children showed a better stabilization (lower flexion) of the postural arm and an earlier inhibition of the arm flexors during voluntary unloading, indicating anticipation of unloading. Between-group comparisons of kinematics and electromyographic activity of the postural arm revealed that the difference during voluntary unloading was between DD-DCD children and the other groups, with the former showing a delayed inhibition of the flexor muscles. Deficit of the feedforward component of motor control may particularly apply to comorbid subtypes, here the DD-DCD subtype. The development of a comprehensive framework for motor performance deficits in children with learning disorders will be achieved only by dissociating key components of motor prediction and focusing on subtypes and comorbidities. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

VI. The role of physical activity in reducing barriers to learning in children with developmental disorders.

PubMed

Pontifex, Matthew B; Fine, Jodene G; da Cruz, Katelin; Parks, Andrew C; Smith, Alan L

2014-12-01

Emerging research suggests that physical activity may be an effective non-pharmaceutical intervention approach for childhood developmental disorders. Findings indicate that both single bouts of activity and chronic physical activity associate with improved mental health and classroom performance in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and children with autism spectrum disorders. This review describes the research in this area and identifies limitations and challenges to the translation of these findings to promote physical activity in clinical practice and educational policy. © 2014 The Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Neurodevelopmental Variation as a Framework for Thinking about the Twice Exceptional

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gilger, Jeffrey W.; Hynd, George W.

2008-01-01

Developmental exceptionalities span the range of learning abilities and encompass children with both learning disorders and learning gifts. The purpose of this article is to stimulate thinking about these exceptionalities, particularly the complexities and variations within and across people. Investigators tend to view learning disabilities or…

Learning Disabilities Spectrum: ADD, ADHD, and LD. Proceedings of the Annual Spectrum of Developmental Disabilities Course (15th, Baltimore, Maryland, March 16-18, 1992).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Capute, Arnold J., Ed.; And Others

This volume, the proceedings of a 1992 conference, presents 14 papers which take a neuropsychological approach to attention deficit disorder, attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity, and learning disabilities. Papers have the following titles and authors: "A New Conceptual Model for Dyslexia" (Sally E. Shaywitz et al.);…

Developmental regulation of fear learning and anxiety behavior by endocannabinoids

PubMed Central

Lee, Tiffany T.-Y.; Hill, Matthew N.; Lee, Francis S.

2015-01-01

The developing brain undergoes substantial maturation into adulthood and the development of specific neural structures occurs on differing timelines. Transient imbalances between developmental trajectories of corticolimbic structures, which are known to contribute to regulation over fear learning and anxiety, can leave an individual susceptible to mental illness, particularly anxiety disorders. There is a substantial body of literature indicating that the endocannabinoid system critically regulates stress responsivity and emotional behavior throughout the life span, making this system a novel therapeutic target for stress- and anxiety-related disorders. During early life and adolescence, corticolimbic endocannabinoid signaling changes dynamically and coincides with different sensitive periods of fear learning, suggesting that endocannabinoid signaling underlies age-specific fear learning responses. Moreover, perturbations to these normative fluctuations in corticolimbic endocannabinoid signaling, such as stress or cannabinoid exposure, could serve as a neural substrate contributing to alterations to the normative developmental trajectory of neural structures governing emotional behavior and fear learning. In this review, we first introduce the components of the endocannabinoid system and discuss clinical and rodent models demonstrating endocannabinoid regulation of fear learning and anxiety in adulthood. Next, we highlight distinct fear learning and regulation profiles throughout development and discuss the ontogeny of the endocannabinoid system in the central nervous system, and models of pharmacological augmentation of endocannabinoid signaling during development in the context of fear learning and anxiety. PMID:26419643

Word Learning in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

PubMed Central

Luyster, Rhiannon; Lord, Catherine

2010-01-01

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) have been gaining attention, partly as an example of unusual developmental trajectories related to early neurobiological differences. The present investigation addressed the process of learning new words in order to explore mechanisms of language delay and impairment. The sample included 21 typically developing toddlers matched on expressive vocabulary with 21 young children with ASD. Two tasks were administered to teach children a new word and were supplemented by cognitive and diagnostic measures. In most analyses, there were no group differences in performance. Children with ASD did not consistently make mapping errors, even in word learning situations which required the use of social information. These findings indicate that some children with ASD, in developmentally appropriate tasks, are able to use information from social interactions to guide word-object mappings. This result has important implications for our understanding of how children with ASD learn language. PMID:19899931

Fear learning and memory across adolescent development Hormones and Behavior Special Issue: Puberty and Adolescence

PubMed Central

Pattwell, Siobhan S.; Lee, Francis S.; Casey, B.J.

2013-01-01

Throughout the past several decades, studies have uncovered a wealth of information about the neural circuitry underlying fear learning and extinction that has helped to inform treatments for fear-related disorders such as post-traumatic stress and anxiety. Yet, up to 40 percent of people do not respond to such treatments. Adolescence, in particular, is a developmental stage during which anxiety disorders peak, yet little is known about the development of fear-related neural circuitry during this period. Moreover, pharmacological and behavioral therapies that have been developed are based on mature circuitry and function. Here, we review neural circuitry implicated in fear learning and data from adolescent mouse and human fear learning studies. In addition, we propose a developmental model of fear neural circuitry that may optimize current treatments and inform when, during development, specific treatments for anxiety may be most effective. PMID:23998679

Fear learning and memory across adolescent development: Hormones and Behavior Special Issue: Puberty and Adolescence.

PubMed

Pattwell, Siobhan S; Lee, Francis S; Casey, B J

2013-07-01

Throughout the past several decades, studies have uncovered a wealth of information about the neural circuitry underlying fear learning and extinction that has helped to inform treatments for fear-related disorders such as post-traumatic stress and anxiety. Yet, up to 40% of people do not respond to such treatments. Adolescence, in particular, is a developmental stage during which anxiety disorders peak, yet little is known about the development of fear-related neural circuitry during this period. Moreover, pharmacological and behavioral therapies that have been developed are based on mature circuitry and function. Here, we review neural circuitry implicated in fear learning and data from adolescent mouse and human fear learning studies. In addition, we propose a developmental model of fear neural circuitry that may optimize current treatments and inform when, during development, specific treatments for anxiety may be most effective. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Concurrent validity of the differential ability scales, second edition with the Mullen Scales of Early Learning in young children with and without neurodevelopmental disorders.

PubMed

Farmer, Cristan; Golden, Christine; Thurm, Audrey

2016-01-01

Estimates of intelligence in young children with neurodevelopmental disorders are critical for making diagnoses, in characterizing symptoms of disorders, and in predicting future outcomes. The limitations of standardized testing for children with developmental delay or cognitive impairment are well known: Tests do not exist that provide developmentally appropriate material along with norms that extend to the lower reaches of ability. Two commonly used and interchanged instruments are the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL), a test of developmental level, and the Differential Ability Scales, second edition (DAS-II), a more traditional cognitive test. We evaluated the correspondence of contemporaneous MSEL and the DAS-II scores in a mixed sample of children aged 2-10 years with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), non-ASD developmental delays, and typically developing children across the full spectrum of cognitive ability. Consistent with published data on the original DAS and the MSEL, scores on the DAS-II and MSEL were highly correlated. However, curve estimation revealed large mean differences that varied as a function of the child's cognitive ability level. We conclude that interchanging MSEL and DAS-II scores without regard to the discrepancy in scores may produce misleading results in both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies of children with and without ASD, and, thus, this practice should be implemented with caution.

Convergent Validity of the Mullen Scales of Early Learning and the Differential Ability Scales in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bishop, Somer L.; Guthrie, Whitney; Coffing, Mia; Lord, Catherine

2011-01-01

Despite widespread use of the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL; E. M. Mullen, 1995) as a cognitive test for children with autism spectrum disorders and other developmental disabilities, the instrument has not been independently validated for use in these populations. Convergent validity of the MSEL and the Differential Ability Scales (DAS; C.…

Predictors of Primary School Teachers' Knowledge about Developmental Dyscalculia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sousa, Paula; Dias, Paulo C.; Cadime, Irene

2017-01-01

Developmental dyscalculia is a specific learning disability that is described as a heterogeneous and persistent cognitive disorder. Given the need to detect and intervene as early as possible to minimise its effects, teachers' knowledge about symptoms, characteristics and effective intervention strategies in dyscalculia is essential. Given the…

Mathematical problems in children with developmental coordination disorder.

PubMed

Pieters, Stefanie; Desoete, Annemie; Van Waelvelde, Hilde; Vanderswalmen, Ruth; Roeyers, Herbert

2012-01-01

Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is a heterogeneous disorder, which is often co-morbid with learning disabilities. However, mathematical problems have rarely been studied in DCD. The aim of this study was to investigate the mathematical problems in children with various degrees of motor problems. Specifically, this study explored if the development of mathematical skills in children with DCD is delayed or deficient. Children with DCD performed significantly worse for number fact retrieval and procedural calculation in comparison with age-matched control children. Moreover, children with mild DCD differed significantly from children with severe DCD on both number fact retrieval and procedural calculation. In addition, we found a developmental delay of 1 year for number fact retrieval in children with mild DCD and a developmental delay of 2 years in children with severe DCD. No evidence for a mathematical deficit was found. Diagnostic implications are discussed. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Service system and cognitive outcomes for young children with autism spectrum disorders in a rural area of Taiwan.

PubMed

Chu, Ching-Lin; Chiang, Chung-Hsin; Wu, Chin-Chin; Hou, Yuh-Ming; Liu, Jiun-Horng

2017-07-01

Chiayi is a rural county located in southwestern Taiwan, and the effectiveness of its early intervention service system for autism spectrum disorders was studied in detail. A total of 71 children with autism spectrum disorders ( n = 35) and developmental delay ( n = 36) aged 2.5 years were referred from the only Early Intervention Reporting and Referral Center in Chiayi and followed up at 4 years. Results showed relatively low and varied services of early intervention for both groups during two time-point periods and a relative lack of specific early intervention programs for children with autism spectrum disorders. It was found, however, that cognitive abilities were increased for autism spectrum disorders and developmental delay groups. Additionally, the Early Learning Score at the initial evaluation could contribute to the high learner autism spectrum disorders subgroup. Parental socio-economic level was also determined to benefit the high learner developmental delay subgroup.

The Procedural Learning Deficit Hypothesis of Language Learning Disorders: We See Some Problems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

West, Gillian; Vadillo, Miguel A.; Shanks, David R.; Hulme, Charles

2018-01-01

Impaired procedural learning has been suggested as a possible cause of developmental dyslexia (DD) and specific language impairment (SLI). This study examined the relationship between measures of verbal and non-verbal implicit and explicit learning and measures of language, literacy and arithmetic attainment in a large sample of 7 to 8-year-old…

Neurobiological Basis of Language Learning Difficulties.

PubMed

Krishnan, Saloni; Watkins, Kate E; Bishop, Dorothy V M

2016-09-01

In this paper we highlight why there is a need to examine subcortical learning systems in children with language impairment and dyslexia, rather than focusing solely on cortical areas relevant for language. First, behavioural studies find that children with these neurodevelopmental disorders perform less well than peers on procedural learning tasks that depend on corticostriatal learning circuits. Second, fMRI studies in neurotypical adults implicate corticostriatal and hippocampal systems in language learning. Finally, structural and functional abnormalities are seen in the striatum in children with language disorders. Studying corticostriatal networks in developmental language disorders could offer us insights into their neurobiological basis and elucidate possible modes of compensation for intervention. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Developmental regulation of fear learning and anxiety behavior by endocannabinoids.

PubMed

Lee, T T-Y; Hill, M N; Lee, F S

2016-01-01

The developing brain undergoes substantial maturation into adulthood and the development of specific neural structures occurs on differing timelines. Transient imbalances between developmental trajectories of corticolimbic structures, which are known to contribute to regulation over fear learning and anxiety, can leave an individual susceptible to mental illness, particularly anxiety disorders. There is a substantial body of literature indicating that the endocannabinoid (eCB) system critically regulates stress responsivity and emotional behavior throughout the life span, making this system a novel therapeutic target for stress- and anxiety-related disorders. During early life and adolescence, corticolimbic eCB signaling changes dynamically and coincides with different sensitive periods of fear learning, suggesting that eCB signaling underlies age-specific fear learning responses. Moreover, perturbations to these normative fluctuations in corticolimbic eCB signaling, such as stress or cannabinoid exposure, could serve as a neural substrate contributing to alterations to the normative developmental trajectory of neural structures governing emotional behavior and fear learning. In this review, we first introduce the components of the eCB system and discuss clinical and rodent models showing eCB regulation of fear learning and anxiety in adulthood. Next, we highlight distinct fear learning and regulation profiles throughout development and discuss the ontogeny of the eCB system in the central nervous system, and models of pharmacological augmentation of eCB signaling during development in the context of fear learning and anxiety. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society.

Learning difficulties: a retrospective study of their co morbidity and continuity as indicators of adult criminal behaviour in 18-70-year-old prisoners.

PubMed

Zakopoulou, Victoria; Pashou, Theodora; Tzavelas, Panagiotis; Christodoulides, Pavlos; Anna, Milona; Iliana, Kolotoura

2013-11-01

The development of learning difficulties is associated with problems in external (executive) and extensive behaviour in a co-occurrence with psycho-emotional problems beginning from pre-school, school age, and adolescence up to adulthood. Through the current survey, we aim to emphasise the early role of learning difficulties during the school age and adolescence of prisoners and their effects on the onset of offending behaviours in adulthood, such as criminal behaviour. Altogether, we studied 117 Greek adult prisoners from 18 to 70 years old who were accused of different types or degrees of offences. Through statistical analyses, the following factors were observed with high statistical significance as early indicators of criminal behaviour in the adult lives of the prisoners: (i) learning difficulties, (ii) family problems, (iii) behaviour disorders, (iv) developmental disorders, and (v) psycho-emotional disorders. As a result, the learning difficulties were assumed to be the most decisive factor in the developmental progression of prisoners because they manifested early in the prisoners' lives, weakened the prisoners to be competitive and robust, provoked a bad self-image and low self-esteem, and, in the frame of a weak or negative family and educational environment, they accompanied antisocial behaviour and psycho-emotional disorders even from adolescence, which continued into adulthood. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Video game play, attention, and learning: how to shape the development of attention and influence learning?

PubMed

Cardoso-Leite, Pedro; Bavelier, Daphne

2014-04-01

The notion that play may facilitate learning has long been touted. Here, we review how video game play may be leveraged for enhancing attentional control, allowing greater cognitive flexibility and learning and in turn new routes to better address developmental disorders. Video games, initially developed for entertainment, appear to enhance the behavior in domains as varied as perception, attention, task switching, or mental rotation. This surprisingly wide transfer may be mediated by enhanced attentional control, allowing increased signal-to-noise ratio and thus more informed decisions. The possibility of enhancing attentional control through targeted interventions, be it computerized training or self-regulation techniques, is now well established. Embedding such training in video game play is appealing, given the astounding amount of time spent by children and adults worldwide with this media. It holds the promise of increasing compliance in patients and motivation in school children, and of enhancing the use of positive impact games. Yet for all the promises, existing research indicates that not all games are created equal: a better understanding of the game play elements that foster attention and learning as well as of the strategies developed by the players is needed. Computational models from machine learning or developmental robotics provide a rich theoretical framework to develop this work further and address its impact on developmental disorders.

Scientific and Policy Statements on Environmental Agents Associated with Neurodevelopmental Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gilbert, Steven G.; Miller, Elise; Martin, Joyce; Abulafia, Laura

2010-01-01

Damage to the brain or nervous system at an early developmental stage creates lifelong challenges for the individual. To examine one source of harm to the developing nervous system, the Collaborative on Health and the Environment's (CHE) Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative (LDDI) (Collaborative on Health and the Environment, 2009)…

Educating Health Professionals about Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

American Journal of Health Education, 2007

2007-01-01

Prenatal exposure to alcohol is a leading preventable cause of birth defects and developmental disabilities. Individuals exposed to alcohol during fetal development can have physical, mental, behavioral, and learning disabilities, with lifelong implications. These conditions are known as fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs). Health care…

Imaging evidence for disturbances in multiple learning and memory systems in persons with autism spectrum disorders.

PubMed

Goh, Suzanne; Peterson, Bradley S

2012-03-01

The aim of this article is to review neuroimaging studies of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) that examine declarative, socio-emotional, and procedural learning and memory systems. We conducted a search of PubMed from 1996 to 2010 using the terms 'autism,''learning,''memory,' and 'neuroimaging.' We limited our review to studies correlating learning and memory function with neuroimaging features of the brain. The early literature supports the following preliminary hypotheses: (1) abnormalities of hippocampal subregions may contribute to autistic deficits in episodic and relational memory; (2) disturbances to an amygdala-based network (which may include the fusiform gyrus, superior temporal cortex, and mirror neuron system) may contribute to autistic deficits in socio-emotional learning and memory; and (3) abnormalities of the striatum may contribute to developmental dyspraxia in individuals with ASD. Characterizing the disturbances to learning and memory systems in ASD can inform our understanding of the neural bases of autistic behaviors and the phenotypic heterogeneity of ASD. © The Authors. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology © 2012 Mac Keith Press.

Intellectual developmental disorders: towards a new name, definition and framework for "mental retardation/intellectual disability" in ICD-11.

PubMed

Salvador-Carulla, Luis; Reed, Geoffrey M; Vaez-Azizi, Leila M; Cooper, Sally-Ann; Martinez-Leal, Rafael; Bertelli, Marco; Adnams, Colleen; Cooray, Sherva; Deb, Shoumitro; Akoury-Dirani, Leyla; Girimaji, Satish Chandra; Katz, Gregorio; Kwok, Henry; Luckasson, Ruth; Simeonsson, Rune; Walsh, Carolyn; Munir, Kemir; Saxena, Shekhar

2011-10-01

Although "intellectual disability" has widely replaced the term "mental retardation", the debate as to whether this entity should be conceptualized as a health condition or as a disability has intensified as the revision of the World Health Organization (WHO)'s International Classification of Diseases (ICD) advances. Defining intellectual disability as a health condition is central to retaining it in ICD, with significant implications for health policy and access to health services. This paper presents the consensus reached to date by the WHO ICD Working Group on the Classification of Intellectual Disabilities. Literature reviews were conducted and a mixed qualitative approach was followed in a series of meetings to produce consensus-based recommendations combining prior expert knowledge and available evidence. The Working Group proposes replacing mental retardation with intellectual developmental disorders, defined as "a group of developmental conditions characterized by significant impairment of cognitive functions, which are associated with limitations of learning, adaptive behaviour and skills". The Working Group further advises that intellectual developmental disorders be incorporated in the larger grouping (parent category) of neurodevelopmental disorders, that current subcategories based on clinical severity (i.e., mild, moderate, severe, profound) be continued, and that problem behaviours be removed from the core classification structure of intellectual developmental disorders and instead described as associated features.

Are Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Initially Attuned to Object Function Rather than Shape for Word Learning?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Field, Charlotte; Allen, Melissa L.; Lewis, Charlie

2016-01-01

We investigate the function bias--generalising words to objects with the same function--in typically developing (TD) children, children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and children with other developmental disorders. Across four trials, a novel object was named and its function was described and demonstrated. Children then selected the other…

Motor impairment in children with Neurofibromatosis type 1: Effect of the comorbidity with language disorders.

PubMed

Iannuzzi, Stéphanie; Albaret, Jean-Michel; Chignac, Céline; Faure-Marie, Nathalie; Barry, Isabelle; Karsenty, Caroline; Chaix, Yves

2016-02-01

There is a body of evidence demonstrating comorbidity of motor and cognitive deficit in «idiopathic» developmental disorders. These associations are also found in developmental disorders secondary to monogenic disorders as in Neurofibromatosis type 1 for which the principal complication during childhood is learning disabilities. The comparison of motor impairment between developmental disorders either idiopathic or secondary as in NF1 could help us to better understand the cause of the combined language/motor deficit in these populations. The aim of this current study was to investigate motor impairment in children with NF1 for which oral language had been specified and then to compare the motors skills of the NF1 group to motor performance of children with Specific Language Disorder (SLD). Two groups of 49 children between 5 and 12years old were included and compared, the NF1 group and the SLD (Specific Language Disorder) group. Each child completed evaluation involving cognitive, language and motor assessment. In NF1 group, motor impairment was more frequent and more severe and concerned specifically balance rather than manual dexterity or ball skills, compared to a group of children with SLD. This motor impairment was independent of language status in the NF1 group. These results as well as other studies on the same topic could suggest that in NF1 children, fine motor skills impairment would be dependent on the existence of comorbidity with language disorders. Also, that gross motor skills impairment, and more precisely the balance deficit would be characteristic of NF1. This issue encourages studies of procedural learning that can involve the fronto-striatal or the fronto-cerebellar loops according to the type of motor tasks and the stage of learning. Copyright © 2015 The Japanese Society of Child Neurology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Developmental coordination disorders: state of art.

PubMed

Vaivre-Douret, L

2014-01-01

In the literature, descriptions of children with motor coordination difficulties and clumsy movements have been discussed since the early 1900s. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), it is a marked impairment in the development of fine or global motor coordination, affecting 6% of school-age children. All these children are characterized for developmental coordination disorder (DCD) in motor learning and new motor skill acquisition, in contrast to adult apraxia which is a disorder in the execution of already learned movements. No consensus has been established about etiology of DCD. Intragroup approach through factor and cluster analysis highlights that motor impairment in DCD children varies both in severity and nature. Indeed, most studies have used screening measures of performance on some developmental milestones derived from global motor tests. A few studies have investigated different functions together with standardized assessments, such as neuromuscular tone and soft signs, qualitative and quantitative measures related to gross and fine motor coordination and the specific difficulties -academic, language, gnosic, visual motor/visual-perceptual, and attentional/executive- n order to allow a better identification of DCD subtypes with diagnostic criteria and to provide an understanding of the mechanisms and of the cerebral involvement. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Developmental Dyscalculia Is a Familial Learning Disability.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shalev, Ruth S.; Manor, Orly; Kerem, Batsheva; Ayali, Mady; Badichi, Navah; Friedlander, Yechiel; Gross-Tsur, Varda

2001-01-01

Siblings and parents of 39 children with dyscalculia were assessed for arithmetic, reading, and attention disorders. Findings indicated a familial prevalence of dyscalculia almost tenfold higher than expected for the general population and suggest that dyscalculia, like other learning disabilities, has a significant familial aggregation,…

Intelligence and Neuropsychological Aptitude Testing of U.S. Air Force MQ-1 Predator Pilot Training Candidates

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-11-01

of cognitive difficulties (e.g., memory, attention, reasoning, information processing) stemming from a head injury, medical illness (e.g., bacterial ... meningitis ), developmental disorder (e.g., attention deficit and hyperactivity, learning disorder), or emotional problems (e.g., depression, anxiety

Relations among motor, social, and cognitive skills in pre-kindergarten children with developmental disabilities.

PubMed

Kim, Helyn; Carlson, Abby G; Curby, Timothy W; Winsler, Adam

2016-01-01

Despite the comorbidity between motor difficulties and certain disabilities, limited research has examined links between early motor, cognitive, and social skills in preschool-aged children with developmental disabilities. The present study examined the relative contributions of gross motor and fine motor skills to the prediction of improvements in children's cognitive and social skills among 2,027 pre-kindergarten children with developmental disabilities, including specific learning disorder, speech/language impairment, intellectual disability, and autism spectrum disorder. Results indicated that for pre-kindergarten children with developmental disabilities, fine motor skills, but not gross motor skills, were predictive of improvements in cognitive and social skills, even after controlling for demographic information and initial skill levels. Moreover, depending on the type of developmental disability, the pattern of prediction of gross motor and fine motor skills to improvements in children's cognitive and social skills differed. Implications are discussed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Emotion-based learning systems and the development of morality.

PubMed

Blair, R J R

2017-10-01

In this paper it is proposed that important components of moral development and moral judgment rely on two forms of emotional learning: stimulus-reinforcement and response-outcome learning. Data in support of this position will be primarily drawn from work with individuals with the developmental condition of psychopathy as well as fMRI studies with healthy individuals. Individuals with psychopathy show impairment on moral judgment tasks and a pronounced increased risk for instrumental antisocial behavior. It will be argued that these impairments are developmental consequences of impaired stimulus-aversive conditioning on the basis of distress cue reinforcers and response-outcome learning in individuals with this disorder. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

New Angles on Motor and Sensory Coordination in Learning Disabilities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goldey, Ellen S.

1998-01-01

Provides an overview of presentations that were included in the Medical Symposium at the 1998 Learning Disabilities Association conference. The symposium addressed vestibular control and eye movement, postural sway and balance, cerebellar dysfunction, the role of the frontal lobe, developmental coordination disorder, and sensory integration…

Characterisation of Sleep Problems in Children with Williams Syndrome

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Annaz, Dagmara; Hill, Catherine M.; Ashworth, Anna; Holley, Simone; Karmiloff-Smith, Annette

2011-01-01

Sleep is critical to optimal daytime functioning, learning and general health. In children with established developmental disorders sleep difficulties may compound existing learning difficulties. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence and syndrome specificity of sleep problems in Williams syndrome (WS), a…

Health-Related Quality of Life for Pediatric NF-1 Patients

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-08-01

Developmental Disorders, Mood Disorders, Anxiety Disorders Specific learning/cognitive problems and/or classroom difficulties √ √ √ √ Reading...preferring solitary activities; teasing Fine and/or gross motor coordination √ √ √ √ Handwriting , running, walking, clumsiness Concerns about...as poor fine and gross motor coordination; these were evidenced by clumsiness and handwriting problems, for example. A number of children and

Developmental reading disorder

MedlinePlus

... important. Many students with learning disabilities have poor self-esteem. Psychological counseling may be helpful. ... Problems in school, including behavior problems Loss of self-esteem Reading problems that continue Problems with job performance

Robots Learn to Recognize Individuals from Imitative Encounters with People and Avatars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boucenna, Sofiane; Cohen, David; Meltzoff, Andrew N.; Gaussier, Philippe; Chetouani, Mohamed

2016-02-01

Prior to language, human infants are prolific imitators. Developmental science grounds infant imitation in the neural coding of actions, and highlights the use of imitation for learning from and about people. Here, we used computational modeling and a robot implementation to explore the functional value of action imitation. We report 3 experiments using a mutual imitation task between robots, adults, typically developing children, and children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. We show that a particular learning architecture - specifically one combining artificial neural nets for (i) extraction of visual features, (ii) the robot’s motor internal state, (iii) posture recognition, and (iv) novelty detection - is able to learn from an interactive experience involving mutual imitation. This mutual imitation experience allowed the robot to recognize the interactive agent in a subsequent encounter. These experiments using robots as tools for modeling human cognitive development, based on developmental theory, confirm the promise of developmental robotics. Additionally, findings illustrate how person recognition may emerge through imitative experience, intercorporeal mapping, and statistical learning.

Robots Learn to Recognize Individuals from Imitative Encounters with People and Avatars

PubMed Central

Boucenna, Sofiane; Cohen, David; Meltzoff, Andrew N.; Gaussier, Philippe; Chetouani, Mohamed

2016-01-01

Prior to language, human infants are prolific imitators. Developmental science grounds infant imitation in the neural coding of actions, and highlights the use of imitation for learning from and about people. Here, we used computational modeling and a robot implementation to explore the functional value of action imitation. We report 3 experiments using a mutual imitation task between robots, adults, typically developing children, and children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. We show that a particular learning architecture - specifically one combining artificial neural nets for (i) extraction of visual features, (ii) the robot’s motor internal state, (iii) posture recognition, and (iv) novelty detection - is able to learn from an interactive experience involving mutual imitation. This mutual imitation experience allowed the robot to recognize the interactive agent in a subsequent encounter. These experiments using robots as tools for modeling human cognitive development, based on developmental theory, confirm the promise of developmental robotics. Additionally, findings illustrate how person recognition may emerge through imitative experience, intercorporeal mapping, and statistical learning. PMID:26844862

Effect of Response Practice Variables on Learning Spelling and Sight Vocabulary.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cuvo, Anthony J.; And Others

1995-01-01

Response practice variables for learning spelling and sight vocabulary were studied in 4 experiments involving a total of 18 rehabilitation clients and adolescents with developmental disabilities or behavior disorders. The experiments specifically examined the "cover write" method, written versus oral practice, less versus more response practice,…

Intellectual developmental disorders: towards a new name, definition and framework for “mental retardation/intellectual disability” in ICD-11

PubMed Central

CARULLA, LUIS SALVADOR; REED, GEOFFREY M.; VAEZ-AZIZI, LEILA M.; COOPER, SALLY-ANN; LEAL, RAFAEL MARTINEZ; BERTELLI, MARCO; ADNAMS, COLLEEN; COORAY, SHERVA; DEB, SHOUMITRO; DIRANI, LEYLA AKOURY; GIRIMAJI, SATISH CHANDRA; KATZ, GREGORIO; KWOK, HENRY; LUCKASSON, RUTH; SIMEONSSON, RUNE; WALSH, CAROLYN; MUNIR, KEMIR; SAXENA, SHEKHAR

2011-01-01

Although “intellectual disability” has widely replaced the term “mental retardation”, the debate as to whether this entity should be conceptualized as a health condition or as a disability has intensified as the revision of the World Health Organization (WHO)’s International Classification of Diseases (ICD) advances. Defining intellectual disability as a health condition is central to retaining it in ICD, with significant implications for health policy and access to health services. This paper presents the consensus reached to date by the WHO ICD Working Group on the Classification of Intellectual Disabilities. Literature reviews were conducted and a mixed qualitative approach was followed in a series of meetings to produce consensus-based recommendations combining prior expert knowledge and available evidence. The Working Group proposes replacing mental retardation with intellectual developmental disorders, defined as “a group of developmental conditions characterized by significant impairment of cognitive functions, which are associated with limitations of learning, adaptive behaviour and skills”. The Working Group further advises that intellectual developmental disorders be incorporated in the larger grouping (parent category) of neurodevelopmental disorders, that current subcategories based on clinical severity (i.e., mild, moderate, severe, profound) be continued, and that problem behaviours be removed from the core classification structure of intellectual developmental disorders and instead described as associated features. PMID:21991267

Neuroimaging: A Window to the Neurological Foundations of Learning and Behavior in Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lyon, G. Reid, Ed.; Rumsey, Judith M., Ed.

This book presents 11 papers on the use of neuroimaging technology in brain-related disorders. The text contains full-color neuroimaging scans and provides both theoretical and methodological explanations of the various neuroimaging techniques and their application to developmental disorders in children. The papers are grouped into three sections,…

Prologue: Toward Accurate Identification of Developmental Language Disorder Within Linguistically Diverse Schools.

PubMed

Oetting, Janna B

2018-04-05

Although the 5 studies presented within this clinical forum include children who differ widely in locality, language learning profile, and age, all were motivated by a desire to improve the accuracy at which developmental language disorder is identified within linguistically diverse schools. The purpose of this prologue is to introduce the readers to a conceptual framework that unites the studies while also highlighting the approaches and methods each research team is pursuing to improve assessment outcomes within their respective linguistically diverse community. A disorder within diversity framework is presented to replace previous difference vs. disorder approaches. Then, the 5 studies within the forum are reviewed by clinical question, type of tool(s), and analytical approach. Across studies of different linguistically diverse groups, research teams are seeking answers to similar questions about child language screening and diagnostic practices, using similar analytical approaches to answer their questions, and finding promising results with tools focused on morphosyntax. More studies that are modeled after or designed to extend those in this forum are needed to improve the accuracy at which developmental language disorder is identified.

Distributional Learning in College Students With Developmental Language Disorder.

PubMed

Hall, Jessica; Owen Van Horne, Amanda; McGregor, Karla K; Farmer, Thomas

2017-11-09

This study examined whether college students with developmental language disorder (DLD) could use distributional information in an artificial language to learn about grammatical category membership in a way similar to their typically developing (TD) peers. Seventeen college students with DLD and 17 TD college students participated in this task. We used an artificial grammar in which certain combinations of words never occurred during training. At test, participants had to use knowledge of category membership to determine which combinations were allowable in the grammar, even though they had not been heard. College students with DLD performed similarly to TD peers in distinguishing grammatical from ungrammatical combinations. Differences in ratings between grammatical and ungrammatical items in this task suggest that college students with DLD can form grammatical categories from novel input and more broadly use distributional information.

Artistic talent in dyslexia--a hypothesis.

PubMed

Chakravarty, Ambar

2009-10-01

The present article hints at a curious neurocognitive phenomenon of development of artistic talents in some children with dyslexia. The article also takes note of the phenomenon of creating in the midst of language disability as observed in the lives of such creative people like Leonardo da Vinci and Albert Einstein who were most probably affected with developmental learning disorders. It has been hypothesised that a developmental delay in the dominant hemisphere most likely 'disinhibits' the non-dominant parietal lobe to unmask talents, artistic or otherwise, in some such individuals. The present hypothesis follows the phenomenon of paradoxical functional facilitation described earlier. It has been suggested that children with learning disorders be encouraged to develop such hidden talents to full capacity, rather than be subjected to overemphasising on the correction of the disturbed coded symbol operations, in remedial training.

Graphomotor skills in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD): Handwriting and learning a new letter.

PubMed

Huau, Andréa; Velay, Jean-Luc; Jover, Marianne

2015-08-01

The aim of the present study was to analyze handwriting difficulties in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and investigate the hypothesis that a deficit in procedural learning could help to explain them. The experimental set-up was designed to compare the performances of children with DCD with those of a non-DCD group on tasks that rely on motor learning in different ways, namely handwriting and learning a new letter. Ten children with DCD and 10 non-DCD children, aged 8-10 years, were asked to perform handwriting tasks (letter/word/sentence; normal/fast), and a learning task (new letter) on a graphic tablet. The BHK concise assessment scale for children's handwriting was used to evaluate their handwriting quality. Results showed that both the handwriting and learning tasks differentiated between the groups. Furthermore, when speed or length constraints were added, handwriting was more impaired in children with DCD than in non-DCD children. Greater intra-individual variability was observed in the group of children with DCD, arguing in favor of a deficit in motor pattern stabilization. The results of this study could support both the hypothesis of a deficit in procedural learning and the hypothesis of neuromotor noise in DCD. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Working Memory Deficits in Children with Specific Learning Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schuchardt, Kirsten; Maehler, Claudia; Hasselhorn, Marcus

2008-01-01

This article examines working memory functioning in children with specific developmental disorders of scholastic skills as defined by ICD-10. Ninety-seven second to fourth graders with a minimum IQ of 80 are compared using a 2 x 2 factorial (dyscalculia vs. no dyscalculia; dyslexia vs. no dyslexia) design. An extensive test battery assesses the…

Developmental Pathway Genes and Neural Plasticity Underlying Emotional Learning and Stress-Related Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maheau, Marissa E.; Ressler, Kerry J.

2017-01-01

The manipulation of neural plasticity as a means of intervening in the onset and progression of stress-related disorders retains its appeal for many researchers, despite our limited success in translating such interventions from the laboratory to the clinic. Given the challenges of identifying individual genetic variants that confer increased risk…

Circumscribed Interests in Higher Functioning Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders: An Exploratory Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Klin, Ami; Danovitch, Judith H.; Merz, Amanda B.; Volkmar, Fred R.

2007-01-01

Circumscribed interests are a fascinating and an understudied phenomenon in some individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Research in this area is likely to contribute to our understanding of ASDs and to advancing developmental knowledge on learning processes used to adapt to the demands of everyday social life. This study reports on a…

[Specific developmental disorder of speech and language in adulthood].

PubMed

Vlassopoulos, M; Anagnostopoulos, D C

2012-06-01

Specific developmental disorder of speech and language is part of a more general category of neurodevelopmental disorders, which is encountered in 7-10% of the childhood population. These children exhibit a significant impairment in speech and language development, which cannot be justified by hearing impairment, cognitive impairment, neuromuscular or orofacial disorders, as well as by emotional or environmental factors. Specific developmental disorders of speech and language are often comorbid with other neurodevelopmental disorders, such as motor coordination disorder and ADHD. These disorders are usually detected in early childhood and commonly treated during the preschool and school years. Despite this fact clinical and empirical evidence suggest that often these disorders persist beyond the school years, even though the symptomatology may be differentiated. In this literature review, we address the question of whether specific developmental language disorders are encountered only during childhood, and, if they persist, how they are manifested in adulthood. Finally, possible factors which may lead to these manifestations are analyzed. A considerable body of research has shown that even though the symptoms of children with specific developmental language disorders are resolved before the end of childhood, a significant part of this population continues to have persisting difficulties through adolescence and into adulthood. The continuity of this disorder may sometimes be directly linked to language disorder, as in the case of learning impairments or, on the other hand, symptoms may be related with those of conduct disorders, social adjustment disorder, emotional and psychiatric disorders in adolescence and adulthood. It therefore appears that specific developmental language disorder is often an early symptom of other disorders in the future. Even though the precise mechanisms which are responsible for these disorders are not yet known, it is possible that a fragile neurobiological substratum in these disorders may explain why early symptoms are usually manifested as language disorders and later develop into other disorders over time. However, these symptom changes may be linked to other parameters, such as the increasing social and emotional demands made on these individuals with increasing age, which may be a contributing environmental parameter to an already vulnerable system. Despite all of the limitations in the longterm study of these children, it is suggested that in some way, and not in all cases, pathology may continue into adulthood, although with a different symptomatology, which is linked to behavioural and social adjustment, as well as with more pervasive psychiatric disorders. In conclusion, it is suggested that a continuum of services may be necessary for these cases into adulthood.

[Modeling developmental aspects of sensorimotor control of speech production].

PubMed

Kröger, B J; Birkholz, P; Neuschaefer-Rube, C

2007-05-01

Detailed knowledge of the neurophysiology of speech acquisition is important for understanding the developmental aspects of speech perception and production and for understanding developmental disorders of speech perception and production. A computer implemented neural model of sensorimotor control of speech production was developed. The model is capable of demonstrating the neural functions of different cortical areas during speech production in detail. (i) Two sensory and two motor maps or neural representations and the appertaining neural mappings or projections establish the sensorimotor feedback control system. These maps and mappings are already formed and trained during the prelinguistic phase of speech acquisition. (ii) The feedforward sensorimotor control system comprises the lexical map (representations of sounds, syllables, and words of the first language) and the mappings from lexical to sensory and to motor maps. The training of the appertaining mappings form the linguistic phase of speech acquisition. (iii) Three prelinguistic learning phases--i. e. silent mouthing, quasi stationary vocalic articulation, and realisation of articulatory protogestures--can be defined on the basis of our simulation studies using the computational neural model. These learning phases can be associated with temporal phases of prelinguistic speech acquisition obtained from natural data. The neural model illuminates the detailed function of specific cortical areas during speech production. In particular it can be shown that developmental disorders of speech production may result from a delayed or incorrect process within one of the prelinguistic learning phases defined by the neural model.

Persuasive Talk in Social Contexts: Development, Assessment, and Intervention.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nippold, Marilyn A.

1994-01-01

This article reviews the developmental literature in spoken persuasion and discusses implications for assessment and intervention with students with language-learning disorders, in terms of persuading others, analyzing persuasive appeals, and responding to persuasive appeals. (JDD)

Taare Zameen Par and dyslexic savants

PubMed Central

Chakravarty, Ambar

2009-01-01

The film Taare Zameen Par (Stars upon the Ground) portrays the tormented life at school and at home of a child with dyslexia and his eventual success after his artistic talents are discovered by his art teacher at the boarding school. The film hints at a curious neurocognitive phenomenon of creativity in the midst of language disability, as exemplified in the lives of people like Leonardo da Vinci and Albert Einstein, both of whom demonstrated extraordinary creativity even though they were probably affected with developmental learning disorders. It has been hypothesized that a developmental delay in the dominant hemisphere most likely ‘disinhibits’ the nondominant parietal lobe, unmasking talents—artistic or otherwise—in some such individuals. It has been suggested that, in remedial training, children with learning disorders be encouraged to develop such hidden talents to full capacity, rather than be subjected to the usual overemphasis on the correction of the disturbed coded symbol operations. PMID:20142854

Taare Zameen Par and dyslexic savants.

PubMed

Chakravarty, Ambar

2009-04-01

The film Taare Zameen Par (Stars upon the Ground) portrays the tormented life at school and at home of a child with dyslexia and his eventual success after his artistic talents are discovered by his art teacher at the boarding school. The film hints at a curious neurocognitive phenomenon of creativity in the midst of language disability, as exemplified in the lives of people like Leonardo da Vinci and Albert Einstein, both of whom demonstrated extraordinary creativity even though they were probably affected with developmental learning disorders. It has been hypothesized that a developmental delay in the dominant hemisphere most likely 'disinhibits' the nondominant parietal lobe, unmasking talents-artistic or otherwise-in some such individuals. It has been suggested that, in remedial training, children with learning disorders be encouraged to develop such hidden talents to full capacity, rather than be subjected to the usual overemphasis on the correction of the disturbed coded symbol operations.

Impact of the DSM-V Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Criteria for Diagnosing Children With High IQ.

PubMed

Thongseiratch, Therdpong; Worachotekamjorn, Juthamas

2016-10-01

This study compared the number of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) cases defined by Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM)-IV versus DSM-V criterion in children who have learning or behavioral problems with high IQ. The medical records of children ≤15 years of age who presented with learning or behavioral problems and underwent a Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC)-III IQ test at the Pediatric Outpatient Clinic unit between 2010 and 2015 were reviewed. Information on DSM-IV and DSM-V criteria for ADHD were derived from computer-based medical records. Twenty-eight children who had learning or behavioral problems were identified to have a full-scale IQ ≥120. Sixteen of these high-IQ children met the DSM-IV criteria diagnosis for ADHD. Applying the extension of the age-of-onset criterion from 7 to 12 years in DSM-V led to an increase of three cases, all of which were the inattentive type ADHD. Including the pervasive developmental disorder criterion led to an increase of one case. The total number of ADHD cases also increased from 16 to 20 in this group. The data supported the hypothesis that applying the extension of the age-of-onset ADHD criterion and enabling the diagnosis of children with pervasive developmental disorders will increase the number of ADHD diagnoses among children with high IQ. © The Author(s) 2016.

Managing Behavior by Managing the Classroom: Making Learning Accessible for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Szymanski, Christen A.

2012-01-01

The prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)--a group of developmental disabilities that cause severe problems with socialization, behavior, and communication--continues to grow. In 2008, the year that "Odyssey" focused on autism, the estimated prevalence of ASD for hearing children was 1 in 150 (CDC, 2007), while today estimates suggest…

The Progression of Severe Behavior Disorder in Young Children with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

PubMed Central

Medeiros, Kristen; Curby, Timothy W.; Bernstein, Alec; Rojahn, Johannes; Schroeder, Stephen R.

2015-01-01

Behavior disorders, such as self-injurious, stereotypic, and aggressive behavior are common among individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities. While we have learned much about those behaviors over the past few decades, longitudinal research that looks at developmental trajectory has been rare. This study was designed to examine the trajectory of these three forms of severe behavior disorders over a one year time period. The behaviors were measured on two dimensions: frequency of occurrence and severity. Participants were 160 infants and toddlers at risk for developmental delays in Lima, Peru. Using structural equation modeling, we found that the frequency of self-injury and stereotypic behavior and the severity of aggressive behavior remained stable over the 12 month period. Uni-directional structural models fit the data best for self-injurious and aggressive behavior (with frequency being a leading indicator of future severity of self-injury and severity being a leading indicator of future frequency for aggression). For stereotypic behavior, a cross-lagged autoregressive model fit the data best, with both dimensions of frequency and severity involved as leading indicators of each other. These models did not vary significantly across diagnostic groups, suggesting that toddlers exhibiting behavior disorders may be assisted with interventions that target the specific frequencies or severities of behaviors, regardless of diagnostic category. PMID:24012587

Autistic spectrum disorders.

PubMed

Singhania, Rajeshree

2005-04-01

Autistic spectrum disorders is a complex developmental disorder with social and communication dysfunction at its core. It has a wide clinical spectrum with a common triad of impairments -- social communication, social interaction and social imagination. Even mild or subtle difficulties can have a profound and devastating impact on the child. To be able to provide suitable treatments and interventions the distinctive way of thinking and learning of autistic children has to be understood. The core areas of social, emotional, communication and language deficits have to be addressed at all levels of functioning. The important goals of assessment include a categorical diagnosis of autism that looks at differential diagnosis, a refined precise documentation of the child's functioning in various developmental domains and ascertaining presence of co-morbid conditions. The interventions have to be adapted to the individual's chronological age, developmental phase and level of functioning. The strategies of curriculum delivery and teaching the child with autism is distinctive and includes presence of structure to increase predictability and strategies to reduce arousal of anxiety.

Attentional Learning Helps Language Acquisition Take Shape for Atypically Developing Children, Not Just Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

PubMed

Field, Charlotte; Allen, Melissa L; Lewis, Charlie

2016-10-01

The shape bias-generalising labels to same shaped objects-has been linked to attentional learning or referential intent. We explore these origins in children with typical development (TD), autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and other developmental disorders (DD). In two conditions, a novel object was presented and either named or described. Children selected another from a shape, colour or texture match. TD children choose the shape match in both conditions, children with DD and 'high-verbal mental age' (VMA) children with ASD (language age > 4.6) did so in the name condition and 'low-VMA' children with ASD never showed the heuristic. Thus, the shape bias arises from attentional learning in atypically developing children and is delayed in ASD.

Active prospective control is required for effective sensorimotor learning.

PubMed

Snapp-Childs, Winona; Casserly, Elizabeth; Mon-Williams, Mark; Bingham, Geoffrey P

2013-01-01

Passive modeling of movements is often used in movement therapy to overcome disabilities caused by stroke or other disorders (e.g. Developmental Coordination Disorder or Cerebral Palsy). Either a therapist or, recently, a specially designed robot moves or guides the limb passively through the movement to be trained. In contrast, action theory has long suggested that effective skill acquisition requires movements to be actively generated. Is this true? In view of the former, we explicitly tested the latter. Previously, a method was developed that allows children with Developmental Coordination Disorder to produce effective movements actively, so as to improve manual performance to match that of typically developing children. In the current study, we tested practice using such active movements as compared to practice using passive movement. The passive movement employed, namely haptic tracking, provided a strong test of the comparison, one that showed that the mere inaction of the muscles is not the problem. Instead, lack of prospective control was. The result was no effective learning with passive movement while active practice with prospective control yielded significant improvements in performance.

Lack of significant association between spina bifida and the fragile X syndrome

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schiano, C.M.; Demb, H.B.; Brown, W.T.

1995-12-04

Folic acid is involved in two common disorders associated with developmental disabilities. Spina bifida is a malformation that may be associated with mental retardation, learning disabilities, and epilepsy. Its incidence can be reduced by the ingestion of folic acid before, and at the time of, conception. The fragile X syndrome is a genetic disorder which is the most common form of inherited mental retardation. This disorder can be diagnosed by the induction of fragile sites on the X chromosome which is cultured in a medium deficient in folic acid. In several studies, folic acid was reported to alleviate some ofmore » the developmental and behavioral manifestations associated in the fragile X syndrome, while in others, it has no effect. 9 refs.« less

Effect of Musical Experience on Verbal Memory in Williams Syndrome: Evidence from a Novel Word Learning Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martens, Marilee A.; Jungers, Melissa K.; Steele, Anita L.

2011-01-01

Williams syndrome (WS) is a neurogenetic developmental disorder characterized by an increased affinity for music, deficits in verbal memory, and atypical brain development. Music has been shown to improve verbal memory in typical individuals as well as those with learning difficulties, but no studies have examined this relationship in WS. The aim…

Use of Operational Criteria in an Office Practice for Diagnosis of Children Referred for Evaluation of Learning or Behavior Disorders.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brumback, Roger A.

1979-01-01

Operational criteria for childhood depression, specific learning disability, developmental hyperactivity, and Gilles de la Tourette syndrome were used to establish the correct diagnosis in 55 of 100 school age Ss. Forty-five Ss were diagnosed as having one of three classical neurological syndromes (epilepsy, sensorineural deafness, and childhood…

Perception of Filtered Speech by Children with Developmental Dyslexia and Children with Specific Language Impairments

PubMed Central

Goswami, Usha; Cumming, Ruth; Chait, Maria; Huss, Martina; Mead, Natasha; Wilson, Angela M.; Barnes, Lisa; Fosker, Tim

2016-01-01

Here we use two filtered speech tasks to investigate children’s processing of slow (<4 Hz) versus faster (∼33 Hz) temporal modulations in speech. We compare groups of children with either developmental dyslexia (Experiment 1) or speech and language impairments (SLIs, Experiment 2) to groups of typically-developing (TD) children age-matched to each disorder group. Ten nursery rhymes were filtered so that their modulation frequencies were either low-pass filtered (<4 Hz) or band-pass filtered (22 – 40 Hz). Recognition of the filtered nursery rhymes was tested in a picture recognition multiple choice paradigm. Children with dyslexia aged 10 years showed equivalent recognition overall to TD controls for both the low-pass and band-pass filtered stimuli, but showed significantly impaired acoustic learning during the experiment from low-pass filtered targets. Children with oral SLIs aged 9 years showed significantly poorer recognition of band pass filtered targets compared to their TD controls, and showed comparable acoustic learning effects to TD children during the experiment. The SLI samples were also divided into children with and without phonological difficulties. The children with both SLI and phonological difficulties were impaired in recognizing both kinds of filtered speech. These data are suggestive of impaired temporal sampling of the speech signal at different modulation rates by children with different kinds of developmental language disorder. Both SLI and dyslexic samples showed impaired discrimination of amplitude rise times. Implications of these findings for a temporal sampling framework for understanding developmental language disorders are discussed. PMID:27303348

SOS: a screening instrument to identify children with handwriting impairments.

PubMed

Van Waelvelde, Hilde; Hellinckx, Tinneke; Peersman, Wim; Smits-Engelsman, Bouwien C M

2012-08-01

Poor handwriting has been shown to be associated with developmental disorders such as Developmental Coordination Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, autism, and learning disorders. Handwriting difficulties could lead to academic underachievement and poor self-esteem. Therapeutic intervention has been shown to be effective in treating children with poor handwriting, making early identification critical. The SOS test (Systematic Screening for Handwriting Difficulties) has been developed for this purpose. A child copies a sample of writing within 5 min. Handwriting quality is evaluated using six criteria and writing speed is measured. The Dutch SOS test was administered to 860 Flemish children (7-12 years). Inter- and intrarater reliability was excellent. Test-retest reliability was moderate. A correlation coefficient of 0.70 between SOS and "Concise Assessment Methods of Children Handwriting" test (Dutch version) confirmed convergent validity. The SOS allowed discrimination between typically developing children and children in special education, males and females, and different age groups.

Atypical inter-hemispheric communication correlates with altered motor inhibition during learning of a new bimanual coordination pattern in developmental coordination disorder.

PubMed

Blais, Mélody; Amarantini, David; Albaret, Jean-Michel; Chaix, Yves; Tallet, Jessica

2018-05-01

Impairment of motor learning skills in developmental coordination disorder (DCD) has been reported in several studies. Some hypotheses on neural mechanisms of motor learning deficits in DCD have emerged but, to date, brain-imaging investigations are scarce. The aim of the present study is to assess possible changes in communication between brain areas during practice of a new bimanual coordination task in teenagers with DCD (n = 10) compared to matched controls (n = 10). Accuracy, stability and number of mirror movements were computed as behavioural variables. Neural variables were assessed by electroencephalographic coherence analyses of intra-hemispheric and inter-hemispheric fronto-central electrodes. In both groups, accuracy of the new coordination increased concomitantly with right intra-hemispheric fronto-central coherence. Compared to typically developing teenagers, DCD teenagers presented learning difficulties expressed by less stability, no stabilization of the new coordination and a greater number of mirror movements despite practice. These measures correlated with reduced inter-hemispheric communication, even after practice of the new coordination. For the first time, these findings provide neuro-imaging evidence of a kind of inter-hemispheric 'disconnection' related to altered inhibition of mirror movements during motor learning in DCD. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Training Adults with an Autism Spectrum Disorder to Conduct Discrete-Trial Training for Young Children with Autism: A Pilot Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lerman, Dorothea C.; Hawkins, Lynn; Hoffman, Rachel; Caccavale, Mia

2013-01-01

We evaluated a behavioral skills training program for adults with autism spectrum disorder and mild or no intellectual disabilities who were interested in learning the skills used by behavior therapists to work with young children with autism and other developmental disabilities. Four adults, aged 21 to 30 years, participated. We trained each…

Motor Learning: An Analysis of 100 Trials of a Ski Slalom Game in Children with and without Developmental Coordination Disorder

PubMed Central

Smits-Engelsman, Bouwien C. M.; Jelsma, Lemke Dorothee; Ferguson, Gillian D.; Geuze, Reint H.

2015-01-01

Objective Although Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) is often characterized as a skill acquisition deficit disorder, few studies have addressed the process of motor learning. This study examined learning of a novel motor task; the Wii Fit ski slalom game. The main objectives were to determine: 1) whether learning occurs over 100 trial runs of the game, 2) if the learning curve is different between children with and without DCD, 3) if learning is different in an easier or harder version of the task, 4) if learning transfers to other balance tasks. Method 17 children with DCD (6–10 years) and a matched control group of 17 typically developing (TD) children engaged in 20 minutes of gaming, twice a week for five weeks. Each training session comprised of alternating trial runs, with five runs at an easy level and five runs at a difficult level. Wii scores, which combine speed and accuracy per run, were recorded. Standardized balance tasks were used to measure transfer. Results Significant differences in initial performance were found between groups on the Wii score and balance tasks. Both groups improved their Wii score over the five weeks. Improvement in the easy and in the hard task did not differ between groups. Retention in the time between training sessions was not different between TD and DCD groups either. The DCD group improved significantly on all balance tasks. Conclusions The findings in this study give a fairly coherent picture of the learning process over a medium time scale (5 weeks) in children novice to active computer games; they learn, retain and there is evidence of transfer to other balance tasks. The rate of motor learning is similar for those with and without DCD. Our results raise a number of questions about motor learning that need to be addressed in future research. PMID:26466324

Nondeclarative learning in children with specific language impairment: predicting regularities in the visuomotor, phonological, and cognitive domains.

PubMed

Mayor-Dubois, C; Zesiger, P; Van der Linden, M; Roulet-Perez, E

2014-01-01

Ullman (2004) suggested that Specific Language Impairment (SLI) results from a general procedural learning deficit. In order to test this hypothesis, we investigated children with SLI via procedural learning tasks exploring the verbal, motor, and cognitive domains. Results showed that compared with a Control Group, the children with SLI (a) were unable to learn a phonotactic learning task, (b) were able but less efficiently to learn a motor learning task and (c) succeeded in a cognitive learning task. Regarding the motor learning task (Serial Reaction Time Task), reaction times were longer and learning slower than in controls. The learning effect was not significant in children with an associated Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), and future studies should consider comorbid motor impairment in order to clarify whether impairments are related to the motor rather than the language disorder. Our results indicate that a phonotactic learning but not a cognitive procedural deficit underlies SLI, thus challenging Ullmans' general procedural deficit hypothesis, like a few other recent studies.

The "where" and "what" in developmental dyscalculia.

PubMed

Henik, Avishai; Rubinsten, Orly; Ashkenazi, Sarit

2011-08-01

Developmental dyscalculia (DD) is a congenital deficit that affects the ability to acquire arithmetical skills. Individuals with DD have problems learning standard number facts and procedures. Estimates of the prevalence rate of DD are similar to those of developmental dyslexia. Recent reports and discussions suggest that those with DD suffer from specific deficits (e.g., subitizing, comparative judgment). Accordingly, DD has been described as a domain-specific disorder that involves particular brain areas (e.g., intra-parietal sulcus). However, we and others have found that DD is characterized by additional deficiencies and may be affected by domain-general (e.g., attention) factors. Hence "pure DD" might be rather rare and not as pure as one would think. We suggest that the heterogeneity of symptoms that commonly characterize learning disabilities needs to be taken into account in future research and treatment.

Developmental dyscalculia.

PubMed

Price, Gavin R; Ansari, Daniel

2013-01-01

Developmental dyscalculia (DD) is a learning disorder affecting the acquisition of school level arithmetic skills present in approximately 3-6% of the population. At the behavioral level DD is characterized by poor retrieval of arithmetic facts from memory, the use of immature calculation procedures and counting strategies, and the atypical representation and processing of numerical magnitude. At the neural level emerging evidence suggests DD is associated with atypical structure and function in brain regions associated with the representation of numerical magnitude. The current state of knowledge points to a core deficit in numerical magnitude representation in DD, but further work is required to elucidate causal mechanisms underlying the disorder. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The progression of severe behavior disorder in young children with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

PubMed

Medeiros, Kristen; Curby, Timothy W; Bernstein, Alec; Rojahn, Johannes; Schroeder, Stephen R

2013-11-01

Behavior disorders, such as self-injurious, stereotypic, and aggressive behavior are common among individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities. While we have learned much about those behaviors over the past few decades, longitudinal research that looks at developmental trajectory has been rare. This study was designed to examine the trajectory of these three forms of severe behavior disorders over a one year time period. The behaviors were measured on two dimensions: frequency of occurrence and severity. Participants were 160 infants and toddlers at risk for developmental delays in Lima, Peru. Using structural equation modeling, we found that the frequency of self-injury and stereotypic behavior and the severity of aggressive behavior remained stable over the 12-month period. Uni-directional structural models fit the data best for self-injurious and aggressive behavior (with frequency being a leading indicator of future severity of self-injury and severity being a leading indicator of future frequency for aggression). For stereotypic behavior, a cross-lagged autoregressive model fit the data best, with both dimensions of frequency and severity involved as leading indicators of each other. These models did not vary significantly across diagnostic groups, suggesting that toddlers exhibiting behavior disorders may be assisted with interventions that target the specific frequencies or severities of behaviors, regardless of diagnostic category. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Teacher-child relationships and classroom-learning behaviours of children with developmental language disorders.

PubMed

Rhoad-Drogalis, Anna; Justice, Laura M; Sawyer, Brook E; O'Connell, Ann A

2018-03-01

Children with developmental language disorders (DLDs) often struggle with classroom behaviour. No study has examined whether positive teacher-child relationships may act as a protective factor for children with DLDs in that these serve to enhance children's important classroom-learning behaviours. To examine the association between the quality of teacher-child relationships and teacher-rated classroom-learning behaviours of children with DLDs in both preschool and kindergarten. Longitudinal data were collected on 191 preschoolers (mean = 42.4 months of age, SD = 11.6 months) with DLDs in special education classrooms during preschool and in kindergarten. Teacher-child relationship quality was assessed in preschool, and children's classroom-learning behaviours were measured in preschool and kindergarten. Regression models were used to examine the relationship between teacher-child relationship quality and children's concurrent and future classroom-learning behaviours. Positive teacher-child relationship quality in preschool was associated with better classroom-learning behaviours in preschool and kindergarten for children with DLDs. Preschool teacher-child relationship quality characterized by low levels of conflict and high levels of closeness was associated with positive classroom-learning behaviours during preschool. Teacher-child conflict but not closeness was predictive of children's classroom-learning behaviours in kindergarten. These results suggest that the quality of the teacher-child relationship for children with DLDs during preschool is associated within their learning-related behaviours in the classroom both concurrently and in the subsequent year. Findings suggest that teacher-child relationships should be explored as a mechanism for improving the learning-related behaviours of children with DLDs. © 2017 Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

Examining the Criterion-Related Validity of the Pervasive Developmental Disorder Behavior Inventory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McMorris, Carly A.; Perry, Adrienne

2015-01-01

The Pervasive Developmental Disorder Behavior Inventory is a questionnaire designed to aid in the diagnosis of pervasive developmental disorders or autism spectrum disorders. The Pervasive Developmental Disorder Behavior Inventory assesses adaptive and maladaptive behaviors associated with pervasive developmental disorders and provides an…

CDC Kerala 15: Developmental Evaluation Clinic (2-10 y)--developmental diagnosis and use of home intervention package.

PubMed

Nair, M K C; Lakshmi, M A; Latha, S; Lakshmi, Geetha; Harikumaran Nair, G S; Bhaskaran, Deepa; George, Babu; Leena, M L; Russell, Paul Swamidhas Sudhakar

2014-12-01

To describe the last 5 years' experience of Child Development Centre (CDC), Kerala Developmental Evaluation Clinic II for children between 2 and 10 y, referred for suspicion of developmental lag in the preschool years and scholastic difficulty in the primary classes with specific focus on developmental profile and the experience of the home based intervention package taught to the mothers. A team of evaluators including developmental therapist, preschool teacher with special training in clinical child development, speech therapist, special educator, clinical psychologist and developmental pediatrician assessed all the children referred to CDC Kerala. Denver Developmental Screening Test (DDST-II), Vineland Social Maturity Scale (VSMS) and Intelligent Quotient (IQ) tests were administered to all children below 6 y and those above 6 with apparent developmental delay. Speech/delay (35.9%), behavior problem (15.4%), global delay/ intellectual disability (15.4%), learning problem (10.9%), pervasive developmental disorders (7.7%), seizure disorder (1.7%), hearing impairment (0.7%), and visual impairment (0.7%) were the clinical diagnosis by a developmental pediatrician. Each child with developmental problem was offered a home based intervention package consisting of developmental therapy and special education items, appropriate to the clinical diagnosis of the individual child and the same was taught to the mother. The experience of conducting the developmental evaluation clinic for children between 2 and 10 y has shown that a team consisting of developmental therapist, speech therapist, preschool teacher, special educator, clinical child psychologist and developmental pediatrician, using appropriate test results of the child could make a clinical diagnosis good enough for providing early intervention therapy using a home based intervention package.

Effect of internal versus external focus of attention on implicit motor learning in children with developmental coordination disorder.

PubMed

Jarus, Tal; Ghanouni, Parisa; Abel, Rachel L; Fomenoff, Shelby L; Lundberg, Jocelyn; Davidson, Stephanie; Caswell, Sarah; Bickerton, Laura; Zwicker, Jill G

2015-02-01

Children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) struggle to learn new motor skills. It is unknown whether children with DCD learn motor skills more effectively with an external focus of attention (focusing on impact of movement on the environment) or an internal focus of attention (focusing on one's body movements) during implicit (unconscious) and explicit (conscious) motor learning. This paper aims to determine the trends of implicit motor learning in children with DCD, and how focus of attention influences motor learning in children with DCD in comparison with typically developing children. 25 children, aged 8-12, with (n=12) and without (n=13) DCD were randomly assigned to receive instructions that focused attention externally or internally while completing a computer tracking task during acquisition, retention, and transfer phases. The motor task involved tracking both repeated and random patterns, with the repeated pattern indicative of implicit learning. Children with DCD scored lower on the motor task in all three phases of the study, demonstrating poorer implicit learning. Furthermore, graphical data showed that for the children with DCD, there was no apparent difference between internal and external focus of attention during retention and transfer, while there was an advantage to the external focus of attention group for typically developing children. Children with DCD demonstrate less accuracy than typically developing children in learning a motor task. Also, the effect of focus of attention on motor performance is different in children with DCD versus their typically developing counterparts during the three phases of motor learning. Results may inform clinicians how to facilitate motor learning in children with DCD by incorporating explicit learning with either internal or external focus of attention within interventions. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Identifying Twice-Exceptional Children and Three Gifted Styles in the Japanese Primary Science Classroom

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sumida, Manabu

2010-10-01

Children with mild developmental disorders sometimes show giftedness. In this study, an original checklist was developed to identify gifted characteristics specific to science learning among twice-exceptional primary school children in Japan. The checklist consisted of 60 items on Attitudes, Thinking, Skills, and Knowledge/Understanding. A total of 86 children from eight primary schools in an urban area in Japan, 50% of whom had Learning Disabilities (LD), Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and/or High-functioning Autism (HA), were observed using the checklist. Factor analysis revealed three factors. A cluster analysis with the subscale points of each factor identified three "gifted styles" in science. These were: (1) Spontaneous Style; (2) Expert Style; and (3) Solid Style. LD/ADHD/HA children characteristically displayed a Spontaneous Style while the non- LD/ADHD/HA children were characterized by the Solid Style. In both subject groups, the number of Expert Style children was the lowest with no significant difference in their numbers. Based on the results of this research, this paper discusses the implications of the findings for teaching science to twice-exceptional children and argues the benefits of inclusive science education for children with and without mild developmental disorders.

The Role of BDNF in the Development of Fear Learning.

PubMed

Dincheva, Iva; Lynch, Niccola B; Lee, Francis S

2016-10-01

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a growth factor that is dynamically expressed in the brain across postnatal development, regulating neuronal differentiation and synaptic plasticity. The neurotrophic hypothesis of psychiatric mood disorders postulates that in the adult brain, decreased BDNF levels leads to altered neural plasticity, contributing to disease. Although BDNF has been established as a key factor regulating the critical period plasticity in the developing visual system, it has recently been shown to also play a role in fear circuitry maturation, which has implications for the emergence of fear-related mood disorders. This review provides a detailed overview of developmental changes in expression of BDNF isoforms, as well as their receptors across postnatal life. In addition, recent developmental studies utilizing a genetic BDNF single nucleotide polymorphism (Val66Met) knock-in mouse highlight the impact of BDNF on fear learning during a sensitive period spanning the transition into adolescent time frame. We hypothesize that BDNF in the developing brain regulates fear circuit plasticity during a sensitive period in early adolescence, and alterations in BDNF expression (genetic or environmental) have a persistent impact on fear behavior and fear-related disorders. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The human figure drawing as related to attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

PubMed

Perets-Dubrovsky, Sharon; Kaveh, Michelle; Deutsh-Castel, Tsofia; Cohen, Ayala; Tirosh, Emanuel

2010-06-01

To assess the reliability and validity of the human figure drawing test among children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and/or learning disability, boys (n = 136) between the ages of 8 and 10 years, with either or both ADHD and learning disability, were included. Two drawings were used: person and house, tree and person. The drawings were analyzed using the Koppitz emotional and developmental scales. Conners teacher and parent rating scales and the Matching Familiar Figure Test were administered. High intertest reliability for the emotional scale and a significant negative correlation between the 2 scales were found. The reported anxiety and learning were significantly correlated with the cognitive score. A combination of cognitive and emotional items resulted in 67% correct classification of ADHD and learning disability. This test can be used as part of the assessment of ADHD/learning disability.

Behavior change in a student with a dual diagnosis of deafness and pervasive developmental disorder: a case study.

PubMed

Easterbrooks, Susan R; Handley, C Michele

The broad term pervasive developmental disorder (PPD) describes a set of symptoms that occur along a continuum of severity; these symptoms are often referred to as autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Little is known about the incidence and prevalence of ASDs among students who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH). Teachers of DHH students, who must work with individuals with dual diagnoses, are at a loss for guidance from the literature. The authors review the literature on ASDs (also referred to as PDD) within the DHH population, provide results of a single-subject study to reduce PDD-type behaviors in a child with hearing loss, and argue that teachers of students who are DHH must learn about practices associated with applied behavior analysis as an tool for intervening therapeutically with children with dual diagnoses of hearing loss plus an ASD.

[Developmental disorders in adulthood: concept, differential diagnosis, and treatment].

PubMed

Honda, Hideo

2014-01-01

The number of cases diagnosed with developmental disorders is rapidly increasing among those consulting psychiatry clinics for the first time in their adulthood. The author presents the concept of developmental disorders, discusses how they can be differentiated from other psychiatric disorders, and proposes some treatments. From now on, all psychiatrists should know the difference between developmental disorders and other psychiatric disorders, and diagnose them multi-axially, including the dimension of development. They should always keep in mind how developmental disorders lead to difficulties in everyday life, and treat developmental disorders in conjunction with adequate environmental modifications along with the treatment of other comorbid psychiatric disorders.

Current Genetic Discoveries and Education: "Strengths, Opportunities, and Limitations"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bates, Timothy C.

2008-01-01

This article notes that many key positive developments in education originated in research on the structure and genetics of abilities, providing primary evidence for ability in disadvantaged groups and playing a critical role in demonstrating the existence of developmental learning disorders and effective interventions. It is argued that new work…

Children with Autism Show Reduced Information Seeking When Learning New Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Young, Nicole; Hudry, Kristelle; Trembath, David; Vivanti, Giacomo

2016-01-01

Information-seeking behaviours occur when children look to adults in order to gain further information about a novel stimulus/situation. The current study investigated information seeking in children with developmental delays (DD) and those with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) during a simulated teaching situation. Twenty preschool-aged children…

Wildcard: A wearable virtual reality storytelling tool for children with intellectual developmental disability.

PubMed

Gelsomini, Mirko; Garzotto, Franca; Montesano, Daniele; Occhiuto, Daniele

2016-08-01

Our research aims at supporting existing therapies for children with intellectual and developmental disorders (IDD). The personal and social autonomy is the desired end state to be achieved to enable a smooth integration in the real world. We developed and tested a framework for storytelling and learning activities that exploits an immersive virtual reality viewer to interact with target users. We co-designed our system with experts from the medical sector, identifying features that allow patients to stay focused on exercises to perform. Our approach triggers a learning process for a seamless assimilation of common behavioral skills useful in every day's life. This paper highlights the technologic challenges in healthcare and discusses cutting-edge interaction paradigms.

Behavioural and neural basis of anomalous motor learning in children with autism.

PubMed

Marko, Mollie K; Crocetti, Deana; Hulst, Thomas; Donchin, Opher; Shadmehr, Reza; Mostofsky, Stewart H

2015-03-01

Autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disorder characterized by deficits in social and communication skills and repetitive and stereotyped interests and behaviours. Although not part of the diagnostic criteria, individuals with autism experience a host of motor impairments, potentially due to abnormalities in how they learn motor control throughout development. Here, we used behavioural techniques to quantify motor learning in autism spectrum disorder, and structural brain imaging to investigate the neural basis of that learning in the cerebellum. Twenty children with autism spectrum disorder and 20 typically developing control subjects, aged 8-12, made reaching movements while holding the handle of a robotic manipulandum. In random trials the reach was perturbed, resulting in errors that were sensed through vision and proprioception. The brain learned from these errors and altered the motor commands on the subsequent reach. We measured learning from error as a function of the sensory modality of that error, and found that children with autism spectrum disorder outperformed typically developing children when learning from errors that were sensed through proprioception, but underperformed typically developing children when learning from errors that were sensed through vision. Previous work had shown that this learning depends on the integrity of a region in the anterior cerebellum. Here we found that the anterior cerebellum, extending into lobule VI, and parts of lobule VIII were smaller than normal in children with autism spectrum disorder, with a volume that was predicted by the pattern of learning from visual and proprioceptive errors. We suggest that the abnormal patterns of motor learning in children with autism spectrum disorder, showing an increased sensitivity to proprioceptive error and a decreased sensitivity to visual error, may be associated with abnormalities in the cerebellum. © The Author (2015). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Guarantors of Brain. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Inhibition of GSK3β rescues hippocampal development and learning in a mouse model of CDKL5 disorder.

PubMed

Fuchs, Claudia; Rimondini, Roberto; Viggiano, Rocchina; Trazzi, Stefania; De Franceschi, Marianna; Bartesaghi, Renata; Ciani, Elisabetta

2015-10-01

Mutations in the X-linked cyclin-dependent kinase-like 5 (CDKL5) gene have been identified in a rare neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by early-onset seizures, severe developmental delay, intellectual disability and Rett syndrome-like features. CDKL5 is highly expressed in the brain during early postnatal stages, suggesting its importance for brain maturation. Using a newly-generated Cdkl5 knockout (Cdkl5 -/Y) mouse, we recently found that loss of Cdkl5 impairs postnatal hippocampal development with a reduction in neuronal precursor survival and maturation. These defects were accompanied by increased activity of the glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β) a crucial inhibitory regulator of many neurodevelopmental processes. The goal of the current study was to establish whether inhibition of GSK3β corrects hippocampal developmental defects due to Cdkl5 loss. We found that treatment with the GSK3β inhibitor SB216763 restored neuronal precursor survival, dendritic maturation, connectivity and hippocampus-dependent learning and memory in the Cdkl5 -/Y mouse. Importantly, these effects were retained one month after treatment cessation. At present, there are no therapeutic strategies to improve the neurological defects of subjects with CDKL5 disorder. Current results point at GSK3β inhibitors as potential therapeutic tools for the improvement of abnormal brain development in CDKL5 disorder. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Onto-clust--a methodology for combining clustering analysis and ontological methods for identifying groups of comorbidities for developmental disorders.

PubMed

Peleg, Mor; Asbeh, Nuaman; Kuflik, Tsvi; Schertz, Mitchell

2009-02-01

Children with developmental disorders usually exhibit multiple developmental problems (comorbidities). Hence, such diagnosis needs to revolve on developmental disorder groups. Our objective is to systematically identify developmental disorder groups and represent them in an ontology. We developed a methodology that combines two methods (1) a literature-based ontology that we created, which represents developmental disorders and potential developmental disorder groups, and (2) clustering for detecting comorbid developmental disorders in patient data. The ontology is used to interpret and improve clustering results and the clustering results are used to validate the ontology and suggest directions for its development. We evaluated our methodology by applying it to data of 1175 patients from a child development clinic. We demonstrated that the ontology improves clustering results, bringing them closer to an expert generated gold-standard. We have shown that our methodology successfully combines an ontology with a clustering method to support systematic identification and representation of developmental disorder groups.

Review of Pharmacotherapy Options for the Treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and ADHD-Like Symptoms in Children and Adolescents with Developmental Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rowles, Brieana M.; Findling, Robert L.

2010-01-01

Developmental disorders such as subaverage intelligence, pervasive developmental disorders, and genetic syndromes are frequently associated with comorbid attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or ADHD-like symptoms. While there are not pharmacological cures for these developmental disorders, coinciding ADHD and ADHD-like symptoms that…

Developmental Neurocircuitry of Motivation in Adolescence: A Critical Period of Addiction Vulnerability

PubMed Central

Chambers, R. Andrew; Taylor, Jane R.; Potenza, Marc N.

2010-01-01

Objective Epidemiological studies indicate that experimentation with addictive drugs and onset of addictive disorders is primarily concentrated in adolescence and young adulthood. The authors describe basic and clinical data supporting adolescent neurodevelopment as a biologically critical period of greater vulnerability for experimentation with substances and acquisition of substance use disorders. Method The authors reviewed recent literature regarding neurocircuitry underlying motivation, impulsivity, and addiction, with a focus on studies investigating adolescent neurodevelopment. Results Adolescent neurodevelopment occurs in brain regions associated with motivation, impulsivity, and addiction. Adolescent impulsivity and/or novelty seeking as a transitional trait behavior can be explained in part by maturational changes in frontal cortical and subcortical monoaminergic systems. These developmental processes may advantageously promote learning drives for adaptation to adult roles but may also confer greater vulnerability to the addictive actions of drugs. Conclusions An exploration of developmental changes in neurocircuitry involved in impulse control has significant implications for understanding adolescent behavior, addiction vulnerability, and the prevention of addiction in adolescence and adulthood. PMID:12777258

Unraveling the nature of autism: finding order amid change

PubMed Central

Hellendoorn, Annika; Wijnroks, Lex; Leseman, Paul P. M.

2015-01-01

In this article, we hypothesize that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are born with a deficit in invariance detection, which is a learning process whereby people and animals come to attend the relatively stable patterns or structural regularities in the changing stimulus array. This paper synthesizes a substantial body of research which suggests that a deficit in the domain-general perceptual learning process of invariant detection in ASD can lead to a cascade of consequences in different developmental domains. We will outline how this deficit in invariant detection can cause uncertainty, unpredictability, and a lack of control for individuals with ASD and how varying degrees of impairments in this learning process can account for the heterogeneity of the ASD phenotype. We also describe how differences in neural plasticity in ASD underlie the impairments in perceptual learning. The present account offers an alternative to prior theories and contributes to the challenge of understanding the developmental trajectories that result in the variety of autistic behaviors. PMID:25870581

Preterm birth and developmental problems in the preschool age. Part I: minor motor problems.

PubMed

Ferrari, Fabrizio; Gallo, Claudio; Pugliese, Marisa; Guidotti, Isotta; Gavioli, Sara; Coccolini, Elena; Zagni, Paola; Della Casa, Elisa; Rossi, Cecilia; Lugli, Licia; Todeschini, Alessandra; Ori, Luca; Bertoncelli, Natascia

2012-11-01

Nearly half of very preterm (VP) and extremely preterm (EP) infants suffers from minor disabilities. The paper overviews the literature dealing with motor problems other than cerebral palsy (CP) during infancy and preschool age. The term "minor motor problems" indicates a wide spectrum of motor disorders other than CP; "minor" does not mean "minimal", as a relevant proportion of the preterm infants will develop academic and behavioural problems at school age. Early onset disorders consist of abnormal general movements (GMs), transient dystonia and postural instability; these conditions usually fade during the first months. They were underestimated in the past; recently, qualitative assessment of GMs using Prechtl's method has become a major item of the neurological examination. Late onset disorders include developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and/or minor neurological dysfunction (MND): both terms cover partly overlapping problems. Simple MND (MND-1) and complex MND (MND-2) can be identified and MND-2 gives a higher risk for learning and behavioural disorders. A relationship between the quality of GMs and MND in childhood has been recently described. The Touwen infant neurological examination (TINE) can reliably detect neurological signs of MND even in infancy. However, the prognostic value of these disorders requires further investigations.

[Specific learning disabilities - from DSM-IV to DSM-5].

PubMed

Schulte-Körne, Gerd

2014-09-01

The publication of the DSM-5 means changes in the classification and recommendations for diagnosis of specific learning disabilities. Dyslexia and dyscalculia have been reintroduced into the DSM. Three specific learning disorders - impairment in reading, impairment in the written expression, and impairment in mathematics, described by subskills - are now part of the DSM-5. Three subcomponents of the reading disorder are expressly differentiated: word reading accuracy, reading rate, and fluency and reading comprehension. Impaired subskills of the specific learning disorder with impairment in written expression are spelling accuracy, grammar and punctuation accuracy, and clarity and organization of written expression. Four subskills are found in the mathematics disorder: number sense, memorization of arithmetic facts, accurate or fluent calculation, and accurate math reasoning. Each impaired academic domain and subskill should be recorded. A description of the severity degree was also included. The diagnosis is based on a variety of methods, including medical history, clinical interview, school report, teacher evaluation, rating scales, and psychometric tests. The IQ discrepancy criterion was abandoned, though that of age or class discrepancy criterion was retained. The application of a discrepancy is recommended by 1 to 2.5 SD. All three specific developmental disorders are common (prevalence 5 %-15 %), occur early during the first years of formal schooling, and persist into adulthood.

Focus On: Neurotransmitter Systems

PubMed Central

Valenzuela, C. Fernando; Puglia, Michael P.; Zucca, Stefano

2011-01-01

Neurotransmitter systems have been long recognized as important targets of the developmental actions of alcohol (i.e., ethanol). Short- and long-term effects of ethanol on amino acid (e.g., γ-aminobutyric acid and glutamate) and biogenic amine (e.g., serotonin and dopamine) neurotransmitters have been demonstrated in animal models of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). Researchers have detected ethanol effects after exposure during developmental periods equivalent to the first, second, and third trimesters of human pregnancy. Results support the recommendation that pregnant women should abstain from drinking—even small quantities—as effects of ethanol on neurotransmitter systems have been detected at low levels of exposure. Recent studies have elucidated new mechanisms and/or consequences of the actions of ethanol on amino acid and biogenic amine neurotransmitter systems. Alterations in these neurotransmitter systems could, in part, be responsible for many of the conditions associated with FASD, including (1) learning, memory, and attention deficits; (2) motor coordination impairments; (3) abnormal responsiveness to stress; and (4) increased susceptibility to neuropsychiatric disorders, such as substance abuse and depression, and also neurological disorders, such as epilepsy and sudden infant death syndrome. However, future research is needed to conclusively establish a causal relationship between these conditions and developmental dysfunctions in neurotransmitter systems. PMID:23580048

Self-Regulatory Skill Among Children with and without Developmental Coordination Disorder: An Exploratory Study.

PubMed

Sangster Jokić, Claire A; Whitebread, David

2016-11-01

Children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) experience difficulty learning and performing everyday motor tasks due to poor motor coordination. Recent research applying a cognitive learning paradigm has argued that children with DCD have less effective cognitive and metacognitive skills with which to effectively acquire motor skills. However, there is currently limited research examining individual differences in children's use of self-regulatory and metacognitive skill during motor learning. This exploratory study aimed to compare the self-regulatory performance of children with and without DCD. Using a mixed methods approach, this study observed and compared the self-regulatory behavior of 15 children with and without DCD, aged between 7 and 9 years, during socially mediated motor practice. Observation was conducted using a quantitative coding scheme and qualitative analysis of video-recorded sessions. This paper will focus on the results of quantitative analysis, while data arising from the qualitative analysis will be used to support quantitative findings. In general, findings indicate that children with DCD exhibit less independent and more ineffective self-regulatory skill during motor learning than their typically developing peers. In addition, children with DCD rely more heavily on external support for effective regulation and are more likely to exhibit negative patterns of motivational regulation. These findings provide further support for the notion that children with DCD experience difficulty effectively self-regulating motor learning. Implications for practice and directions for future research are discussed.

Comparing the Effects of Self-Controlled and Examiner-Controlled Feedback on Learning in Children With Developmental Coordination Disorder.

PubMed

Zamani, Mohamad Hosein; Fatemi, Rouholah; Soroushmoghadam, Keyvan

2015-12-01

Feedback can improve task learning in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD). However, the frequency and type of feedback may play different role in learning and needs to more investigations. The aim of this study was to evaluate the acquisition and retention of new feedback skills in children with DCD under different frequency of self-control and control examiner feedback. In this quasi-experimental study with pretest-posttest design, participants based on their retention were divided into four feedback groups: self-controlled feedback groups with frequencies of 50% and75%, experimenter controls with frequencies of 50% and 75%. The study sample consisted of 24 boys with DCD aged between 9 to 11 years old in Ahvaz City, Iran. Then subjects practiced 30 throwing (6 blocks of 5 attempts) in eighth session. Acquisition test immediately after the last training session, and then the retention test were taken. Data were analyzed using the paired t-test, ANOVA and Tukey tests. The results showed no significant difference between groups in the acquisition phase (P > 0.05). However,in the retention session, group of self-control showed better performance than the control tester group (P < 0.05). Based on the current findings, self-control feedback with high frequency leads to more learning in DCD children. The results of this study can be used in rehabilitation programs to improve performance and learning in children with DCD.

Speech Research.

DTIC Science & Technology

1979-12-31

629. Mattis, S., French, J. H., & Rapin, I. Dyslexia in children and young adults: Three independent neuropsychological syndromes. Developmental...Knights & D. K. Bakker (Eds.), Neuropsychology ofA learning disorders: Theoretical approaches. Baltimore: University Park Press, 1976. Shankweiler...sounds connected with comfort, discomfort, and hunger . When babbling appears, it is mixed in with cooing but distinguished by its syllable-like

The Effects of Mnemonic Interventions on Academic Outcomes for Youth with Disabilities: A Systematic Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wolgemuth, Jennifer R.; Cobb, R. Brian; Alwell, Morgen

2008-01-01

The relationship between mnemonic instruction and academic performance for secondary-school-age youth with disabilities was explored in this systematic review. A total of 20 studies intervening with 669 youth with learning disabilities, emotional and behavioral disorders, and mild developmental disabilities were reviewed. The findings of this…

Topography of Syllable Change-Detection Electrophysiological Indices in Children and Adults with Reading Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hommet, Caroline; Vidal, Julie; Roux, Sylvie; Blanc, Romuald; Barthez, Marie Anne; De Becque, Brigitte; Barthelemy, Catherine; Bruneau, Nicole; Gomot, Marie

2009-01-01

Introduction: Developmental dyslexia (DD) is a frequent language-based learning disorder. The predominant etiological view postulates that reading problems originate from a phonological impairment. Method: We studied mismatch negativity (MMN) and Late Discriminative Negativity (LDN) to syllables change in both children (n = 12; 8-12 years) and…

Procedural Motor Learning in Children with Specific Language Impairment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sanjeevan, Teenu; Mainela-Arnold, Elina

2017-01-01

Purpose: Specific language impairment (SLI) is a developmental disorder that affects language and motor development in the absence of a clear cause. An explanation for these impairments is offered by the procedural deficit hypothesis (PDH), which argues that motor difficulties in SLI are due to deficits in procedural memory. The aim of this study…

Learning to Read in Williams Syndrome and Down Syndrome: Syndrome-Specific Precursors and Developmental Trajectories

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Steele, Ann; Scerif, Gaia; Cornish, Kim; Karmiloff-Smith, Annette

2013-01-01

Background: In typical development, early reading is underpinned by language skills, like vocabulary and phonological awareness (PA), as well as taught skills like letter knowledge. Less is understood about how early reading develops in children with neurodevelopmental disorders who display specific profiles of linguistic strengths and weaknesses,…

Cognitive Profile in a Large French Cohort of Adults with Prader-Willi Syndrome: Differences between Genotypes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Copet, P.; Jauregi, J.; Laurier, V.; Ehlinger, V.; Arnaud, C.; Cobo, A. -M.; Molinas, C.; Tauber, M.; Thuilleaux, D.

2010-01-01

Background: Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a rare genetic disorder characterised by developmental abnormalities leading to somatic and psychological symptoms. These include dysmorphic features, impaired growth and sexual maturation, hyperphagia, intellectual delay, learning disabilities and maladaptive behaviours. PWS is caused by a lack of…

The Impact of Behavioral-Social Disorders on Students' Education Drop-Off

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Laei, Soosan; Abdi, Ali; Karamaerouz, Mohamad Javad; Shirkhani, Nassim

2014-01-01

Experts believe that adolescence is more challenging than childhood and is of critical importance. It is the period when the youth must be able to seek a philosophy for life and find an identity. Unfortunately nowadays most youths cannot learn developmental tasks successfully. The present descriptive study aims to identify pathological…

Developmental Reading Disorders in Japan--Prevalence, Profiles, and Possible Mechanisms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Welty, Yumiko Tanaka; Menn, Lise; Oishi, Noriko

2014-01-01

Japan has been considered dyslexia-free because of the nature of the orthography, which consists of the visually simple kana syllabary and some thousands of visually complex, logographic kanji characters. It is true that few children struggle with learning kana, which provide consistent mappings between symbols and their pronunciation. Indeed,…

A Sorting-to-Matching Method to Teach Compound Matching to Sample

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farber, Rachel S.; Dube, William V.; Dickson, Chata A.

2016-01-01

Individuals with developmental disabilities may fail to attend to multiple features in compound stimuli (e.g., arrays of pictures, letters within words) with detrimental effects on learning. Participants were 5 children with autism spectrum disorder who had low to intermediate accuracy scores (35% to 84%) on a computer-presented compound matching…

Identifying Twice-Exceptional Children and Three Gifted Styles in the Japanese Primary Science Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sumida, Manabu

2010-01-01

Children with mild developmental disorders sometimes show giftedness. In this study, an original checklist was developed to identify gifted characteristics specific to science learning among twice-exceptional primary school children in Japan. The checklist consisted of 60 items on Attitudes, Thinking, Skills, and Knowledge/Understanding. A total…

Convergent and divergent validity of the Mullen Scales of Early Learning in young children with and without autism spectrum disorder.

PubMed

Swineford, Lauren B; Guthrie, Whitney; Thurm, Audrey

2015-12-01

The purpose of this study was to report on the construct, convergent, and divergent validity of the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL), a widely used test of development for young children. The sample consisted of 399 children with a mean age of 3.38 years (SD = 1.14) divided into a group of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and a group of children not on the autism spectrum, with and without developmental delays. The study used the MSEL and several other measures assessing constructs relevant to the age range--including developmental skills, autism symptoms, and psychopathology symptoms--across multiple methods of assessment. Multiple-group confirmatory factor analyses revealed good overall fit and equal form of the MSEL 1-factor model across the ASD and nonspectrum groups, supporting the construct validity of the MSEL. However, neither full nor partial invariance of factor loadings was established because of the lower loadings in the ASD group compared with the nonspectrum group. Exploratory structural equation modeling revealed that other measures of developmental skills loaded together with the MSEL domain scores on a Developmental Functioning factor, supporting convergent validity of the MSEL. Divergent validity was supported by the lack of loading of MSEL domain scores on Autism Symptoms or Emotion/Behavior Problems factors. Although factor structure and loadings varied across groups, convergent and divergent validity findings were similar in the ASD and nonspectrum samples. Together, these results demonstrate evidence for the construct, convergent, and divergent validity of the MSEL using powerful data-analytic techniques. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Classifying sensory profiles of children in the general population.

PubMed

Little, L M; Dean, E; Tomchek, S D; Dunn, W

2017-01-01

The aim of this study was to subtype groups of children in a community sample with and without developmental conditions, based on sensory processing patterns. We used latent profile analysis to determine the number of sensory subtypes in a sample of n = 1132 children aged 3-14 years with typical development and developmental conditions, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and learning disabilities. A five-subtype solution was found to best characterize the sample, which differed on overall degree and differential presentation of sensory processing patterns. Children with and without developmental conditions presented across subtypes, and one subtype was significantly younger in age than others (P < 0.05). Our results show that sensory subtypes include both children with typical development and those with developmental conditions. Sensory subtypes have previously been investigated in ASD only, and our results suggest that similar sensory subtypes are present in a sample reflective of the general population of children including those largely with typical development. Elevated scores on sensory processing patterns are not unique to ASD but rather are reflections of children's abilities to respond to environmental demands. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Outcomes and benefits of pediatric cochlear implantation in children with additional disabilities: a review and report of family influences on outcomes.

PubMed

Cejas, Ivette; Hoffman, Michael F; Quittner, Alexandra L

2015-01-01

The number of children with hearing loss with additional disabilities receiving cochlear implantation has increased dramatically over the past decade. However, little is known about their auditory and speech and language development following implantation. The purpose of this review is to evaluate the effects of cochlear implantation on the most common genetic and developmental disorders in children with hearing loss. Benefits of cochlear implantation for children with autism spectrum disorder, developmental delay, CHARGE syndrome, cerebral palsy, learning disorders, Usher syndrome, Waardenburg syndrome, and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder are reviewed. Our review indicates that children with hearing loss and additional disabilities benefit from cochlear implantation, especially when implanted early. Thus, early interventions seem as important for these children as for deaf children without additional disabilities. Comparisons of outcomes across these disabilities indicate that children with little to no cognitive impairment (eg, Waardenburg sydrome, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) have better outcomes than those with greater deficits in intellectual functioning (eg, autism, CHARGE syndrome). In addition, parents of children with hearing loss and additional disabilities report higher levels of parenting stress and greater child behavior problems than those without comorbid diagnoses. However, these parents are as sensitive when interacting with their children as parents with typically developing children using cochlear implantation. Given these results, it is critical to evaluate these children's developmental milestones to provide early implantation and intervention, appropriately counsel families regarding realistic expectations for the implant, and facilitate family adaptation.

Outcomes and benefits of pediatric cochlear implantation in children with additional disabilities: a review and report of family influences on outcomes

PubMed Central

Cejas, Ivette; Hoffman, Michael F; Quittner, Alexandra L

2015-01-01

The number of children with hearing loss with additional disabilities receiving cochlear implantation has increased dramatically over the past decade. However, little is known about their auditory and speech and language development following implantation. The purpose of this review is to evaluate the effects of cochlear implantation on the most common genetic and developmental disorders in children with hearing loss. Benefits of cochlear implantation for children with autism spectrum disorder, developmental delay, CHARGE syndrome, cerebral palsy, learning disorders, Usher syndrome, Waardenburg syndrome, and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder are reviewed. Our review indicates that children with hearing loss and additional disabilities benefit from cochlear implantation, especially when implanted early. Thus, early interventions seem as important for these children as for deaf children without additional disabilities. Comparisons of outcomes across these disabilities indicate that children with little to no cognitive impairment (eg, Waardenburg sydrome, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) have better outcomes than those with greater deficits in intellectual functioning (eg, autism, CHARGE syndrome). In addition, parents of children with hearing loss and additional disabilities report higher levels of parenting stress and greater child behavior problems than those without comorbid diagnoses. However, these parents are as sensitive when interacting with their children as parents with typically developing children using cochlear implantation. Given these results, it is critical to evaluate these children’s developmental milestones to provide early implantation and intervention, appropriately counsel families regarding realistic expectations for the implant, and facilitate family adaptation. PMID:29388595

A Developmental and Sequenced One-to-One Educational Intervention for Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Randomized Single-Blind Controlled Trial.

PubMed

Tanet, Antoine; Hubert-Barthelemy, Annik; Crespin, Graciela C; Bodeau, Nicolas; Cohen, David; Saint-Georges, Catherine

2016-01-01

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who also exhibit severe-to-moderate ranges of intellectual disability (ID) still face many challenges (i.e., less evidence-based trials, less inclusion in school with peers). We implemented a novel model called the "Developmental and Sequenced One-to-One Educational Intervention" (DS1-EI) in 5- to 9-year-old children with co-occurring ASD and ID. The treatment protocol was adapted for school implementation by designing it using an educational agenda. The intervention was based on intensity, regular assessments, updating objectives, encouraging spontaneous communication, promoting skills through play with peers, supporting positive behaviors, providing supervision, capitalizing on teachers' unique skills, and providing developmental and sequenced learning. Developmental learning implies that the focus of training is what is close to the developmental expectations given a child's development in a specific domain. Sequenced learning means that the teacher changes the learning activities every 10-15 min to maintain the child's attention in the context of an anticipated time agenda. We selected 11 French institutions in which we implemented the model in small classrooms. Each institution recruited participants per dyads matched by age, sex, and developmental quotient. Patients from each dyad were then randomized to a DS1-EI group or a Treatment as usual (TAU) group for 36 months. The primary variables - the Childhood Autism Rating scale (CARS) and the psychoeducational profile (PEP-3) - will be blindly assessed by independent raters at the 18-month and 36-month follow-up. We enrolled 75 participants: 38 were randomized to the DS1-EI and 37 to the TAU groups. At enrollment, we found no significant differences in participants' characteristics between groups. As expected, exposure to school was the only significant difference [9.4 (±4.1) h/week in the DS1-EI group vs. 3.4 (±4.5) h/week in the TAU group, Student's t -test, t  = 5.83, p  < 0.001]. The protocol was authorized by the competent national regulatory authority ( Agence nationale de sécurité du médicament et des produits de santé ) and approved by the local Ethics Committee ( Comité de Protection des Personnes ) at the University Hospital Saint-Antoine (May 7, 2013). The findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals and national and international conferences. ANSM130282B-31 (April 16 2013) and ACTRN12616000592448 (May 6 2016).

The emergence of psychopathy: implications for the neuropsychological approach to developmental disorders.

PubMed

Blair, R J R

2006-09-01

In this paper, I am going to examine the disorder of psychopathy and consider how genetic anomalies could give rise to the relatively specific neuro-cognitive impairments seen in individuals with this disorder. I will argue that genetic anomalies in psychopathy reduce the salience of punishment information (perhaps as a function of noradrenergic disturbance). I will argue that the ability of the amygdala to form the stimulus-punishment associations necessary for successful socialization is disrupted and that because of this, individuals with psychopathy do not learn to avoid actions that will harm others. It is noted that this model follows the neuropsychological approach to the study of developmental disorders, an approach that has been recently criticized. I will argue that these criticisms are less applicable to psychopathy. Indeed, animal work on the development of the neural systems necessary for emotion, does not support a constructivist approach with respect to affect. Importantly, such work indicates that while environmental effects can alter the responsiveness of the basic neural architecture mediating emotion, environmental effects do not construct this architecture. However, caveats to the neuropsychological approach with reference to this disorder are noted.

Comorbidity of Personality Disorders and Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)--Review of Recent Findings.

PubMed

Matthies, Swantje; Philipsen, Alexandra

2016-04-01

Children suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may remit until adulthood. But, more than 60-80% have persisting ADHD symptoms. ADHD as an early manifesting neurodevelopmental disorder is considered a major risk factor for the development of comorbid psychiatric disorders in later life. Particularly, personality disorders are oftentimes observed in adult patients suffering from ADHD. If ADHD and personality disorders share common etiological mechanisms and/or if ADHD as a severely impairing condition influences psychological functioning and learning and leads to unfavorable learning histories is unclear. The development of inflexible and dysfunctional beliefs on the basis of real and perceived impairments or otherness due to the core symptoms of ADHD is intuitively plausible. Such beliefs are a known cause for the development of personality disorders. But, why some personality disorders are more frequently found in ADHD patients as for example antisocial and borderline personality disorder remains subject of debate. Because of the high prevalence of ADHD and the high impact of personality disorders on daily functioning, it is important to take them into account when treating patients with ADHD. Research on the developmental trajectories leading to personality disorders in adult ADHD patients might open the door for targeted interventions to prevent impairing comorbid clinical pictures.

Roles of mTOR Signaling in Brain Development.

PubMed

Lee, Da Yong

2015-09-01

mTOR is a serine/threonine kinase composed of multiple protein components. Intracellular signaling of mTOR complexes is involved in many of physiological functions including cell survival, proliferation and differentiation through the regulation of protein synthesis in multiple cell types. During brain development, mTOR-mediated signaling pathway plays a crucial role in the process of neuronal and glial differentiation and the maintenance of the stemness of neural stem cells. The abnormalities in the activity of mTOR and its downstream signaling molecules in neural stem cells result in severe defects of brain developmental processes causing a significant number of brain disorders, such as pediatric brain tumors, autism, seizure, learning disability and mental retardation. Understanding the implication of mTOR activity in neural stem cells would be able to provide an important clue in the development of future brain developmental disorder therapies.

Age at Assessment a Critical Factor When Monitoring Early Communicative Skills in Children with Galactosaemia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lewis, Fiona M.; DeJonge, Shannon M.; Coman, David J.

2014-01-01

Sub-optimal language development is associated with the metabolic disorder galactosaemia (GAL). Some children with GAL are identified with language impairment from the initial stages of language learning, but a subset of children may exhibit disrupted developmental gains in speech and language skill after a period of age-appropriate skill…

Building Empathy and Social Mastery in Students with Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Laursen, Erik K.; Moore, Lisa; Yazdgerdi, Sasha; Milberger, Kat

2013-01-01

Learning to recognize and express emotions appropriately is a skill of mastery in human development, and an essential component of living the good life. Because this developmental and social skill is one of the core deficits for people along the autism spectrum, anyone who works with students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) should provide them…

Comparison of Direct Instruction and Discrete Trial Teaching on the Curriculum-Based Assessment of Language Performance of Students with Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flores, Margaret M.; Ganz, Jennifer B.

2014-01-01

There is limited research demonstrating direct instruction (DI) as an effective language intervention for students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and developmental disabilities (DD). Existing research has shown that instruction using partial implementation of DI programs resulted in student learning (Ganz, 2007) and instruction using whole…

Engaging the Resistant Child through Computers: A Manual To Facilitate Social and Emotional Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Elias, Maurice J.; Friedlander, Brian S.; Tobias, Steven E.

This book shows how to use readily accessible computer technology to engage hard-to-reach children, including those with attention deficit disorder, autism, aspergers, and developmental delays. The authors demonstrate that the computer's ability to combine motion, sound, color, text, and physical activity makes it a cutting-edge approach. The…

An Analysis of Verbal Stimulus Control in Intraverbal Behavior: Implications for Practice and Applied Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eikeseth, Svein; Smith, Dean P.

2013-01-01

A common characteristic of the language deficits experienced by children with autism (and other developmental disorders) is their failure to acquire a complex intraverbal repertoire. The difficulties with learning intraverbal behaviors may, in part, be related to the fact that the stimulus control for such behaviors usually involves highly complex…

Accurate or Assumed: Visual Learning in Children with ASD

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trembath, David; Vivanti, Giacomo; Iacono, Teresa; Dissanayake, Cheryl

2015-01-01

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are often described as visual learners. We tested this assumption in an experiment in which 25 children with ASD, 19 children with global developmental delay (GDD), and 17 typically developing (TD) children were presented a series of videos via an eye tracker in which an actor instructed them to…

Early Behavioral Intervention to Improve Social Communication Function in Infants with TSC

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-10-01

Disability (ID) using the...routines at home. Being an active part of the therapy sessions and having plenty of time after the sessions to ask questions and learn more about helpful...Theory in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities San Diego, CA • Jeste, S.S., (2016). Can rare disorders pave the way to

Mental Retardation Genes in Drosophila: New Approaches to Understanding and Treating Developmental Brain Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Restifo, Linda L.

2005-01-01

"Drosophila melanogaster" is emerging as a valuable genetic model system for the study of mental retardation (MR). MR genes are remarkably similar between humans and fruit flies. Cognitive behavioral assays can detect reductions in learning and memory in flies with mutations in MR genes. Neuroanatomical methods, including some at single-neuron…

Infants with Down Syndrome and Their Interactions with Objects: Development of Exploratory Actions after Reaching Onset

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Campos, Ana Carolina; da Costa, Carolina Souza Neves; Savelsbergh, Geert J. P.; Rocha, Nelci Adriana Cicuto Ferreira

2013-01-01

During infant development, objects and their functions are learned by means of active exploration. Factors that may influence exploration include reaching and grasping ability, object properties and the presence of developmental disorders. We assessed the development of exploratory actions in 16 typically-developing (TD) infants and 9 infants with…

Heterogeneity in development of adolescent anxiety disorder symptoms in an 8-year longitudinal community study.

PubMed

Nelemans, Stefanie A; Hale, William W; Branje, Susan J T; Raaijmakers, Quinten A W; Frijns, Tom; van Lier, Pol A C; Meeus, Wim H J

2014-02-01

In this study, we prospectively examined developmental trajectories of five anxiety disorder symptom dimensions (generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, school anxiety, separation anxiety disorder, and social anxiety disorder) from early to late adolescence in a community sample of 239 adolescents, assessed annually over 8 years. Latent growth modeling indicated different developmental trajectories from early into late adolescence for the different anxiety disorder symptoms, with some symptoms decreasing and other symptoms increasing over time. Sex differences in developmental trajectories were found for some symptoms, but not all. Furthermore, latent class growth analysis identified a normal developmental profile (including a majority of adolescents reporting persistent low anxiety disorder symptoms over 8 years) and an at-risk developmental profile (including a minority of adolescents reporting persistent high anxiety disorder symptoms over 8 years) for all of the anxiety disorder symptom dimensions except panic disorder. Additional analyses longitudinally supported the validity of these normal and at-risk developmental profiles and suggested differential associations between different anxiety disorder symptom dimensions and developmental trajectories of substance use, parenting, and identity development. Taken together, our results emphasize the importance of examining separate dimensions of anxiety disorder symptoms in contrast to a using a global, one-dimensional approach to anxiety.

Increasing play-based commenting in children with autism spectrum disorder using a novel script-frame procedure.

PubMed

Groskreutz, Mark P; Peters, Amy; Groskreutz, Nicole C; Higbee, Thomas S

2015-01-01

Children with developmental disabilities may engage in less frequent and more repetitious language than peers with typical development. Scripts have been used to increase communication by teaching one or more specific statements and then fading the scripts. In the current study, preschoolers with developmental disabilities experienced a novel script-frame protocol and learned to make play-related comments about toys. After the script-frame protocol, commenting occurred in the absence of scripts, with untrained play activities, and included untrained comments. © Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

[Developmental amnesia in the premature infant].

PubMed

Mouron, V; Hays, S; Gonzalez-Monge, S

2010-02-01

All types of memory disorders have been observed in children, although these reports are rare. Developmental amnesia selectively involves episodic daily life memory while semantic learning is respected and general intelligence is not affected. Daily life is severely disturbed by this cognitive disorder usually occurring after hypoxic ischemic injury with bilateral hippocampal atrophy on MRI. Memory disorders are underdiagnosed in at-risk patients and rarely reported. We report on a former small-for-gestational-age preterm infant with no obvious hypoxic event during perinatal life. The follow-up was normal until elementary school. He had to spend 2 years in 1st grade and exhibited some behavioral troubles. At the age of 9, he was suspected of suffering from dyspraxia and was referred to a pediatrics rehabilitation center. IQ and neuropsychological tests were administered and showed selective autobiographical memory impairment defining developmental amnesia. Despite a typical clinical presentation, brain MRI was normal, including the hippocampal area. This observation underlines the need for a prolonged follow-up until school age to assess the outcome of preterm infants. Otherwise, the evaluation will be limited to motor impairment. Particular attention should be paid to memory during the follow-up to avoid misdiagnoses and to plan and adapt these children's educational strategies. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Applying cognitive training to target executive functions during early development.

PubMed

Wass, Sam V

2015-01-01

Developmental psychopathology is increasingly recognizing the importance of distinguishing causal processes (i.e., the mechanisms that cause a disease) from developmental outcomes (i.e., the symptoms of the disorder as it is eventually diagnosed). Targeting causal processes early in disordered development may be more effective than waiting until outcomes are established and then trying to reverse the pathogenic process. In this review, I evaluate evidence suggesting that neural and behavioral plasticity may be greatest at very early stages of development. I also describe correlational evidence suggesting that, across a number of conditions, early emerging individual differences in attentional control and working memory may play a role in mediating later-developing differences in academic and other forms of learning. I review the currently small number of studies that applied direct and indirect cognitive training targeted at young individuals and discuss methodological challenges associated with targeting this age group. I also discuss a number of ways in which early, targeted cognitive training may be used to help us understand the developmental mechanisms subserving typical and atypical cognitive development.

Applying cognitive training to target executive functions during early development

PubMed Central

Wass, Sam V.

2015-01-01

Developmental psychopathology is increasingly recognizing the importance of distinguishing causal processes (i.e., the mechanisms that cause a disease) from developmental outcomes (i.e., the symptoms of the disorder as it is eventually diagnosed). Targeting causal processes early in disordered development may be more effective than waiting until outcomes are established and then trying to reverse the pathogenic process. In this review, I evaluate evidence suggesting that neural and behavioral plasticity may be greatest at very early stages of development. I also describe correlational evidence suggesting that, across a number of conditions, early emerging individual differences in attentional control and working memory may play a role in mediating later-developing differences in academic and other forms of learning. I review the currently small number of studies that applied direct and indirect cognitive training targeted at young individuals and discuss methodological challenges associated with targeting this age group. I also discuss a number of ways in which early, targeted cognitive training may be used to help us understand the developmental mechanisms subserving typical and atypical cognitive development. PMID:24511910

Developmental outcome, including setback, in young children with severe visual impairment.

PubMed

Dale, Naomi; Sonksen, Patricia

2002-09-01

This study retrospectively investigated the developmental perspective of 69 children (40 males, 29 females) with 'potentially simple' congenital disorders of the peripheral visual system: development was examined in the context of degree of visual impairment. Developmental and visual assessments were carried out at 10 to 16 months (Time 1) and 27 to 54 months of age (Time 2). Participants were grouped according to (1) visual status: profound visual impairment (PVI), severe visual impairment (SVI); (2) developmental status on the Reynell-Zinkin scales. A majority of the sample showed normal development on all subscales (62% Time 1, 57% Time 2). Those with PVI were more developmentally vulnerable than SVI with a greater incidence of (1) uneven developmental profile at Time 1 (48% PVI, 16% SVI); (2) global learning difficulties at Time 2 (37% PVI, 0% SVI); (3) delay on individual subscales at Time 2 (p<0.02 PVI versus SVI); (4) deceleration (verbal comprehension 74% PVI, 24% SVI, sensorimotor understanding 70% PVI, 27% SVI); and (5) severe developmental setback (33% PVI, 7% SVI). Risk factors of visual level, age, and sex for poor developmental outcome in infants with visual impairment were established.

The Role of Developmental Histories in the Screening and Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Plotts, Cindy; Webber, Jo

2002-01-01

This article discusses the importance of obtaining developmental history in the screening and diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders in children. Steps for obtaining developmental history are described and general guidelines are provided. Instruments for collecting developmental history and diagnostic indicators for autism spectrum disorders are…

Prevalence of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder among School Children and Associated Co-morbidities - A Hospital Based Descriptive Study.

PubMed

Rimal, H; Pokharel, A

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is the most common neuro- developmental disorders of childhood characterized by the core symptoms including inattentiveness and distractibility and frequently involve impairments in executive functioning, increased impulsivity, and restlessness. Objective To find out the prevalence of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder among school aged children Presented to Pediatric clinic and also to investigate associated comorbidities. Method This study was conducted at Nobel Medical College Teaching Hospital, Biratnagar during April 2014 - March 2015. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder was diagnosed by the developmental Pediatrician after taking relevant history and the clinical assessment using Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder rating scale with diagnostic criteria consistent with Diagnostic Statistical Manual - IV classification. Spence anxiety scale child and parent rated version and Strength and Difficulty Questionnaire were also used. Result Result showed the yearly prevalence of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder being 41(11.7%) with male: female ratio of 4:1. The study reported that Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder combined type was the commonest type that was 26(63%) cases followed by Inattentive type 9(22%) cases and 6(15%) were hyperactive type. The mean age for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder was 7 years and 5 months. The most common co-morbidities were sleep problem 12(29.3%), Learning difficulty 10(24.4%), Anxiety disorder 10(24.4), Oppositional Defiant Disorder 9(22%), Autism Spectrum Disorder 5(12%), speech delay 6(14.6%), and 4(10%) had associated tics. There was abnormal SDQ prevalence of 29.3% across the area of emotional distress. The mean abnormal SDQ score in total difficulty area 8 (20.7%), socializing with peer 9(22%), behavioral difficulty 11(26.8%), hyperactivity/inattention 23(56.1%) and impact of difficulties in young person's life being 5(12.2%). Conclusion There is high prevalence of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in children and adolescents in Nepal. This study has also looked at co-morbidities associated with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and the findings of the study have thrown lights on the mental health and other developmental issues associated with it.

Teaching Students with Asperger Syndrome (and Other Disabilities) in the College Classroom: Creating an Inclusive Learning Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Langford-Von Glahn, Sara J.; Zakrajsek, Todd; Pletcher-Rood, Susie

2008-01-01

Asperger Syndrome (AS) is a developmental disorder characterized by poor social skills and restricted interests, but also by extensive knowledge in specific areas and an extensive vocabulary, thereby giving college students with AS specific abilities that are desirable in academe. In fact, young individuals with AS are often referred to as "little…

Working toward a Neurobiological Account of ADHD: Commentary on Gail Tripp and Jeff Wickens, Dopamine Transfer Deficit

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williams, Jonathan

2008-01-01

The dopamine transfer deficit model of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is compared and contrasted with the existing dynamic developmental theory and the extended temporal difference (TD) model. The first two both identify learning deficits as a key problem in ADHD, but this mechanism would seem at least as likely to cause other…

Brief Report: Infants Developing with ASD Show a Unique Developmental Pattern of Facial Feature Scanning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rutherford, M. D.; Walsh, Jennifer A.; Lee, Vivian

2015-01-01

Infants are interested in eyes, but look preferentially at mouths toward the end of the first year, when word learning begins. Language delays are characteristic of children developing with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We measured how infants at risk for ASD, control infants, and infants who later reached ASD criterion scanned facial features.…

The Two-Way Street: Interaction and Development in Small-for-Gestational-Age Infants.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Watt, Jan

Because small for gestational age (SGA) infants are a heterogeneous group known to be at increased risk of learning and behavioral disorders, a study was conducted to replicate and extend findings on developmental patterns of SGA infants in the first year. The study presented, as well, an opportunity to explore the effects, found in a previous…

Autism spectrum disorders: wading through the controversies on the web.

PubMed

Coates, Heather

2009-07-01

Autism is one of three developmental disorders in the group known as the autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). This spectrum of disorders has an estimated prevalence of one in 150 children. Increased awareness and diagnosis has led to an explosion of information available about the disorder. This explosion has made scientific research more readily available, along with inaccurate and spurious information. Autism is a disorder without a known cause or cure and few treatments with sufficient evidence to indicate effectiveness. Due to the variable presentation of autism, there is no single intervention that is effective for all individuals. The complexity of the disorder is addressed by research and practice across several disciplines, including education, psychology, psychiatry, neurology, genetics, and internal medicine. This resource guide will introduce the range of autism spectrum disorders, its various perspectives and treatments, and will point librarians and patrons to introductory resources to provide links for further learning.

Neurocognitive accounts of developmental dyscalculia and its remediation.

PubMed

Iuculano, T

2016-01-01

Numbers are one of the most pervasive stimulus categories in our environment and an integral foundation of modern society. Yet, up to 20% of individuals fail to understand, represent, and manipulate numbers and form the basis of arithmetic, a condition termed developmental dyscalculia (DD). Multiple cognitive and neural systems including those that serve numerical, mnemonic, visuospatial, and cognitive control functions have independently been implicated in the etiology of DD, yet most studies have not taken a comprehensive or dynamic view of the disorder. This chapter supports the view of DD as a multifaceted neurodevelopmental disorder that is the result of multiple aberrancies at one or multiple levels of the information processing hierarchy, which supports successful arithmetic learning, and suggests that interventions should target all these systems to achieve successful outcomes, at the behavioral and neural levels. © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

"Too Withdrawn" or "Too Friendly": Considering Social Vulnerability in Two Neuro-Developmental Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jawaid, A.; Riby, D. M.; Owens, J.; White, S. W.; Tarar, T.; Schulz, P. E.

2012-01-01

In some neuro-developmental disorders, the combined effect of intellectual disability and atypicalities of social cognition may put individuals at increased vulnerability in their social environment. The neuro-developmental disorders Williams syndrome, characterised by "hypersociability", and autism spectrum disorders, characterised by "social…

Test Review: Siegel, B. (2004). "Pervasive Developmental Disorder Screening Test--II (PDDST-II)." San Antonio, TX: Harcourt

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Montgomery, Janine M.; Duncan, C. Randy; Francis, Garnett C.

2007-01-01

The "Pervasive Developmental Disorder Screening Test-II (PDDST-II)--Early Childhood Screener for Autistic Spectrum Disorders" is a clinical screening tool for pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) or autism spectrum disorders (ASD) designed for use by nonspecialist clinicians. It was designed to differentiate children as young as 18 months who…

Speech Perception and Short-Term Memory Deficits in Persistent Developmental Speech Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kenney, Mary Kay; Barac-Cikoja, Dragana; Finnegan, Kimberly; Jeffries, Neal; Ludlow, Christy L.

2006-01-01

Children with developmental speech disorders may have additional deficits in speech perception and/or short-term memory. To determine whether these are only transient developmental delays that can accompany the disorder in childhood or persist as part of the speech disorder, adults with a persistent familial speech disorder were tested on speech…

Pediatric feeding and swallowing rehabilitation: An overview.

PubMed

van den Engel-Hoek, Lenie; Harding, Celia; van Gerven, Marjo; Cockerill, Helen

2017-05-16

Children with neurological disabilities frequently have problems with feeding and swallowing. Such problems have a significant impact on the health and well-being of these children and their families. The primary aims in the rehabilitation of pediatric feeding and swallowing disorders are focused on supporting growth, nutrition and hydration, the development of feeding activities, and ensuring safe swallowing with the aim of preventing choking and aspiration pneumonia. Pediatric feeding and swallowing disorders can be divided into four groups: transient, developmental, chronic or progressive.This article provides an overview of the available literature about the rehabilitation of feeding and swallowing disorders in infants and children. Principles of motor control, motor learning and neuroplasticity are discussed for the four groups of children with feeding and swallowing disorders.

Allostatic load in parents of children with developmental disorders: moderating influence of positive affect.

PubMed

Song, Jieun; Mailick, Marsha R; Ryff, Carol D; Coe, Christopher L; Greenberg, Jan S; Hong, Jinkuk

2014-02-01

This study examines whether parents of children with developmental disorders are at risk of elevated allostatic load relative to control parents and whether positive affect moderates difference in risk. In all, 38 parents of children with developmental disorders and 38 matched comparison parents were analyzed. Regression analyses revealed a significant interaction between parent status and positive affect: parents of children with developmental disorders had lower allostatic load when they had higher positive affect, whereas no such association was evident for comparison parents. The findings suggest that promoting greater positive affect may lower health risks among parents of children with developmental disorders.

How Parents Introduce New Words to Young Children: The Influence of Development and Developmental Disorders

PubMed Central

Adamson, Lauren B.; Bakeman, Roger; Brandon, Benjamin

2015-01-01

This study documents how parents weave new words into on-going interactions with children who are just beginning to speak. Dyads with typically developing toddlers and with young children with autism spectrum disorder and Down syndrome (n = 56, 23, and 29) were observed using a Communication Play Protocol during which parents could use novel words to refer to novel objects. Parents readily introduced both labels and sound words even when their child did not respond expressively or produce the words. Results highlight both how parents act in ways that may facilitate their child's appreciation of the relation between a new word and its referent and how they subtly adjust their actions to suit their child's level of word learning and specific learning challenges. PMID:25863927

Withdrawal Study of Memantine in Pediatric Patients With Autism, Asperger's Disorder, or Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified Previously Treated With Memantine

ClinicalTrials.gov

2013-10-31

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD); Autism; Autistic Disorder; Asperger's Disorder; Asperger's; Pediatric Autism; Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS); Pervasive Child Development Disorder

Developmental Specificity in Targeting and Teaching Play Activities to Children with Pervasive Developmental Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lifter, Karin; Ellis, James; Cannon, Barbara; Anderson, Stephen R.

2005-01-01

Developmentally specific play programs were designed for three children with pervasive developmental disorders being served in a home-based program. Using the Developmental Play Assessment, six activities for each of three adjacent developmentally sequenced play categories were targeted for direct instruction using different toy sets. A modified…

Encoding Deficits Impede Word Learning and Memory in Adults With Developmental Language Disorders

PubMed Central

Gordon, Katherine; Eden, Nichole; Arbisi-Kelm, Tim; Oleson, Jacob

2017-01-01

Purpose The aim of this study was to determine whether the word-learning challenges associated with developmental language disorder (DLD) result from encoding or retention deficits. Method In Study 1, 59 postsecondary students with DLD and 60 with normal development (ND) took the California Verbal Learning Test–Second Edition, Adult Version (Delis, Kramer, Kaplan, & Ober, 2000). In Study 2, 23 postsecondary students with DLD and 24 with ND attempted to learn 9 novel words in each of 3 training conditions: uncued test, cued test, and no test (passive study). Retention was measured 1 day and 1 week later. Results By the end of training, students with DLD had encoded fewer familiar words (Study 1) and fewer novel words (Study 2) than their ND peers as evinced by word recall. They also demonstrated poorer encoding as evinced by slower growth in recall from Trials 1 to 2 (Studies 1 and 2), less semantic clustering of recalled words, and poorer recognition (Study 1). The DLD and ND groups were similar in the relative amount of information they could recall after retention periods of 5 and 20 min (Study 1). After a 1-day retention period, the DLD group recalled less information that had been encoded via passive study, but they performed as well as their ND peers when recalling information that had been encoded via tests (Study 2). Compared to passive study, encoding via tests also resulted in more robust lexical engagement after a 1-week retention for DLD and ND groups. Conclusions Encoding, not retention, is the problematic stage of word learning for adults with DLD. Self-testing with feedback lessens the deficit. Supplemental Materials https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.5435200 PMID:28980007

Extraction and Refinement Strategy for detection of autism in 18-month-olds: a guarantee of higher sensitivity and specificity in the process of mass screening.

PubMed

Honda, Hideo; Shimizu, Yasuo; Nitto, Yukari; Imai, Miho; Ozawa, Takeshi; Iwasa, Mitsuaki; Shiga, Keiko; Hira, Tomoko

2009-08-01

For early detection of autism, it is difficult to maintain an efficient level of sensitivity and specificity based on observational data from a single screening. The Extraction and Refinement (E&R) Strategy utilizes a public children's health surveillance program to produce maximum efficacy in early detection of autism. In the extraction stage, all cases at risk of childhood problems, including developmental abnormality, are identified; in the refinement stage, cases without problems are excluded, leaving only cases with conclusive diagnoses. The city of Yokohama, Japan, conducts a routine child health surveillance program for children at 18 months in which specialized public health nurses administer YACHT-18 (Young Autism and other developmental disorders CHeckup Tool), a screening instrument to identify children at risk for developmental disorders. Children who screen positive undergo further observation, and those without disorders are subsequently excluded. To study the efficacy of early detection procedures for developmental disorders, including autism, 2,814 children born in 1988, examined at 18 months of age, and not already receiving treatment for diseases or disorders were selected. In the extraction stage, 402 (14.3%) children were identified for follow-up. In the refinement stage, 19 (.7%) of these were referred to the Yokohama Rehabilitation Center and diagnosed with developmental disorders. The extraction stage produced four false negatives, bringing total diagnoses of developmental disorders to 23 (.8%) - including 5 with autistic disorder and 9 with pervasive developmental disorder - not otherwise specified (PDDNOS). Sensitivity was 60% for autistic disorder and 82.6% for developmental disorders. Specificity for developmental disorders rose to 100% with the E&R Strategy. Picture cards used in YACHT-18 provided a finer screen that excluded some false positive cases. An extraction and refinement methodology utilizing child health surveillance programs achieve high efficacy for early detection of autism.

The Development and Standardization of the Adult Developmental Co-Ordination Disorders/Dyspraxia Checklist (ADC)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kirby, Amanda; Edwards, Lisa; Sugden, David; Rosenblum, Sara

2010-01-01

Developmental Co-ordination Disorder (DCD), also known as Dyspraxia in the United Kingdom (U.K.), is a developmental disorder affecting motor co-ordination. In the past this was regarded as a childhood disorder, however there is increasing evidence that a significant number of children will continue to have persistent difficulties into adulthood.…

Comparison of developmental/intellectual changes between autistic disorder and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified in preschool years.

PubMed

Takeda, Toshinobu; Koyama, Tomonori; Kurita, Hiroshi

2007-12-01

This study is the first to compare the change in developmental quotient (DQ) or IQ between autistic disorder (AD) and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDDNOS) in preschool years. Forty-nine AD children and 77 PDDNOS children were evaluated at age 2 and at age > or =5. The AD children were significantly lower in DQ/IQ at initial evaluation and outcome evaluation (also with initial DQ being controlled for) than the PDDNOS children.

The interface between spoken and written language: developmental disorders.

PubMed

Hulme, Charles; Snowling, Margaret J

2014-01-01

We review current knowledge about reading development and the origins of difficulties in learning to read. We distinguish between the processes involved in learning to decode print, and the processes involved in reading for meaning (reading comprehension). At a cognitive level, difficulties in learning to read appear to be predominantly caused by deficits in underlying oral language skills. The development of decoding skills appears to depend critically upon phonological language skills, and variations in phoneme awareness, letter-sound knowledge and rapid automatized naming each appear to be causally related to problems in learning to read. Reading comprehension difficulties in contrast appear to be critically dependent on a range of oral language comprehension skills (including vocabulary knowledge and grammatical, morphological and pragmatic skills).

Pervasive Developmental Disorders: Distinguishing among Subtypes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harris, Sandra L.; Glasberg, Beth; Ricca, Donna

1996-01-01

Describes pervasive developmental disorders (PPDs), which are severe conditions that begin in early life and influence multiple areas of development. Conditions include autistic disorders, Asperger's disorder, Rett's disorder, childhood disintegrative disorder, and PPDs "not otherwise specified." Intensive behavioral intervention at an early age…

Prevalence and architecture of de novo mutations in developmental disorders.

PubMed

2017-02-23

The genomes of individuals with severe, undiagnosed developmental disorders are enriched in damaging de novo mutations (DNMs) in developmentally important genes. Here we have sequenced the exomes of 4,293 families containing individuals with developmental disorders, and meta-analysed these data with data from another 3,287 individuals with similar disorders. We show that the most important factors influencing the diagnostic yield of DNMs are the sex of the affected individual, the relatedness of their parents, whether close relatives are affected and the parental ages. We identified 94 genes enriched in damaging DNMs, including 14 that previously lacked compelling evidence of involvement in developmental disorders. We have also characterized the phenotypic diversity among these disorders. We estimate that 42% of our cohort carry pathogenic DNMs in coding sequences; approximately half of these DNMs disrupt gene function and the remainder result in altered protein function. We estimate that developmental disorders caused by DNMs have an average prevalence of 1 in 213 to 1 in 448 births, depending on parental age. Given current global demographics, this equates to almost 400,000 children born per year.

What we have changed our minds about: Part 2. Borderline personality disorder, epistemic trust and the developmental significance of social communication.

PubMed

Fonagy, Peter; Luyten, Patrick; Allison, Elizabeth; Campbell, Chloe

2017-01-01

In Part 1 of this paper, we discussed emerging evidence suggesting that a general psychopathology or 'p' factor underlying the various forms of psychopathology should be conceptualized in terms of the absence of resilience, that is, the absence of positive reappraisal mechanisms when faced with adversity. These impairments in the capacity for positive reappraisal seem to provide a comprehensive explanation for the association between the p factor and comorbidity, future caseness, and the 'hard-to-reach' character of many patients with severe personality pathology, most notably borderline personality disorder (BPD). In this, the second part of the paper, we trace the development of the absence of resilience to disruptions in the emergence of human social communication, based on recent evolutionary and developmental psychopathology accounts. We argue that BPD and related disorders may be reconceptualized as a form of social understanding in which epistemic hypervigilance, distrust or outright epistemic freezing is an adaptive consequence of the social learning environment. Negative appraisal mechanisms become overriding, particularly in situations of attachment stress. This constitutes a shift towards a more socially oriented perspective on personality psychopathology in which the absence of psychological resilience is seen as a learned response to the transmission of social knowledge. This shift in our views has also forced us to reconsider the role of attachment in BPD. The implications for prevention and intervention of this novel approach are discussed.

Neural Biomarkers for Dyslexia, ADHD, and ADD in the Auditory Cortex of Children.

PubMed

Serrallach, Bettina; Groß, Christine; Bernhofs, Valdis; Engelmann, Dorte; Benner, Jan; Gündert, Nadine; Blatow, Maria; Wengenroth, Martina; Seitz, Angelika; Brunner, Monika; Seither, Stefan; Parncutt, Richard; Schneider, Peter; Seither-Preisler, Annemarie

2016-01-01

Dyslexia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and attention deficit disorder (ADD) show distinct clinical profiles that may include auditory and language-related impairments. Currently, an objective brain-based diagnosis of these developmental disorders is still unavailable. We investigated the neuro-auditory systems of dyslexic, ADHD, ADD, and age-matched control children (N = 147) using neuroimaging, magnetencephalography and psychoacoustics. All disorder subgroups exhibited an oversized left planum temporale and an abnormal interhemispheric asynchrony (10-40 ms) of the primary auditory evoked P1-response. Considering right auditory cortex morphology, bilateral P1 source waveform shapes, and auditory performance, the three disorder subgroups could be reliably differentiated with outstanding accuracies of 89-98%. We therefore for the first time provide differential biomarkers for a brain-based diagnosis of dyslexia, ADHD, and ADD. The method allowed not only allowed for clear discrimination between two subtypes of attentional disorders (ADHD and ADD), a topic controversially discussed for decades in the scientific community, but also revealed the potential for objectively identifying comorbid cases. Noteworthy, in children playing a musical instrument, after three and a half years of training the observed interhemispheric asynchronies were reduced by about 2/3, thus suggesting a strong beneficial influence of music experience on brain development. These findings might have far-reaching implications for both research and practice and enable a profound understanding of the brain-related etiology, diagnosis, and musically based therapy of common auditory-related developmental disorders and learning disabilities.

Neural Biomarkers for Dyslexia, ADHD, and ADD in the Auditory Cortex of Children

PubMed Central

Serrallach, Bettina; Groß, Christine; Bernhofs, Valdis; Engelmann, Dorte; Benner, Jan; Gündert, Nadine; Blatow, Maria; Wengenroth, Martina; Seitz, Angelika; Brunner, Monika; Seither, Stefan; Parncutt, Richard; Schneider, Peter; Seither-Preisler, Annemarie

2016-01-01

Dyslexia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and attention deficit disorder (ADD) show distinct clinical profiles that may include auditory and language-related impairments. Currently, an objective brain-based diagnosis of these developmental disorders is still unavailable. We investigated the neuro-auditory systems of dyslexic, ADHD, ADD, and age-matched control children (N = 147) using neuroimaging, magnetencephalography and psychoacoustics. All disorder subgroups exhibited an oversized left planum temporale and an abnormal interhemispheric asynchrony (10–40 ms) of the primary auditory evoked P1-response. Considering right auditory cortex morphology, bilateral P1 source waveform shapes, and auditory performance, the three disorder subgroups could be reliably differentiated with outstanding accuracies of 89–98%. We therefore for the first time provide differential biomarkers for a brain-based diagnosis of dyslexia, ADHD, and ADD. The method allowed not only allowed for clear discrimination between two subtypes of attentional disorders (ADHD and ADD), a topic controversially discussed for decades in the scientific community, but also revealed the potential for objectively identifying comorbid cases. Noteworthy, in children playing a musical instrument, after three and a half years of training the observed interhemispheric asynchronies were reduced by about 2/3, thus suggesting a strong beneficial influence of music experience on brain development. These findings might have far-reaching implications for both research and practice and enable a profound understanding of the brain-related etiology, diagnosis, and musically based therapy of common auditory-related developmental disorders and learning disabilities. PMID:27471442

Phenotypic variability in developmental coordination disorder: Clustering of generalized joint hypermobility with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, atypical swallowing and narrative difficulties.

PubMed

Celletti, Claudia; Mari, Giorgia; Ghibellini, Giulia; Celli, Mauro; Castori, Marco; Camerota, Filippo

2015-03-01

Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is a recognized childhood disorder mostly characterized by motor coordination difficulties. Joint hypermobility syndrome, alternatively termed Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, hypermobility type (JHS/EDS-HT), is a hereditary connective tissue disorder mainly featuring generalized joint hypermobility (gJHM), musculoskeletal pain, and minor skin features. Although these two conditions seem apparently unrelated, recent evidence highlights a high rate of motor and coordination findings in children with gJHM or JHS/EDS-HT. Here, we investigated the prevalence of gJHM in 41 Italian children with DCD in order to check for the existence of recognizable phenotypic subgroups of DCD in relation to the presence/absence of gJHM. All patients were screened for Beighton score and a set of neuropsychological tests for motor competences (Movement Assessment Battery for Children and Visual-Motor Integration tests), and language and learning difficulties (Linguistic Comprehension Test, Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Boston Naming Test, Bus Story Test, and Memoria-Training tests). All patients were also screening for selected JHS/EDS-HT-associated features and swallowing problems. Nineteen (46%) children showed gJHM and 22 (54%) did not. Children with DCD and gJHM showed a significant excess of frequent falls (95 vs. 18%), easy bruising (74 vs. 0%), motor impersistence (89 vs. 23%), sore hands for writing (53 vs. 9%), attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (89 vs. 36%), constipation (53 vs. 0%), arthralgias/myalgias (58 vs. 4%), narrative difficulties (74 vs. 32%), and atypical swallowing (74 vs. 18%). This study confirms the non-causal association between DCD and gJHM, which, in turn, seems to increase the risk for non-random additional features. The excess of language, learning, and swallowing difficulties in patients with DCD and gJHM suggests a wider effect of lax tissues in the development of the nervous system. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Working Memory in Children with Developmental Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alloway, Tracy Packiam; Rajendran, Gnanathusharan; Archibald, Lisa M. D.

2009-01-01

The aim of the present study was to directly compare working memory skills across students with different developmental disorders to investigate whether the uniqueness of their diagnosis would impact memory skills. The authors report findings confirming differential memory profiles on the basis of the following developmental disorders: Specific…

Developmental pathway genes and neural plasticity underlying emotional learning and stress-related disorders.

PubMed

Maheu, Marissa E; Ressler, Kerry J

2017-09-01

The manipulation of neural plasticity as a means of intervening in the onset and progression of stress-related disorders retains its appeal for many researchers, despite our limited success in translating such interventions from the laboratory to the clinic. Given the challenges of identifying individual genetic variants that confer increased risk for illnesses like depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, some have turned their attention instead to focusing on so-called "master regulators" of plasticity that may provide a means of controlling these potentially impaired processes in psychiatric illnesses. The mammalian homolog of Tailless (TLX), Wnt, and the homeoprotein Otx2 have all been proposed to constitute master regulators of different forms of plasticity which have, in turn, each been implicated in learning and stress-related disorders. In the present review, we provide an overview of the changing distribution of these genes and their roles both during development and in the adult brain. We further discuss how their distinct expression profiles provide clues as to their function, and may inform their suitability as candidate drug targets in the treatment of psychiatric disorders. © 2017 Maheu and Ressler; Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.

Crowdsourced validation of a machine-learning classification system for autism and ADHD.

PubMed

Duda, M; Haber, N; Daniels, J; Wall, D P

2017-05-16

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) together affect >10% of the children in the United States, but considerable behavioral overlaps between the two disorders can often complicate differential diagnosis. Currently, there is no screening test designed to differentiate between the two disorders, and with waiting times from initial suspicion to diagnosis upwards of a year, methods to quickly and accurately assess risk for these and other developmental disorders are desperately needed. In a previous study, we found that four machine-learning algorithms were able to accurately (area under the curve (AUC)>0.96) distinguish ASD from ADHD using only a small subset of items from the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS). Here, we expand upon our prior work by including a novel crowdsourced data set of responses to our predefined top 15 SRS-derived questions from parents of children with ASD (n=248) or ADHD (n=174) to improve our model's capability to generalize to new, 'real-world' data. By mixing these novel survey data with our initial archival sample (n=3417) and performing repeated cross-validation with subsampling, we created a classification algorithm that performs with AUC=0.89±0.01 using only 15 questions.

Developmental cigarette smoke exposure II: Hippocampus proteome and metabolome profiles in adult offspring.

PubMed

Neal, Rachel E; Jagadapillai, Rekha; Chen, Jing; Webb, Cindy; Stocke, Kendall; Greene, Robert M; Pisano, M Michele

2016-10-01

Exposure to cigarette smoke during development is linked to neurodevelopmental delays and cognitive impairment including impulsivity, attention deficit disorder, and lower IQ. Utilizing a murine experimental model of "active" inhalation exposure to cigarette smoke spanning the entirety of gestation and through human third trimester equivalent hippocampal development [gestation day 1 (GD1) through postnatal day 21 (PD21)], we examined hippocampus proteome and metabolome alterations present at a time during which developmental cigarette smoke exposure (CSE)-induced behavioral and cognitive impairments are evident in adult animals from this model system. At six month of age, carbohydrate metabolism and lipid content in the hippocampus of adult offspring remained impacted by prior exposure to cigarette smoke during the critical period of hippocampal ontogenesis indicating limited glycolysis. These findings indicate developmental CSE-induced systemic glucose availability may limit both organism growth and developmental trajectory, including the capacity for learning and memory. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

How parents introduce new words to young children: The influence of development and developmental disorders.

PubMed

Adamson, Lauren B; Bakeman, Roger; Brandon, Benjamin

2015-05-01

This study documents how parents weave new words into on-going interactions with children who are just beginning to speak. Dyads with typically developing toddlers and with young children with autism spectrum disorder and Down syndrome (n=56, 23, and 29) were observed using a Communication Play Protocol during which parents could use novel words to refer to novel objects. Parents readily introduced both labels and sound words even when their child did not respond expressively or produce the words. Results highlight both how parents act in ways that may facilitate their child's appreciation of the relation between a new word and its referent and how they subtly adjust their actions to suit their child's level of word learning and specific learning challenges. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cognitive modifiability of children with developmental disabilities: a multicentre study using Feuerstein's Instrumental Enrichment--Basic program.

PubMed

Kozulin, A; Lebeer, J; Madella-Noja, A; Gonzalez, F; Jeffrey, I; Rosenthal, N; Koslowsky, M

2010-01-01

The study aimed at exploring the effectiveness of cognitive intervention with the new "Instrumental Enrichment Basic" program (IE-basic), based on Feuerstein's theory of structural cognitive modifiability that contends that a child's cognitive functioning can be significantly modified through mediated learning intervention. The IE-basic progam is aimed at enhancing domain-general cognitive functioning in a number of areas (systematic perception, self-regulation abilities, conceptual vocabulary, planning, decoding emotions and social relations) as well as transferring learnt principles to daily life domains. Participants were children with DCD, CP, intellectual impairment of genetic origin, autistic spectrum disorder, ADHD or other learning disorders, with a mental age of 5-7 years, from Canada, Chile, Belgium, Italy and Israel. Children in the experimental groups (N=104) received 27-90 h of the program during 30-45 weeks; the comparison groups (N=72) received general occupational and sensory-motor therapy. Analysis of the pre- to post-test gain scores demonstrated significant (p<0.05) advantage of experimental over comparison groups in three WISC-R subtests ("Similarities", "Picture Completion", "Picture Arrangement") and Raven Coloured Matrices. Effect sizes ranged from 0.3 to 0.52. Results suggest that it is possible to improve cognitive functioning of children with developmental disability. No advantage was found for children with specific aetiology. Greater cognitive gains were demonstrated by children who received the program in an educational context where all teachers were committed to the principles of mediated learning. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sleep Problems and Early Developmental Delay: Implications for Early Intervention Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bonuck, Karen; Grant, Roy

2012-01-01

Sleep disorders negatively impact behavior, cognition, and growth--the same areas targeted by early intervention. Conversely, developmental delays and disabilities may themselves precipitate sleep disorders. Young children with developmental delays experience sleep disorders at a higher rate than do typically developing children; the most common…

What Kinds of Things Cause Children's Reading Difficulties?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coltheart, Max

2015-01-01

The first part of this paper explains the distinction between proximal and distal causes of developmental disorders of cognition, with special reference to developmental disorders of reading. A number of different proximal causes of developmental disorders of reading have been identified. These correspond to a number of different patterns of…

Creating an Inclusive Classroom Address Wide-Ranging Developmental Needs through Your Classroom Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Greenspan, Stanley, I.

2005-01-01

In this article, the author answers the following question: In addition to the usual wide-ranging abilities of a new class, I have one 4-year-old who has learning delays and three children with speech and language disorders. What can I do to be sure that I'm creating a classroom environment where the needs of all the children in my group can be…

Cognitive procedural learning among children and adolescents with or without spastic cerebral palsy: the differential effect of age.

PubMed

Gofer-Levi, M; Silberg, T; Brezner, A; Vakil, E

2014-09-01

Children learn to engage their surroundings skillfully, adopting implicit knowledge of complex regularities and associations. Probabilistic classification learning (PCL) is a type of cognitive procedural learning in which different cues are probabilistically associated with specific outcomes. Little is known about the effects of developmental disorders on cognitive skill acquisition. Twenty-four children and adolescents with cerebral palsy (CP) were compared to 24 typically developing (TD) youth in their ability to learn probabilistic associations. Performance was examined in relation to general cognitive abilities, level of motor impairment and age. Improvement in PCL was observed for all participants, with no relation to IQ. An age effect was found only among TD children. Learning curves of children with CP on a cognitive procedural learning task differ from those of TD peers and do not appear to be age sensitive. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Root Cause of Post-traumatic and Developmental Stress Disorder

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-03-01

Post - traumatic and Developmental Stress Disorder PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Keith A...28 Feb 2013 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE The Root Cause of Post - traumatic and Developmental Stress Disorder 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER W81XWH-­‐07-­‐1-­‐0244...goal of Project 1 is to describe the progression of post -deployment stress disorders ( PTSD , major depression, suicidality) in active duty troops

Trends in Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnoses: 1994-2007

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rosenberg, Rebecca E.; Daniels, Amy M.; Law, J. Kiely; Law, Paul A.; Kaufmann, Walter E.

2009-01-01

We analyzed predictors of parent-reported initial diagnosis (autistic disorder [AD], pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified [PDD-NOS], pervasive developmental disorder ["PDD"] and autism spectrum disorder ["ASD"], and Asperger syndrome [AS]), among 6,176 individuals with autism spectrum disorders diagnosed from 1994 through 2007.…

Screening for attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, and developmental delay in Taiwanese aboriginal preschool children

PubMed Central

Chan, Hsiang-Lin; Liu, Wen-Sheng; Hsieh, Yi-Hsuan; Lin, Chiao-Fan; Ling, Tiing-Soon; Huang, Yu-Shu

2016-01-01

Objectives This study aimed to estimate the percentages of attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Taiwanese aboriginal preschool children. Child development level was compared between the two groups. Methods Teachers completed screening questionnaires for ADHD, ASD, and development level for 36- to 72-month-old children in kindergartens in Taiwan. The questionnaire results were compared between the aboriginal and nonaboriginal children. One child psychiatrist then interviewed the aboriginal preschool children to determine if they had ADHD and/or ASD. Results We collected 93 questionnaires from the aboriginal group and 60 from the nonaboriginal group. In the aboriginal group, 5.37% of the children were identified to have ADHD, while 1.08% were identified to have ASD. Significantly fewer aboriginal children had developmental delays for situation comprehension and personal–social development (P=0.012 and 0.002, respectively) than nonaboriginal children. Conclusion Aboriginal children in Taiwan had typical percentages of ADHD and ASD compared to those published in the literature. Aboriginal children showed relative strengths in situation comprehension and personal–social skills. Further studies are required to understand the learning styles of the aboriginal children and to develop effective screening and intervention strategies for ADHD and ASD. PMID:27785028

[Effect of development and aging on the modified Wisconsin Card Sorting Test in normal subjects].

PubMed

Kado, Yoko; Sanada, Satoshi; Yanagihara, Masafumi; Ogino, Tatsuya; Abiru, Kiyoko; Nakano, Kousuke

2004-11-01

The Wisconsin card sorting test (WCST) is applied to various types of neurological disorders. Since WCST requires the examinee's sustained efforts, it is not readily applicable to children with developmental disorders. In order to overcome this weakness, Keio version WCST (KWCST) was developed by reducing the number of cards from 128 to 48 and presenting them in two steps separated by a short pause. During which a brief instruction was given. This study was performed to clarify the changes with age in indices of KWCST and to obtain the normative value. Three hundred thirty five normal subjects, ranging from 5 to 82 years of age were examined. A simple regression analysis showed a significant age-related changes. Subjects between the middle thirties and the middle forties showed the best score in such indices as the categories achieved, perseverative errors of Nelson, difficulties of maintaining set, numbers of response cards until the first category achieved, and total errors. Most of the scores were improved in the second step across the all age groups, which might have resulted from learning during the first step and the instruction provided before the second step. KWCST can be performed briefly, and is suitable for cases with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and pervasive developmental disorder.

Perception-action coupling and imitation in autism spectrum disorder.

PubMed

Nadel, Jacqueline

2015-04-01

This paper focuses on the key function of imitation in motor and social development of typically developing infants and low-functioning children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We suggest that it might also be a developmental cornerstone for other neurodevelopmental disorders. Why this suggestion? First, imitation just requires relating one's motor patterns to perceived motor patterns. This is always possible if the actions seen are not beyond the individual's motor scope; for instance, newborn infants can already imitate tongue protrusion, eye blinking, or mouth opening, because these movements are part of their foetal repertoire. Second, imitation is a 'use it or lose it' capacity: the more it is used, the more the repertoire grows (plasticity). Finally, imitation is an efficient tool for two main adaptive functions: learning and communication. Imitation-based communication is available through the use of the two facets of imitation: imitating and being imitated. The two facets afford two roles that the partners can exchange as a turn-taking while they synchronize matched activities. Neuroimaging studies of interactive imitation have shown that such communicative systems involve a coordination of bottom-up and top-down processes. In this line, imitation is a booster of development that can also be of benefit for children with neurodevelopmental disorders. © 2015 The Authors. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology © 2015 Mac Keith Press.

Autism Spectrum Disorders (Pervasive Developmental Disorders)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Strock, Margaret

2007-01-01

This booklet focuses on classic autism, pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS), and Asperger syndrome, with brief descriptions of Rett syndrome and childhood disintegrative disorder. The booklet describes possible indicators of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), their diagnosis, available aids, treatment options, adults…

Children with developmental dyslexia showed greater sleep disturbances than controls, including problems initiating and maintaining sleep.

PubMed

Carotenuto, M; Esposito, M; Cortese, S; Laino, D; Verrotti, A

2016-09-01

Although there have been frequent clinical reports about sleep disturbances in children with learning disabilities, no data are available about the prevalence of sleep disturbances in children with developmental dyslexia (DD). This study evaluated sleep disturbances in children with DD referred to a hospital clinic and compared their scores with healthy controls. We consecutively enrolled 147 children (66% male) aged 10.26 ± 2.63 years who were referred by clinical paediatricians to the Clinic for Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry at the Second University of Naples with DD and 766 children without DD (60% male) aged 10.49 ± 2.39 years recruited from schools in the same urban area. Sleep disturbances were assessed with the Sleep Disturbances Scale for Children (SDSC), which was filled out by the children's main carers. Compared with the controls, the children with DD showed significantly higher rates of above threshold scores on the total SDSC score (p < 0.001) and on the subscales for disorders in initiating and maintaining sleep (p < 0.001), sleep breathing disorders (p < 0.001) and disorders of arousal (p < 0.001). Sleep disorders were significantly more frequent in children with DD than in healthy controls. A possible relationship between dyslexia and sleep disorders may have relevant clinical implications. ©2016 Foundation Acta Paediatrica. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Developmental and benign movement disorders in childhood.

PubMed

Bonnet, Cecilia; Roubertie, Agathe; Doummar, Diane; Bahi-Buisson, Nadia; Cochen de Cock, Valérie; Roze, Emmanuel

2010-07-30

Developmental and benign movement disorders are a group of movement disorders with onset in the neonatal period, infancy, or childhood. They are characterized by the absence of associated neurological manifestations and by their favorable outcome, although developmental abnormalities can be occasionally observed. Knowledge of the clinical, neurophysiological, and pathogenetic aspects of these disorders is poor. Based on a comprehensive review of the literature and our practical experience, this article summarizes current knowledge in this area. We pay special attention to the recognition and management of these movement disorders in children. (c) 2010 Movement Disorder Society.

Prevalence of Gastrointestinal Disorders in Adult Clients with Pervasive Developmental Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Galli-Carminati, G.; Chauvet, I.; Deriaz, N.

2006-01-01

Background: In clients with pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), some authors have noticed the presence of gastrointestinal disorders and behavioural disorders. An augmented prevalence of different histological anomalies has also been reported. The aim of our study is to highlight the prevalence of gastrointestinal disorders in this adult with…

Peer Problems Mediate the Relationship between Developmental Coordination Disorder and Behavioral Problems in School-Aged Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wagner, Matthias Oliver; Bos, Klaus; Jascenoka, Julia; Jekauc, Darko; Petermann, Franz

2012-01-01

The aim of this study was to gain insights into the relationship between developmental coordination disorder, peer problems, and behavioral problems in school-aged children where both internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems were considered. We assumed that the relationship between developmental coordination disorder and…

[Joubert syndrome and related disorders].

PubMed

Paprocka, Justyna; Jamroz, Ewa

2012-01-01

The cerebellum plays a role not only in motor control but also in motor learning and cognition. Joubert syndrome is a rare heterogeneous inherited genetic disorder characterized by ataxia, hypotonia, developmental delay, and at least one of the following features: neonatal respiratory disturbances or abnormal eye movement. The estimated frequency of Joubert syndrome in the United States is around 1 : 100 000. The term Joubert syndrome and related disorders (JSRD) has been recently coined to describe all disorders presenting with molar tooth sign on brain neuroimaging. Joubert syndrome is believed to be a representative of a new group of disorders named ciliopathies. The identification of seven causal genes (NPHP1, AHI1, CEP290, RPGRIP1L, TMEM67/MKS3, ARL13B, CC2D2A) has led to substantial progress in the understanding of the genetic basis of Joubert syndrome. The authors focus on clinical presentation of JSRD, differential diagnosis and molecular background.

Psychopathy: cognitive and neural dysfunction.

PubMed

R Blair, R James

2013-06-01

Psychopathy is a developmental disorder marked by emotional deficits and an increased risk for antisocial behavior. It is not equivalent to the diagnosis Antisocial Personality Disorder, which concentrates only on the increased risk for antisocial behavior and not a specific cause-ie, the reduced empathy and guilt that constitutes the emotional deficit. The current review considers data from adults with psychopathy with respect to the main cognitive accounts of the disorder that stress either a primary attention deficit or a primary emotion deficit. In addition, the current review considers data regarding the neurobiology of this disorder. Dysfunction within the amygdala's role in reinforcement learning and the role of ventromedial frontal cortex in the representation of reinforcement value is stressed. Data is also presented indicating potential difficulties within parts of temporal and posterior cingulate cortex. Suggestions are made with respect to why these deficits lead to the development of the disorder.

Psychopathy: cognitive and neural dysfunction

PubMed Central

R. Blair, R. James

2013-01-01

Psychopathy is a developmental disorder marked by emotional deficits and an increased risk for antisocial behavior. It is not equivalent to the diagnosis Antisocial Personality Disorder, which concentrates only on the increased risk for antisocial behavior and not a specific cause—ie, the reduced empathy and guilt that constitutes the emotional deficit. The current review considers data from adults with psychopathy with respect to the main cognitive accounts of the disorder that stress either a primary attention deficit or a primary emotion deficit. In addition, the current review considers data regarding the neurobiology of this disorder. Dysfunction within the amygdala's role in reinforcement learning and the role of ventromedial frontal cortex in the representation of reinforcement value is stressed. Data is also presented indicating potential difficulties within parts of temporal and posterior cingulate cortex. Suggestions are made with respect to why these deficits lead to the development of the disorder. PMID:24174892

Developmental Milestones in Toddlers with Atypical Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Horovitz, Max; Matson, Johnny L.

2011-01-01

The attainment of developmental milestones was examined and compared in 162 infants and toddlers with developmental disabilities, including Down Syndrome (n = 26), Cerebral Palsy (n = 19), Global Developmental Delay (n = 22), Premature birth (n = 66), and Seizure Disorder (n = 29). Toddlers in the Seizures Disorder group began crawling at a…

Annual Research Review: Attachment disorders in early childhood – clinical presentation, causes, correlates and treatment

PubMed Central

Zeanah, Charles H.; Gleason, Mary Margaret

2015-01-01

Background Though noted in the clinical literature for more than 50 years, attachment disorders have been studied systematically only recently. In part because of the ubiquity of attachments in humans, determining when aberrant behavior is best explained as an attachment disorder as opposed to insecure attachment has led to some confusion. In this selective review, we consider the literature on reactive attachment disorder and disinhibited social engagement disorder and describe an emerging consensus about a number of issues, while also noting some areas of controversy and others where we lack clear answers. We include a brief history of the classification of the disorders, as well as measurement issues. We describe their clinical presentation, causes and vulnerability factors, and clinical correlates, including the relation of disorders to secure and insecure attachment classifications. We also review what little is known and what more we need to learn about interventions. Methods We conducted a literature search using PubMed, PsycINFO, and Cochrane Library databases, using search terms “reactive attachment disorder,” “attachment disorder,” “indiscriminate behavior,” “indiscriminate friendliness,” “indiscriminate socially disinhibited reactive attachment disorder,” “disinhibited social engagement disorder,” and “disinhibited social behavior.” We also contacted investigators who have published on these topics. Findings A growing literature has assessed behaviors in children who have experienced various types of adverse caregiving environments reflecting signs of putative attachment disorders, though fewer studies have investigated categorically defined attachment disorders. The evidence for two separate disorders is considerable, with reactive attachment disorder indicating children who lack attachments despite the developmental capacity to form them, and disinhibited social engagement disorder indicating children who lack developmentally appropriate reticence with unfamiliar adults and who violate socially sanctioned boundaries. Conclusions Though many questions remain to be answered, especially regarding appropriate interventions, we know considerably more about attachment disorders than we did only a decade ago. PMID:25359236

Procedural learning, consolidation, and transfer of a new skill in Developmental Coordination Disorder.

PubMed

Lejeune, Caroline; Wansard, Murielle; Geurten, Marie; Meulemans, Thierry

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to explore the differences in procedural learning abilities between children with DCD and typically developing children by investigating the steps that lead to skill automatization (i.e., the stages of fast learning, consolidation, and slow learning). Transfer of the skill to a new situation was also assessed. We tested 34 children aged 6-12 years with and without DCD on a perceptuomotor adaptation task, a form of procedural learning that is thought to involve the cerebellum and the basal ganglia (regions whose impairment has been associated with DCD) but also other brain areas including frontal regions. The results showed similar rates of learning, consolidation, and transfer in DCD and control children. However, the DCD children's performance remained slower than that of controls throughout the procedural task and they reached a lower asymptotic performance level; the difficulties observed at the outset did not diminish with practice.

BrainAGE score indicates accelerated brain aging in schizophrenia, but not bipolar disorder.

PubMed

Nenadić, Igor; Dietzek, Maren; Langbein, Kerstin; Sauer, Heinrich; Gaser, Christian

2017-08-30

BrainAGE (brain age gap estimation) is a novel morphometric parameter providing a univariate score derived from multivariate voxel-wise analyses. It uses a machine learning approach and can be used to analyse deviation from physiological developmental or aging-related trajectories. Using structural MRI data and BrainAGE quantification of acceleration or deceleration of in individual aging, we analysed data from 45 schizophrenia patients, 22 bipolar I disorder patients (mostly with previous psychotic symptoms / episodes), and 70 healthy controls. We found significantly higher BrainAGE scores in schizophrenia, but not bipolar disorder patients. Our findings indicate significantly accelerated brain structural aging in schizophrenia. This suggests, that despite the conceptualisation of schizophrenia as a neurodevelopmental disorder, there might be an additional progressive pathogenic component. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Diagnosis of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Its Behavioral, Neurological, and Genetic Roots

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mueller, Kathryn L.; Tomblin, J. Bruce

2012-01-01

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common developmental disorder often associated with other developmental disorders including speech, language, and reading disorders. Here, we review the principal features of ADHD and current diagnostic standards for the disorder. We outline the ADHD subtypes, which are based upon the dimensions…

Pervasive Developmental Disorders: PDD-NOS, Asperger's Disorder and Autism. Parent Information Booklet.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levine, Karen

This information booklet is designed for parents who have a child who has been diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) or Asperger's Disorder. It provides information on: (1) the definition of PDD; (2) the five subtypes of PDD, including PDD "not otherwise specified," Asperger's disorder, autistic disorder, childhood…

Assessment of Body Composition Using Whole Body Air-Displacement Plethysmography in Children with and without Developmental Coordination Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cairney, John; Hay, John; Veldhuizen, Scott; Faught, Brent

2011-01-01

Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is a neuro-developmental disorder characterized by poor fine and/or gross motor coordination. Children with DCD are hypothesized to be at increased risk for overweight and obesity from inactivity due to their motor coordination problems. Although previous studies have found evidence to support this…

Dyslexia and Developmental Co-Ordination Disorder in Further and Higher Education--Similarities and Differences. Does the "Label" Influence the Support Given?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kirby, Amanda; Sugden, David; Beveridge, Sally; Edwards, Lisa; Edwards, Rachel

2008-01-01

Developmental co-ordination disorder (DCD) is a developmental disorder affecting motor co-ordination. The "Diagnostics Statistics Manual"--IV classification for DCD describes difficulties across a range of activities of daily living, impacting on everyday skills and academic performance in school. Recent evidence has shown that…

The pathophysiology of echopraxia/echolalia: relevance to Gilles de la Tourette syndrome.

PubMed

Ganos, Christos; Ogrzal, Timo; Schnitzler, Alfons; Münchau, Alexander

2012-09-01

Echopraxia and echolalia are subsets of imitative behavior. They are essential developmental elements in social learning. Their persistence or reemergence after a certain age, though, can be a sign of underlying brain dysfunction. Although echophenomena have been acknowledged as a typical sign in Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (GTS) since its first description, their clinical significance and neural correlates are largely unknown. Here, we review the course of their scientific historical development and focus on their clinical phenomenology and differential diagnosis with a particular view to GTS. The neural basis of echophenomena will also be addressed. © 2012 Movement Disorder Society. Copyright © 2012 Movement Disorder Society.

Noonan syndrome

PubMed Central

Roberts, Amy E; Allanson, Judith E; Tartaglia, Marco; Gelb, Bruce D

2014-01-01

Noonan syndrome is a genetic multisystem disorder characterised by distinctive facial features, developmental delay, learning difficulties, short stature, congenital heart disease, renal anomalies, lymphatic malformations, and bleeding difficulties. Mutations that cause Noonan syndrome alter genes encoding proteins with roles in the RAS–MAPK pathway, leading to pathway dysregulation. Management guidelines have been developed. Several clinically relevant genotype–phenotype correlations aid risk assessment and patient management. Increased understanding of the pathophysiology of the disease could help development of pharmacogenetic treatments. PMID:23312968

Histone Lysine Methylases and Demethylases in the Landscape of Human Developmental Disorders.

PubMed

Faundes, Víctor; Newman, William G; Bernardini, Laura; Canham, Natalie; Clayton-Smith, Jill; Dallapiccola, Bruno; Davies, Sally J; Demos, Michelle K; Goldman, Amy; Gill, Harinder; Horton, Rachel; Kerr, Bronwyn; Kumar, Dhavendra; Lehman, Anna; McKee, Shane; Morton, Jenny; Parker, Michael J; Rankin, Julia; Robertson, Lisa; Temple, I Karen; Banka, Siddharth

2018-01-04

Histone lysine methyltransferases (KMTs) and demethylases (KDMs) underpin gene regulation. Here we demonstrate that variants causing haploinsufficiency of KMTs and KDMs are frequently encountered in individuals with developmental disorders. Using a combination of human variation databases and existing animal models, we determine 22 KMTs and KDMs as additional candidates for dominantly inherited developmental disorders. We show that KMTs and KDMs that are associated with, or are candidates for, dominant developmental disorders tend to have a higher level of transcription, longer canonical transcripts, more interactors, and a higher number and more types of post-translational modifications than other KMT and KDMs. We provide evidence to firmly associate KMT2C, ASH1L, and KMT5B haploinsufficiency with dominant developmental disorders. Whereas KMT2C or ASH1L haploinsufficiency results in a predominantly neurodevelopmental phenotype with occasional physical anomalies, KMT5B mutations cause an overgrowth syndrome with intellectual disability. We further expand the phenotypic spectrum of KMT2B-related disorders and show that some individuals can have severe developmental delay without dystonia at least until mid-childhood. Additionally, we describe a recessive histone lysine-methylation defect caused by homozygous or compound heterozygous KDM5B variants and resulting in a recognizable syndrome with developmental delay, facial dysmorphism, and camptodactyly. Collectively, these results emphasize the significance of histone lysine methylation in normal human development and the importance of this process in human developmental disorders. Our results demonstrate that systematic clinically oriented pathway-based analysis of genomic data can accelerate the discovery of rare genetic disorders. Copyright © 2017 American Society of Human Genetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Autism Spectrum Disorder and Young Children. AECA Research in Practice Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roe, Diana

This booklet provides an overview of the characteristics and needs of young children with autism spectrum disorders or pervasive developmental disorders. It addresses: (1) different disabilities under the classification of autism spectrum disorders or pervasive developmental disorders; (2) characteristics of autism; (3) characteristics of children…

Neurodevelopmental disorders among individuals with duplication of 4p13 to 4p12 containing a GABAA receptor subunit gene cluster

PubMed Central

Polan, Michelle B; Pastore, Matthew T; Steingass, Katherine; Hashimoto, Sayaka; Thrush, Devon L; Pyatt, Robert; Reshmi, Shalini; Gastier-Foster, Julie M; Astbury, Caroline; McBride, Kim L

2014-01-01

Recent studies have shown that certain copy number variations (CNV) are associated with a wide range of neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorders (ASD), bipolar disorder and intellectual disabilities. Implicated regions and genes have comprised a variety of post synaptic complex proteins and neurotransmitter receptors, including gamma-amino butyric acid A (GABAA). Clusters of GABAA receptor subunit genes are found on chromosomes 4p12, 5q34, 6q15 and 15q11-13. Maternally inherited 15q11-13 duplications among individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders are well described, but few case reports exist for the other regions. We describe a family with a 2.42 Mb duplication at chromosome 4p13 to 4p12, identified in the index case and other family members by oligonucleotide array comparative genomic hybridization, that contains 13 genes including a cluster of four GABAA receptor subunit genes. Fluorescent in-situ hybridization was used to confirm the duplication. The duplication segregates with a variety of neurodevelopmental disorders in this family, including ASD (index case), developmental delay, dyspraxia and ADHD (brother), global developmental delays (brother), learning disabilities (mother) and bipolar disorder (maternal grandmother). In addition, we identified and describe another individual unrelated to this family, with a similar duplication, who was diagnosed with ASD, ADHD and borderline intellectual disability. The 4p13 to 4p12 duplication appears to confer a susceptibility to a variety of neurodevelopmental disorders in these two families. We hypothesize that the duplication acts through a dosage effect of GABAA receptor subunit genes, adding evidence for alterations in the GABAergic system in the etiology of neurodevelopmental disorders. PMID:23695283

Auditory-motor interactions in pediatric motor speech disorders: neurocomputational modeling of disordered development.

PubMed

Terband, H; Maassen, B; Guenther, F H; Brumberg, J

2014-01-01

Differentiating the symptom complex due to phonological-level disorders, speech delay and pediatric motor speech disorders is a controversial issue in the field of pediatric speech and language pathology. The present study investigated the developmental interaction between neurological deficits in auditory and motor processes using computational modeling with the DIVA model. In a series of computer simulations, we investigated the effect of a motor processing deficit alone (MPD), and the effect of a motor processing deficit in combination with an auditory processing deficit (MPD+APD) on the trajectory and endpoint of speech motor development in the DIVA model. Simulation results showed that a motor programming deficit predominantly leads to deterioration on the phonological level (phonemic mappings) when auditory self-monitoring is intact, and on the systemic level (systemic mapping) if auditory self-monitoring is impaired. These findings suggest a close relation between quality of auditory self-monitoring and the involvement of phonological vs. motor processes in children with pediatric motor speech disorders. It is suggested that MPD+APD might be involved in typically apraxic speech output disorders and MPD in pediatric motor speech disorders that also have a phonological component. Possibilities to verify these hypotheses using empirical data collected from human subjects are discussed. The reader will be able to: (1) identify the difficulties in studying disordered speech motor development; (2) describe the differences in speech motor characteristics between SSD and subtype CAS; (3) describe the different types of learning that occur in the sensory-motor system during babbling and early speech acquisition; (4) identify the neural control subsystems involved in speech production; (5) describe the potential role of auditory self-monitoring in developmental speech disorders. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) for children with specific learning disorders.

PubMed

Tan, May Loong; Ho, Jacqueline J; Teh, Keng Hwang

2012-12-12

About 5% of schoolchildren have a specific learning disorder, defined as an unexpected failure to acquire adequate abilities in reading, writing or mathematic skills not as a result of reduced intellectual ability, inadequate teaching or social deprivation. Of these, 80% are reading disorders. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), in particular omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which are found abundantly in the brain and retina are important for learning. Some children with specific learning disorders have been found to be deficient in these PUFAs, and it is argued that supplementation of PUFAs may help these children improve their learning abilities. To assess the effects of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) supplementation for children with specific learning disorders, on learning outcomes. We searched the following databases in April 2012: CENTRAL (2012, Issue 4), MEDLINE (1948 to April Week 2 2012), EMBASE (1980 to 2012 Week 16), PsycINFO (1806 to April 2012), ERIC (1966 to April 2012), Science Citation Index (1970 to 20 April 2012), Social Science Citation Index (1970 to 20 April 2012), Conference Proceedings Citation Index-Science (1970 to 20 April 2012), Conference Proceedings Citation Index-Social Sciences and Humanites (1970 to 20 April 2012), Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (2012, Issue 4), DARE (2012, Issue 2) , ZETOC (24 April 2012) and WorldCat (24 April 2012). We searched the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform and ClinicalTrials.gov on 24 April 2012. We also searched the reference lists of relevant articles identified by the searches. Randomised or quasi-randomised controlled trials comparing polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) with placebo or no treatment in children aged below 18 years with specific learning disabilities diagnosed using DSM-IV, ICD-10 or equivalent criteria. We intended to include participants with co-existing developmental disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or autism. Two authors (ML and KH) independently screened the titles and abstracts of the search results and eliminated all studies that did not meet the inclusion criteria. Authors were contacted for missing information and clarifications when needed. We did not find any studies suitable for inclusion in the review. One study is awaiting classification as we were unable to get any information from the study author. There is insufficient evidence to draw any conclusion about the use of PUFAs for children with specific learning disorders. There is a need for well designed randomised studies to support or refute the use of PUFAs in this group of children.

Development of social skills in children: neural and behavioral evidence for the elaboration of cognitive models

PubMed Central

Soto-Icaza, Patricia; Aboitiz, Francisco; Billeke, Pablo

2015-01-01

Social skills refer to a wide group of abilities that allow us to interact and communicate with others. Children learn how to solve social situations by predicting and understanding other's behaviors. The way in which humans learn to interact successfully with others encompasses a complex interaction between neural, behavioral, and environmental elements. These have a role in the accomplishment of positive developmental outcomes, including peer acceptance, academic achievement, and mental health. All these social abilities depend on widespread brain networks that are recently being studied by neuroscience. In this paper, we will first review the studies on this topic, aiming to clarify the behavioral and neural mechanisms related to the acquisition of social skills during infancy and their appearance in time. Second, we will briefly describe how developmental diseases like Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) can inform about the neurobiological mechanisms of social skills. We finally sketch a general framework for the elaboration of cognitive models in order to facilitate the comprehension of human social development. PMID:26483621

Development of social skills in children: neural and behavioral evidence for the elaboration of cognitive models.

PubMed

Soto-Icaza, Patricia; Aboitiz, Francisco; Billeke, Pablo

2015-01-01

Social skills refer to a wide group of abilities that allow us to interact and communicate with others. Children learn how to solve social situations by predicting and understanding other's behaviors. The way in which humans learn to interact successfully with others encompasses a complex interaction between neural, behavioral, and environmental elements. These have a role in the accomplishment of positive developmental outcomes, including peer acceptance, academic achievement, and mental health. All these social abilities depend on widespread brain networks that are recently being studied by neuroscience. In this paper, we will first review the studies on this topic, aiming to clarify the behavioral and neural mechanisms related to the acquisition of social skills during infancy and their appearance in time. Second, we will briefly describe how developmental diseases like Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) can inform about the neurobiological mechanisms of social skills. We finally sketch a general framework for the elaboration of cognitive models in order to facilitate the comprehension of human social development.

[Effect of developmental disorders on personality and personality disorders].

PubMed

Honda, Hideo

2013-01-01

Developmental disorders (DD) are now so common that it is even more necessary to investigate the relationship between DD and personality disorders (PD). Despite the lack of studies, DD and PD have much in common. For research on personality and its disorders, direct, real-time observation by researchers themselves on the "black box" of temperament and its interaction with the environment is needed. For research on DD, especially in those with mild DD symptoms, how developmental characteristics and their interaction with the environment affect the personality in adulthood should be investigated.

Does Length of Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics Training Matter?

PubMed

Stein, Ruth E K; Storfer-Isser, Amy; Kerker, Bonnie D; Garner, Andrew; Szilagyi, Moira; Hoagwood, Kimberly E; O'Connor, Karen G; Green, Cori M; Horwitz, Sarah McCue

Since 1997 pediatric residencies have been required to provide a 4-week block rotation in developmental and behavioral pediatrics (DBP), but it is not known whether this has altered the care and management of children by practicing pediatricians. The objective of this study was to compare the self-reported practice patterns of pediatricians who were trained with 4 or more weeks of DBP with the practice patterns of those who were trained for <4 weeks. We used self-reported practices from the American Academy of Pediatrics Periodic Survey 85. Pediatricians were asked whether they never, sometimes, or usually inquired about and screened for, and whether they treated/managed/comanaged attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression, anxiety, behavior problems and learning problems. They were also asked about a series of barriers to care. Analyses were weighted to account for low response rates. Those with more DBP training were significantly more likely to treat/manage/co-manage depression, anxiety, behavior problems and learning problems, but were still doing so less than one third of the time. There were no differences in the care of patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or in screening or inquiring about mental health conditions. Those with more training were more likely to perceive somewhat fewer barriers and to report more specific familiarity with some Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders criteria and some treatment modalities. Longer length of training is associated with more treatment, but significant deficits in self-reported practice remain, leaving much room for additional improvement in the training of clinicians in DBP. Copyright © 2016 Academic Pediatric Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Preschool-Age Male Psychiatric Patients with Specific Developmental Disorders and Those Without: Do They Differ in Behavior Problems and Treatment Outcome?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Achtergarde, Sandra; Becke, Johanna; Beyer, Thomas; Postert, Christian; Romer, Georg; Müller, Jörg Michael

2014-01-01

Specific developmental disorders of speech, language, and motor function in children are associated with a wide range of mental health problems. We examined whether preschool-age psychiatric patients with specific developmental disorders and those without differed in the severity of emotional and behavior problems. In addition, we examined whether…

Reliability and Diagnostic Efficiency of the Diagnostic Inventory for Disharmony (DID) in Youths with Pervasive Developmental Disorder and Multiple Complex Developmental Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Xavier, Jean; Vannetzel, Leonard; Viaux, Sylvie; Leroy, Arthur; Plaza, Monique; Tordjman, Sylvie; Mille, Christian; Bursztejn, Claude; Cohen, David; Guile, Jean-Marc

2011-01-01

The Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) category is a psychopathological entity few have described and is poorly, and mainly negatively, defined by autism exclusion. In order to limit PDD-NOS heterogeneity, alternative clinical constructs have been developed. This study explored the reliability and the diagnostic…

Role of reverse phenotyping in interpretation of next generation sequencing data and a review of INPP5E related disorders.

PubMed

de Goede, Christian; Yue, Wyatt W; Yan, Guanhua; Ariyaratnam, Shyamala; Chandler, Kate E; Downes, Laura; Khan, Nasaim; Mohan, Meyyammai; Lowe, Martin; Banka, Siddharth

2016-03-01

Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) is a useful tool in diagnosis of rare disorders but the interpretation of data can be challenging in clinical settings. We present results of extended studies on a family of multiple members with global developmental delay and learning disability, where another research group postulated the underlying cause to be a homozygous RABL6 missense variant. Using data from the Exome Variant Server, we show that missense RABL6 variants are unlikely to cause early onset rare developmental disorder. Protein structural analysis, cellular functional studies and reverse phenotyping proved that the condition in this family is due to a homozygous INPP5E mutation. An in-depth review of mutational and phenotypic spectrum associated with INPP5E demonstrated that mutations in this gene lead to a range of cilliopathy-phenotypes. We use this study as an example to demonstrate the importance of careful clinical evaluation of multiple family members, reverse phenotyping, considering the unknown phenotypic variability of rare diseases, utilizing publically available genomic databases and conducting appropriate bioinformatics and functional studies while interpreting results from NGS in uncertain cases. We emphasize that interpretation of NGS data is an iterative process and its dynamic nature should be explained to patients and families. Our study shows that developmental delay, intellectual disability, hypotonia and ocular motor apraxia are common in INPP5E-related disorders and considerable intra-familial phenotypic variability is possible. We have compiled the INPP5E mutational spectrum and provided novel insights into their molecular mechanisms. Copyright © 2015 European Paediatric Neurology Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Motor Performance and Rhythmic Perception of Children with Intellectual and Developmental Disability and Developmental Coordination Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kartasidou, Lefkothea; Varsamis, Panagiotis; Sampsonidou, Anna

2012-01-01

Professionals who work with children presenting intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) and developmental coordination disorder (DCD) are concerned with their motor development and their rhythmic perception. The aim of this study is to investigate the correlation between a motor performance test and a music rhythmic test that measures…

Tourette syndrome and other neurodevelopmental disorders: a comprehensive review.

PubMed

Cravedi, Elena; Deniau, Emmanuelle; Giannitelli, Marianna; Xavier, Jean; Hartmann, Andreas; Cohen, David

2017-01-01

Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (TS) is a complex developmental neuropsychiatric condition in which motor manifestations are often accompanied by comorbid conditions that impact the patient's quality of life. In the DSM-5, TS belongs to the "neurodevelopmental disorders" group, together with other neurodevelopmental conditions, frequently co-occurring. In this study, we searched the PubMed database using a combination of keywords associating TS and all neurodevelopmental diagnoses. From 1009 original reports, we identified 36 studies addressing TS and neurodevelopmental comorbidities. The available evidence suggests the following: (1) neurodevelopmental comorbidities in TS are the rule, rather than the exception; (2) attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most frequent; (3) there is a continuum from a simple (TS + ADHD or/and learning disorder) to a more complex phenotype (TS + autism spectrum disorder). We conclude that a prompt diagnosis and a detailed description of TS comorbidities are necessary not only to understand the aetiological basis of neurodevelopmental disorders but also to address specific rehabilitative and therapeutic approaches.

Crowdsourced validation of a machine-learning classification system for autism and ADHD

PubMed Central

Duda, M; Haber, N; Daniels, J; Wall, D P

2017-01-01

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) together affect >10% of the children in the United States, but considerable behavioral overlaps between the two disorders can often complicate differential diagnosis. Currently, there is no screening test designed to differentiate between the two disorders, and with waiting times from initial suspicion to diagnosis upwards of a year, methods to quickly and accurately assess risk for these and other developmental disorders are desperately needed. In a previous study, we found that four machine-learning algorithms were able to accurately (area under the curve (AUC)>0.96) distinguish ASD from ADHD using only a small subset of items from the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS). Here, we expand upon our prior work by including a novel crowdsourced data set of responses to our predefined top 15 SRS-derived questions from parents of children with ASD (n=248) or ADHD (n=174) to improve our model’s capability to generalize to new, ‘real-world’ data. By mixing these novel survey data with our initial archival sample (n=3417) and performing repeated cross-validation with subsampling, we created a classification algorithm that performs with AUC=0.89±0.01 using only 15 questions. PMID:28509905

Mutational Analysis of Cell Types in TSC

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-01-01

disability, and autism . TSC1/TSC2 gene mutations lead to developmental alterations in brain structure known as tubers in over 80% of TSC patients. Loss of...that is associated with epilepsy, cognitive disability, and autism . TSC1/TSC2 gene mutations lead to developmental alterations in brain structure...2000). Comorbid neuropsychological disorders such as autism , mental retardation (MR), pervasive developmental disorder, attention deficit disorder (ADD

The role of motor memory in action selection and procedural learning: insights from children with typical and atypical development.

PubMed

Tallet, Jessica; Albaret, Jean-Michel; Rivière, James

2015-01-01

Motor memory is the process by which humans can adopt both persistent and flexible motor behaviours. Persistence and flexibility can be assessed through the examination of the cooperation/competition between new and old motor routines in the motor memory repertoire. Two paradigms seem to be particularly relevant to examine this competition/cooperation. First, a manual search task for hidden objects, namely the C-not-B task, which allows examining how a motor routine may influence the selection of action in toddlers. The second paradigm is procedural learning, and more precisely the consolidation stage, which allows assessing how a previously learnt motor routine becomes resistant to subsequent programming or learning of a new - competitive - motor routine. The present article defends the idea that results of both paradigms give precious information to understand the evolution of motor routines in healthy children. Moreover, these findings echo some clinical observations in developmental neuropsychology, particularly in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder. Such studies suggest that the level of equilibrium between persistence and flexibility of motor routines is an index of the maturity of the motor system.

Therapeutic and Ethical Dilemma of Puberty and Menstruation Problems in an Intellectually Disabled (Autistic) Female: a Case Report.

PubMed

Memarian, Azadeh; Mehrpisheh, Shahrokh

2015-10-01

Intellectual disability is a term used when a person has certain limitations in mental functioning and skills. Autism is a group of developmental brain disorders, collectively called autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Teenagers with learning and physical disabilities are more likely to have menstrual problems compared to the general populations. The parents of a 12-year-old girl with autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability referred to the coroner due to her numerous problems of puberty (menstruation) including: poor hygiene and polluting herself and the environment, not allowing to put or change the pads and changes in mood and physical health prior period, requested for the surgery (hysterectomy). In legal medicine organization after reviewing the medical records, physical exams and medical consultations with a gynecologist and psychiatric, surgery was not accepted. Hysterectomy (surgery) due to the age of the child, either physically or morally is not recommended. The use of hormone replacement therapy has side effects such as osteoporosis. In these cases, it seems noninvasive methods (behavioral therapy and learning care skills) under the welfare experts is also more effective and morally.

Neuronal glucose transporter isoform 3 deficient mice demonstrate features of autism spectrum disorders.

PubMed

Zhao, Y; Fung, C; Shin, D; Shin, B-C; Thamotharan, S; Sankar, R; Ehninger, D; Silva, A; Devaskar, S U

2010-03-01

Neuronal glucose transporter (GLUT) isoform 3 deficiency in null heterozygous mice led to abnormal spatial learning and working memory but normal acquisition and retrieval during contextual conditioning, abnormal cognitive flexibility with intact gross motor ability, electroencephalographic seizures, perturbed social behavior with reduced vocalization and stereotypies at low frequency. This phenotypic expression is unique as it combines the neurobehavioral with the epileptiform characteristics of autism spectrum disorders. This clinical presentation occurred despite metabolic adaptations consisting of an increase in microvascular/glial GLUT1, neuronal GLUT8 and monocarboxylate transporter isoform 2 concentrations, with minimal to no change in brain glucose uptake but an increase in lactate uptake. Neuron-specific glucose deficiency has a negative impact on neurodevelopment interfering with functional competence. This is the first description of GLUT3 deficiency that forms a possible novel genetic mechanism for pervasive developmental disorders, such as the neuropsychiatric autism spectrum disorders, requiring further investigation in humans.

Developmental coordination disorders and sensory processing and integration: Incidence, associations and co-morbidities.

PubMed

Allen, Susan; Casey, Jackie

2017-09-01

Children with developmental coordination disorder or sensory processing and integration difficulties face challenges to participation in daily living. To date there has been no exploration of the co-occurrence of developmental coordination disorders and sensory processing and integration difficulties. Records of children meeting Diagnostic and Statistical Manual - V criteria for developmental coordination disorder ( n  = 93) age 5 to 12 years were examined. Data on motor skills (Movement Assessment Battery for Children - 2) and sensory processing and integration (Sensory Processing Measure) were interrogated. Of the total sample, 88% exhibited some or definite differences in sensory processing and integration. No apparent relationship was observed between motor coordination and sensory processing and integration. The full sample showed high rates of some difficulties in social participation, hearing, body awareness, balance and motion, and planning and ideation. Further, children with co-morbid autistic spectrum disorder showed high rates of difficulties with touch and vision. Most, but not all, children with developmental coordination disorder presented with some difficulties in sensory processing and integration that impacted on their participation in everyday activities. Sensory processing and integration difficulties differed significantly between those with and without co-morbid autistic spectrum disorder.

Musical learning in children and adults with Williams syndrome.

PubMed

Lense, M; Dykens, E

2013-09-01

There is recent interest in using music making as an empirically supported intervention for various neurodevelopmental disorders due to music's engagement of perceptual-motor mapping processes. However, little is known about music learning in populations with developmental disabilities. Williams syndrome (WS) is a neurodevelopmental genetic disorder whose characteristic auditory strengths and visual-spatial weaknesses map onto the processes used to learn to play a musical instrument. We identified correlates of novel musical instrument learning in WS by teaching 46 children and adults (7-49 years) with WS to play the Appalachian dulcimer. Obtained dulcimer skill was associated with prior musical abilities (r = 0.634, P < 0.001) and visual-motor integration abilities (r = 0.487, P = 0.001), but not age, gender, IQ, handedness, auditory sensitivities or musical interest/emotionality. Use of auditory learning strategies, but not visual or instructional strategies, predicted greater dulcimer skill beyond individual musical and visual-motor integration abilities (β = 0.285, sr(2) = 0.06, P = 0.019). These findings map onto behavioural and emerging neural evidence for greater auditory-motor mapping processes in WS. Results suggest that explicit awareness of task-specific learning approaches is important when learning a new skill. Implications for using music with populations with syndrome-specific strengths and weakness will be discussed. © 2012 The Authors. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, MENCAP & IASSID.

Dealing with ADHD in a Greek Primary School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pantaleon, Anastasia

2016-01-01

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a chronic developmental disorder with symptoms of inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity. The developmental course of the disorder shows that symptoms may be present even from infancy. The aetiology of the disorder may result from many factors, genetic and neurological playing the leading…

Attachment in Toddlers with Autism and Other Developmental Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Naber, Fabienne B. A.; Swinkels, Sophie H. N.; Buitelaar, Jan K.; Bakermans-Kranenburg, Marian J.; van IJzendoorn, Marinus H.; Dietz, Claudine; van Daalen, Emma; van Engeland, Herman

2007-01-01

Attachment was assessed in toddlers with Autistic Disorder (n = 20), Pervasive Developmental Disorder (n = 14), Mental Retardation (n = 12), Language Development Disorder (n = 16), and a non-clinical comparison group (n = 18), using the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP). Children in the clinical groups were more often disorganized and less often…

Predictors of Self-Injurious Behaviour Exhibited by Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Richman, D. M.; Barnard-Brak, L.; Bosch, A.; Thompson, S.; Grubb, L.; Abby, L.

2013-01-01

Background: Presence of an autism spectrum disorder is a risk factor for development of self-injurious behaviour (SIB) exhibited by individuals with developmental disorders. The most salient SIB risk factors historically studied within developmental disorders are level of intellectual disability, communication deficits and presence of specific…

The Developmental Course of Anxiety Symptoms during Adolescence: The TRAILS Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Oort, F. V. A.; Greaves-Lord, K.; Verhulst, F. C.; Ormel, J.; Huizink, A. C.

2009-01-01

Background: Little is known about the development of anxiety symptoms from late childhood to late adolescence. The present study determined developmental trajectories of symptoms of separation anxiety disorder (SAD), social phobia (SoPh), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), panic disorder (PD), and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in a large…

Thematic Matching as Remedial Teaching for Symbolic Matching for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder

PubMed Central

Lionello-DeNolf, Karen M.; Farber, Rachel; Jones, B. Max; Dube, William V.

2014-01-01

Matching-to-sample (MTS) is often used to teach symbolic relationships between spoken or printed words and their referents to children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. However, many children have difficulty learning symbolic matching, even though they may demonstrate generalized identity matching. The current study investigated whether training on symbolic MTS tasks in which the stimuli are physically dissimilar but members of familiar categories (i.e., thematic matching) can remediate an individual’s difficulty learning symbolic MTS tasks involving non-representative stimuli. Three adolescent males diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder were first trained on symbolic MTS tasks with unfamiliar, non-representative form stimuli. Thematic matching was introduced after the participants failed to learn 0, 2 or 4 symbolic MTS tasks and before additional symbolic MTS tasks were introduced. After exposure to thematic matching, accuracy on symbolic MTS tasks with novel stimuli increased to above chance for all participants. For two participants, high accuracy (> 90%) was achieved on a majority of these sessions. Thus, thematic matching may be an effective intervention for students with limited verbal repertoires and who have difficulty learning symbolic MTS tasks. Possible explanations for the facilitative effect of thematic matching are considered and warrant further investigation. PMID:24634695

Exploring the Boundaries of Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified: Analyses of Data from the DSM-IV Autistic Disorder Field Trial.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buitelaar, Jan K.; Van der Gaag, Rutger; Klin, Ami; Volkmar, Fred

1999-01-01

A study compared characteristics of individuals with mild retardation and clinically classified as autistic disorder (n=205), Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDDNOS) (n=80), and other non-PDD disorders (n=174). Only a few items from the ICD-10 and DSM-IV discriminated the PDDNOS group from other disorders. Suggested…

Delineation of a spatial working memory profile using a non-verbal eye-tracking paradigm in young children with autism and Williams syndrome.

PubMed

Fanning, Peter A J; Hocking, Darren R; Dissanayake, Cheryl; Vivanti, Giacomo

2018-05-01

Working memory deficits profoundly inhibit children's ability to learn. While deficits have been identified in disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and Williams syndrome (WS), findings are equivocal, and very little is known about the nature of these deficits early in development. A major barrier to advances in this area is the availability of tasks suitable for young children with neurodevelopmental disorders who experience difficulties with following verbal instructions or who are distressed by formal testing demands. To address these issues, a novel eye-tracking paradigm was designed based on an adaptation of the classic A not B paradigm in order to examine the early foundations of spatial working memory capabilities in 26 developmentally delayed preschool children with ASD, 18 age- and IQ-matched children with WS, and 19 age-matched typically-developing (TD) children. The results revealed evidence that foundational spatial working memory performance in ASD and WS was comparable with that of TD children. Performance was associated with intellectual ability in the ASD and TD groups, but not in the WS group. Performance was not associated with adaptive behavior in any group. These findings are discussed in the context of previous research that has been largely limited to older and substantially less developmentally delayed children with these neurodevelopmental disorders.

Encoding order and developmental dyslexia: A family of skills predicting different orthographic components

PubMed Central

Romani, Cristina; Tsouknida, Effie; Olson, Andrew

2015-01-01

We investigated order encoding in developmental dyslexia using a task that presented nonalphanumeric visual characters either simultaneously or sequentially—to tap spatial and temporal order encoding, respectively—and asked participants to reproduce their order. Dyslexic participants performed poorly in the sequential condition, but normally in the simultaneous condition, except for positions most susceptible to interference. These results are novel in demonstrating a selective difficulty with temporal order encoding in a dyslexic group. We also tested the associations between our order reconstruction tasks and: (a) lexical learning and phonological tasks; and (b) different reading and spelling tasks. Correlations were extensive when the whole group of participants was considered together. When dyslexics and controls were considered separately, different patterns of association emerged between orthographic tasks on the one side and tasks tapping order encoding, phonological processing, and written learning on the other. These results indicate that different skills support different aspects of orthographic processing and are impaired to different degrees in individuals with dyslexia. Therefore, developmental dyslexia is not caused by a single impairment, but by a family of deficits loosely related to difficulties with order. Understanding the contribution of these different deficits will be crucial to deepen our understanding of this disorder. PMID:25246235

The impact of handwriting difficulties on compositional quality in children with developmental coordination disorder

PubMed Central

Barnett, Anna L; Wilmut, Kate; Plumb, Mandy S

2016-01-01

Introduction There is substantial evidence to support the relationship between transcription skills (handwriting and spelling) and compositional quality. For children with developmental coordination disorder, handwriting can be particularly challenging. While recent research has aimed to investigate their handwriting difficulties in more detail, the impact of transcription on their compositional quality has not previously been examined. The aim of this exploratory study was to examine compositional quality in children with developmental coordination disorder and to ascertain whether their transcription skills influence writing quality. Method Twenty-eight children with developmental coordination disorder participated in the study, with 28 typically developing age and gender matched controls. The children completed the ‘free-writing’ task from the detailed assessment of speed of handwriting tool, which was evaluated for compositional quality using the Wechsler objective language dimensions. Results The children with developmental coordination disorder performed significantly below their typically developing peers on five of the six Wechsler objective language dimensions items. They also had a higher percentage of misspelled words. Regression analyses indicated that the number of words produced per minute and the percentage of misspelled words explained 55% of the variance for compositional quality. Conclusion The handwriting difficulties so commonly reported in children with developmental coordination disorder have wider repercussions for the quality of written composition. PMID:27807392

Toward a Narrower, More Pragmatic View of Developmental Dyspraxia

PubMed Central

Steinman, Kyle J.; Mostofsky, Stewart H.; Denckla, Martha B.

2010-01-01

Apraxia traditionally refers to impaired ability to carry out skilled movements in the absence of fundamental sensorimotor, language, or general cognitive impairment sufficient to preclude them. The child neurology literature includes a much broader and varied usage of the term developmental dyspraxia. It has been used to describe a wide range of motor symptoms, including clumsiness and general coordination difficulties, in various developmental disorders (including autistic spectrum disorders, developmental language disorders, and perinatal stroke). We argue for the need to restrict use of the term developmental dyspraxia to describe impaired performance of skilled gestures, recognizing that, unlike acquired adult-onset apraxia, coexisting sensory and motor problems may also be present. PMID:20032517

Learning abilities and disabilities: generalist genes in early adolescence.

PubMed

Davis, Oliver S P; Haworth, Claire M A; Plomin, Robert

2009-01-01

The new view of cognitive neuropsychology that considers not just case studies of rare severe disorders but also common disorders, as well as normal variation and quantitative traits, is more amenable to recent advances in molecular genetics, such as genome-wide association studies, and advances in quantitative genetics, such as multivariate genetic analysis. A surprising finding emerging from multivariate quantitative genetic studies across diverse learning abilities is that most genetic influences are shared: they are "generalist", rather than "specialist". We exploited widespread access to inexpensive and fast Internet connections in the United Kingdom to assess over 5000 pairs of 12-year-old twins from the Twins Early Development Study (TEDS) on four distinct batteries: reading, mathematics, general cognitive ability (g) and, for the first time, language. Genetic correlations remain high among all of the measured abilities, with language as highly correlated genetically with g as reading and mathematics. Despite developmental upheaval, generalist genes remain important into early adolescence, suggesting optimal strategies for molecular genetic studies seeking to identify the genes of small effect that influence learning abilities and disabilities.

The overstimulated state of dyslexia: perception, knowledge, and learning.

PubMed

Arkowitz, S W

2000-01-01

Dyslexia is far more than a learning disorder; it has significant impact on personality organization. While dyslexia usually begins to manifest most clearly in early latency when the challenge of learning to read is at its height, often the dyslexic child's ego development and functioning has already been adversely affected. The literature from neuropsychology suggests that dyslexia is a subtle language-processing disorder that affects emotional, cognitive, and social development. The neuroanatomical literature also suggests a significant correlation between the neurodevelopmental basis for dyslexia, the caregiving environment, and psychological development. These two bodies of literature and analytic observations of a dyslexic patient suggest that the dyslexic individual may have a neurological deficit that increases vulnerability to overstimulation. The author hypothesizes that emotional and cognitive states result and reappear within the analytic encounter. This complicates clinical assessment and technical decisions. The author presents an analytic case and examines (1) the impact of deficit on the development of conflict; (2) the impact of the overwhelmed ego on the mastery of developmental tasks; and (3) the impact of dyslexia on dysgnosia, transference, and analytic process and technique.

The P-chain: relating sentence production and its disorders to comprehension and acquisition

PubMed Central

Dell, Gary S.; Chang, Franklin

2014-01-01

This article introduces the P-chain, an emerging framework for theory in psycholinguistics that unifies research on comprehension, production and acquisition. The framework proposes that language processing involves incremental prediction, which is carried out by the production system. Prediction necessarily leads to prediction error, which drives learning, including both adaptive adjustment to the mature language processing system as well as language acquisition. To illustrate the P-chain, we review the Dual-path model of sentence production, a connectionist model that explains structural priming in production and a number of facts about language acquisition. The potential of this and related models for explaining acquired and developmental disorders of sentence production is discussed. PMID:24324238

The P-chain: relating sentence production and its disorders to comprehension and acquisition.

PubMed

Dell, Gary S; Chang, Franklin

2014-01-01

This article introduces the P-chain, an emerging framework for theory in psycholinguistics that unifies research on comprehension, production and acquisition. The framework proposes that language processing involves incremental prediction, which is carried out by the production system. Prediction necessarily leads to prediction error, which drives learning, including both adaptive adjustment to the mature language processing system as well as language acquisition. To illustrate the P-chain, we review the Dual-path model of sentence production, a connectionist model that explains structural priming in production and a number of facts about language acquisition. The potential of this and related models for explaining acquired and developmental disorders of sentence production is discussed.

Developmental Regression in Autism Spectrum Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rogers, Sally J.

2004-01-01

The occurrence of developmental regression in autism is one of the more puzzling features of this disorder. Although several studies have documented the validity of parental reports of regression using home videos, accumulating data suggest that most children who demonstrate regression also demonstrated previous, subtle, developmental differences.…

A Comparison of Motor Delays in Young Children: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Developmental Delay, and Developmental Concerns

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Provost, Beth; Lopez, Brian R.; Heimerl, Sandra

2007-01-01

This study assessed motor delay in young children 21-41 months of age with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and compared motor scores in children with ASD to those of children without ASD. Fifty-six children (42 boys, 14 girls) were in three groups: children with ASD, children with developmental delay (DD), and children with developmental concerns…

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) for children with specific learning disorders.

PubMed

Tan, May Loong; Ho, Jacqueline J; Teh, Keng Hwang

2016-09-28

About 5% of school children have a specific learning disorder, defined as unexpected failure to acquire adequate abilities in reading, writing or mathematics that is not a result of reduced intellectual ability, inadequate teaching or social deprivation. Of these events, 80% are reading disorders. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), in particular, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which normally are abundant in the brain and in the retina, are important for learning. Some children with specific learning disorders have been found to be deficient in these PUFAs, and it is argued that supplementation of PUFAs may help these children improve their learning abilities. 1. To assess effects on learning outcomes of supplementation of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) for children with specific learning disorders.2. To determine whether adverse effects of supplementation of PUFAs are reported in these children. In November 2015, we searched CENTRAL, Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, 10 other databases and two trials registers. We also searched the reference lists of relevant articles. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) or quasi-RCTs comparing PUFAs with placebo or no treatment in children younger than 18 years with specific learning disabilities, as diagnosed in accordance with the fifth (or earlier) edition of theDiagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), or the 10th (or earlier) revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) or equivalent criteria. We included children with coexisting developmental disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or autism. Two review authors (MLT and KHT) independently screened the titles and abstracts of articles identified by the search and eliminated all studies that did not meet the inclusion criteria. We contacted study authors to ask for missing information and clarification, when needed. We used the GRADE approach to assess the quality of evidence. Two small studies involving 116 children, mainly boys between 10 and 18 years of age, met the inclusion criteria. One study was conducted in a school setting, the other at a specialised clinic. Both studies used three months of a combination of omega-3 and omega-6 supplements as the intervention compared with placebo. Although both studies had generally low risk of bias, we judged the risk of reporting bias as unclear in one study, and as high in the other study. In addition, one of the studies was funded by industry and reported active company involvement in the study.None of the studies reported data on the primary outcomes of reading, writing, spelling and mathematics scores, as assessed by standardised tests.Evidence of low quality indicates that supplementation of PUFAs did not increase the risk of gastrointestinal disturbances (risk ratio 1.43, 95% confidence interval 0.25 to 8.15; two studies, 116 children). Investigators reported no other adverse effects.Both studies reported attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)-related behaviour outcomes. We were unable to combine the results in a meta-analysis because one study reported findings as a continuous outcome, and the other as a dichotomous outcome. No other secondary outcomes were reported.We excluded one study because it used a cointervention (carnosine), and five other studies because they did not provide a robust diagnosis of a specific learning disorder. We identified one ongoing study and found three studies awaiting classification. Evidence is insufficient to permit any conclusions about the effect of PUFAs on the learning abilities of children with specific learning disorders. Well-designed RCTs with clearly defined populations of children with specific learning disorders who have been diagnosed by standardised diagnostic criteria are needed.

Mental health trajectories from adolescence to adulthood: Language disorder and other childhood and adolescent risk factors.

PubMed

Bao, Lin; Brownlie, E B; Beitchman, Joseph H

2016-05-01

Longitudinal research on mental health development beyond adolescence among nonclinical populations is lacking. This study reports on psychiatric disorder trajectories from late adolescence to young adulthood in relation to childhood and adolescent risk factors. Participants were recruited for a prospective longitudinal study tracing a community sample of 5-year-old children with communication disorders and a matched control cohort to age 31. Psychiatric disorders were measured at ages 19, 25, and 31. Known predictors of psychopathology and two school-related factors specifically associated with language disorder (LD) were measured by self-reports and semistructured interviews. The LD cohort was uniquely characterized by a significantly decreasing disorder trajectory in early adulthood. Special education was associated with differential disorder trajectories between LD and control cohorts, whereas maltreatment history, specific learning disorder, family structure, and maternal psychological distress were associated with consistent trajectories between cohorts. From late adolescence to young adulthood, childhood LD was characterized by a developmentally limited course of psychiatric disorder; maltreatment was consistently characterized by an elevated risk of psychiatric disorder regardless of LD history, whereas special education was associated with significantly decreasing risk of psychiatric disorder only in the presence of LD.

Using developmental evaluation as a system of organizational learning: An example from San Francisco.

PubMed

Shea, Jennifer; Taylor, Tory

2017-12-01

In the last 20 years, developmental evaluation has emerged as a promising approach to support organizational learning in emergent social programs. Through a continuous system of inquiry, reflection, and application of knowledge, developmental evaluation serves as a system of tools, methods, and guiding principles intended to support constructive organizational learning. However, missing from the developmental evaluation literature is a nuanced framework to guide evaluators in how to elevate the organizational practices and concepts most relevant for emergent programs. In this article, we describe and reflect on work we did to develop, pilot, and refine an integrated pilot framework. Drawing on established developmental evaluation inquiry frameworks and incorporating lessons learned from applying the pilot framework, we put forward the Evaluation-led Learning framework to help fill that gap and encourage others to implement and refine it. We posit that without explicitly incorporating the assessments at the foundation of the Evaluation-led Learning framework, developmental evaluation's ability to affect organizational learning in productive ways will likely be haphazard and limited. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Spelling well Despite Developmental Language Disorder: What Makes It Possible?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rakhlin, Natalia; Cardoso-Martins, Cláudia; Kornilov, Sergey A.; Grigorenko, Elena L.

2013-01-01

The goal of the study was to investigate the overlap between developmental language disorder (DLD) and developmental dyslexia, identified through spelling difficulties (SD), in Russian-speaking children. In particular, we studied the role of phoneme awareness (PA), rapid automatized naming (RAN), pseudoword repetition (PWR), morphological (MA),…

Engaging Pediatricians in Developmental Screening: The Effectiveness of Academic Detailing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Honigfeld, Lisa; Chandhok, Laura; Spiegelman, Kenneth

2012-01-01

Use of formal developmental screening tools in the pediatric medical home improves early identification of children with developmental delays and disorders, including Autism Spectrum Disorders. A pilot study evaluated the impact of an academic detailing module in which trainers visited 43 pediatric primary care practices to provide education about…

Children with developmental and behavioural concerns in Singapore.

PubMed

Lian, Wee Bin; Ho, Selina Kah Ying; Choo, Sylvia Hean Tean; Shah, Varsha Atul; Chan, Daisy Kwai Lin; Yeo, Cheo Lian; Ho, Lai Yun

2012-07-01

Childhood developmental and behavioural disorders (CDABD) have been increasingly recognised in recent years. This study evaluated the profiles and outcomes of children referred for developmental and behavioural concerns to a tertiary child developmental centre in Singapore. This is the first such regional database. Baseline information, obtained through a questionnaire, together with history at first consultation, provided information for referral, demographic and presentation profiles. Clinical formulations were then made. Definitive developmental and medical diagnoses, as well as outcomes based on clinical assessment and standardised testing, were recorded at one year post first consultation. Out of 1,304 referrals between January 1, 2003 and December 1, 2004, 45% were 2-4 years old and 74% were boys. The waiting time from referral to first consultation exceeded four months in 52% of children. Following clinical evaluation, 7% were found to be developmentally appropriate. The single most common presenting concern was speech and language (S&L) delay (29%). The most common clinical developmental diagnosis was autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (30%), followed by isolated S&L disorder, global developmental delay (GDD) and cognitive impairment (CI). Recommendations included S&L therapy (57%), occupational therapy (50%) and psychological/behavioural services (40%). At one year, ASD remained the most common definitive developmental diagnosis (31%), followed by S&L disorder, CI and GDD. Most were children with high-prevalence, low-moderate severity disorders who could potentially achieve fair-good prognosis with early intervention. Better appreciation of the profile and outcome of children with CDABD in Singapore could enable better resource planning for diagnosis and intervention.

Risk for anxiety and implications for treatment: developmental, environmental, and genetic factors governing fear regulation.

PubMed

Hartley, Catherine A; Casey, B J

2013-11-01

Anxiety disorders are the most common psychiatric disorders, affecting as many as 10% of youth, with diagnoses peaking during adolescence. A core component of these disorders is an unremitting fear in the absence of present threat. One of the most commonly used therapies to treat these disorders is exposure-based cognitive behavioral therapy that identifies the source of the fear and anxiety and then desensitizes the individual to it. This treatment builds on basic principles of fear-extinction learning. A number of patients improve with this therapy, but 40-50% do not. This paper provides an overview of recent empirical studies employing both human imaging and cross-species behavioral genetics to examine how fear regulation varies across individuals and across development, especially during adolescence. These studies have important implications for understanding who may be at risk for anxiety disorders and for whom and when during development exposure-based therapies may be most effective. © 2013 New York Academy of Sciences.

Autism and Related Disorders

PubMed Central

McPartland, James; Volkmar, Fred R.

2012-01-01

The Pervasive Developmental Disorders are a group of neurodevelopmental disorders that include Autistic Disorder, Asperger’s Disorder, Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS), Childhood Disintegrative Disorder (CDD), and Rett’s Disorder. All feature childhood onset with a constellation of symptoms spanning social interaction and communication and including atypical behavior patterns. The first three disorders (Autistic Disorder, Asperger’s Disorder, and PDD-NOS) are currently referred to as Autism Spectrum Disorders, reflecting divergent phenotypic and etiologic characteristics compared to Rett’s Disorder and CDD. This chapter reviews relevant research and clinical information relevant to appropriate medical diagnosis and treatment. PMID:22608634

Emotional, developmental, and behavioral health of American children and their families: a report from the 2003 National Survey of Children's Health.

PubMed

Blanchard, Laura T; Gurka, Matthew J; Blackman, James A

2006-06-01

Recent children's health surveys have documented a high prevalence of emotional, developmental, and behavioral problems among children. Data from the 2003 National Survey of Children's Health provide new insights into these problems and their association with family function and community participation. These issues have become a current focus of the World Health Organization. Answers to questions of interest from the 2003 National Survey of Children's Health were reported using estimates and SEs of rates. Statistical comparisons of rates with chi2 tests at the 0.05 level were made when relevant. The most commonly diagnosed problems among children 6-17 years of age were learning disabilities (11.5%), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (8.8%), and behavioral problems (6.3%); among preschoolers, speech problems (5.8%) and developmental delay (3.2%) were most common. One in 200 children was diagnosed with autism. In contrast, rates of parental concerns about emotional, developmental, or behavioral problems were much higher; for example, 41% of parents had concerns about learning difficulties and 36% about depression or anxiety. Children with developmental problems had lower self-esteem, more depression and anxiety, more problems with learning, missed more school, and were less involved in sports and other community activities. Their families experienced more difficulty in the areas of childcare, employment, parent-child relationships, and caregiver burden. The most recent National Survey of Children's Health mirrored results of previous surveys regarding rates of diagnosed emotional, developmental, and behavioral problems, including an escalating diagnosis of autism among children. Reported rates of parental concerns about these problems were much higher, suggesting possible underdiagnosis of children's problems. Children with chronic problems had diminished family functioning, more school absences, and less participation in community activities compared with other children. Their parents experienced more difficulty with childcare, employment, and parenting skills. A change in treatment emphasis is needed, away from an exclusive focus on a child's developmental and behavioral problems to one that addresses the impacts of these problems on the family and community participation. A new approach to the way these issues are addressed and managed has the potential to enhance the quality of life for a child, as well as the parents, and to produce more meaningful and tangible solutions to these complex and increasingly evident problems.

The attentive brain: insights from developmental cognitive neuroscience.

PubMed

Amso, Dima; Scerif, Gaia

2015-10-01

Visual attention functions as a filter to select environmental information for learning and memory, making it the first step in the eventual cascade of thought and action systems. Here, we review studies of typical and atypical visual attention development and explain how they offer insights into the mechanisms of adult visual attention. We detail interactions between visual processing and visual attention, as well as the contribution of visual attention to memory. Finally, we discuss genetic mechanisms underlying attention disorders and how attention may be modified by training.

Catatonic features in adolescents with schizophrenia with and without a comorbid pervasive developmental disorder

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Catatonia has been associated with both schizophrenia and pervasive developmental disorders. The aim of this study was to evaluate catatonic features among adolescents suffering from schizophrenia. Further, we compared these features between adolescents with a comorbid pervasive developmental disorder and those without one. Finally, we wanted to compare the profile of catatonia-like features of our schizophrenia patients to that described earlier among persons with autism spectrum disorders. Methods The study comprised a consecutive sample of 18 adolescents with schizophrenia (mean age 15.6 years, SD 1.4) and their families. Diagnosis of schizophrenia was assessed with the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Aged Children – Present and Life-Time (K-SADS-PL) for the DSM-IV. The Diagnostic Interview for Social and Communication Disorders version 11 was used to assess catatonic features. Results All adolescents with schizophrenia had showed some lifetime catatonic features. Approximately 78% of them had already expressed these features before the age of 10. The number of catatonic features before the age of 10 was significantly higher among the adolescents with a comorbid pervasive developmental disorder compared to those without one. The numbers of catatonic features after the age of 10 did not significantly differ between the two groups. Over three-quarters of schizophrenia patients shared four lifetime catatonic features: “lacks facial expression”, “odd intonation”, “poor eye contact” and “lack of cooperation”. Conclusions Adolescent schizophrenia patients with a comorbid pervasive developmental disorder show many catatonic features in childhood whereas those without one seem to develop these features first in adolescence. Catatonic features exhibited by adolescents with schizophrenia resemble those described among persons with pervasive developmental disorders without schizophrenia. PMID:24914405

Catatonic features in adolescents with schizophrenia with and without a comorbid pervasive developmental disorder.

PubMed

Waris, Petra; Lindberg, Nina; Kettunen, Kirsi; Lipsanen, Jari; Tani, Pekka

2014-01-01

Catatonia has been associated with both schizophrenia and pervasive developmental disorders. The aim of this study was to evaluate catatonic features among adolescents suffering from schizophrenia. Further, we compared these features between adolescents with a comorbid pervasive developmental disorder and those without one. Finally, we wanted to compare the profile of catatonia-like features of our schizophrenia patients to that described earlier among persons with autism spectrum disorders. The study comprised a consecutive sample of 18 adolescents with schizophrenia (mean age 15.6 years, SD 1.4) and their families. Diagnosis of schizophrenia was assessed with the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Aged Children - Present and Life-Time (K-SADS-PL) for the DSM-IV. The Diagnostic Interview for Social and Communication Disorders version 11 was used to assess catatonic features. All adolescents with schizophrenia had showed some lifetime catatonic features. Approximately 78% of them had already expressed these features before the age of 10. The number of catatonic features before the age of 10 was significantly higher among the adolescents with a comorbid pervasive developmental disorder compared to those without one. The numbers of catatonic features after the age of 10 did not significantly differ between the two groups. Over three-quarters of schizophrenia patients shared four lifetime catatonic features: "lacks facial expression", "odd intonation", "poor eye contact" and "lack of cooperation". Adolescent schizophrenia patients with a comorbid pervasive developmental disorder show many catatonic features in childhood whereas those without one seem to develop these features first in adolescence. Catatonic features exhibited by adolescents with schizophrenia resemble those described among persons with pervasive developmental disorders without schizophrenia.

Stability of Motor Problems in Young Children with or at Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorders, ADHD, and or Developmental Coordination Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van Waelvelde, Hilde; Oostra, Ann; DeWitte, Griet; van den Broeck, Christine; Jongmans, Marian J.

2010-01-01

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the stability of motor problems in a clinically referred sample of children with, or at risk of, autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and/or developmental coordination disorder (DCD). Method: Participants were 49 children (39 males, 10 females; mean age 5y…

Large-scale discovery of novel genetic causes of developmental disorders.

PubMed

2015-03-12

Despite three decades of successful, predominantly phenotype-driven discovery of the genetic causes of monogenic disorders, up to half of children with severe developmental disorders of probable genetic origin remain without a genetic diagnosis. Particularly challenging are those disorders rare enough to have eluded recognition as a discrete clinical entity, those with highly variable clinical manifestations, and those that are difficult to distinguish from other, very similar, disorders. Here we demonstrate the power of using an unbiased genotype-driven approach to identify subsets of patients with similar disorders. By studying 1,133 children with severe, undiagnosed developmental disorders, and their parents, using a combination of exome sequencing and array-based detection of chromosomal rearrangements, we discovered 12 novel genes associated with developmental disorders. These newly implicated genes increase by 10% (from 28% to 31%) the proportion of children that could be diagnosed. Clustering of missense mutations in six of these newly implicated genes suggests that normal development is being perturbed by an activating or dominant-negative mechanism. Our findings demonstrate the value of adopting a comprehensive strategy, both genome-wide and nationwide, to elucidate the underlying causes of rare genetic disorders.

Rule-based and information-integration perceptual category learning in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

PubMed

Huang-Pollock, Cynthia L; Maddox, W Todd; Tam, Helen

2014-07-01

Suboptimal functioning of the basal ganglia is implicated in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). These structures are important to the acquisition of associative knowledge, leading some to theorize that associative learning deficits might be expected, despite the fact that most extant research in ADHD has focused on effortful control. We present 2 studies that examined the acquisition of explicit rule-based (RB) and associative information integration (II) category learning among school-age children with ADHD. In Study 1, we found deficits in both RB and II category learning tasks among children with ADHD (n = 81) versus controls (n = 42). Children with ADHD tended to sort by the more salient but irrelevant dimension (in the RB paradigm) and were unable to acquire a consistent sorting strategy (in the II paradigm). To disentangle whether the deficit was localized to II category learning versus a generalized inability to consider more than 1 stimulus dimension, in Study 2 children completed a conjunctive RB paradigm that required consideration of 2 stimulus dimensions. Children with ADHD (n = 50) continued to underperform controls (n = 33). Results provide partial support for neurocognitive developmental theories of ADHD that suggest that associative learning deficits should be found, and highlight the importance of using analytic approaches that go beyond asking whether an ADHD-related deficit exists to why such deficits exist.

Preschool to School in Autism: Neuropsychiatric Problems 8 Years After Diagnosis at 3 Years of Age.

PubMed

Barnevik Olsson, M; Lundström, S; Westerlund, J; Giacobini, M B; Gillberg, C; Fernell, E

2016-08-01

The study presents neuropsychiatric profiles of children aged 11 with autism spectrum disorder, assessed before 4.5 years, and after interventions. The original group comprised a community sample of 208 children with ASD. Parents of 128 participated-34 with average intellectual function, 36 with borderline intellectual function and 58 with intellectual disability. They were interviewed using the Autism-Tics, AD/HD and other Comorbidities interview. Criteria for a clinical/subclinical proxy of ASD were met by 71, 89 and 95 %, respectively. Criteria for at least one of ASD, AD/HD, Learning disorder or Developmental Coordination Disorder were met by 82, 94 and 97 %. More than 90 % of children with a preschool diagnosis of ASD have remaining neuropsychiatric problems at 11, despite early intervention.

Early-Life Stress Triggers Juvenile Zebra Finches to Switch Social Learning Strategies.

PubMed

Farine, Damien R; Spencer, Karen A; Boogert, Neeltje J

2015-08-17

Stress during early life can cause disease and cognitive impairment in humans and non-humans alike. However, stress and other environmental factors can also program developmental pathways. We investigate whether differential exposure to developmental stress can drive divergent social learning strategies between siblings. In many species, juveniles acquire essential foraging skills by copying others: they can copy peers (horizontal social learning), learn from their parents (vertical social learning), or learn from other adults (oblique social learning). However, whether juveniles' learning strategies are condition dependent largely remains a mystery. We found that juvenile zebra finches living in flocks socially learned novel foraging skills exclusively from adults. By experimentally manipulating developmental stress, we further show that social learning targets are phenotypically plastic. While control juveniles learned foraging skills from their parents, their siblings, exposed as nestlings to experimentally elevated stress hormone levels, learned exclusively from unrelated adults. Thus, early-life conditions triggered individuals to switch strategies from vertical to oblique social learning. This switch could arise from stress-induced differences in developmental rate, cognitive and physical state, or the use of stress as an environmental cue. Acquisition of alternative social learning strategies may impact juveniles' fit to their environment and ultimately change their developmental trajectories. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Developmental stress elicits preference for methamphetamine in the spontaneously hypertensive rat model of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

PubMed

Womersley, Jacqueline S; Mpeta, Bafokeng; Dimatelis, Jacqueline J; Kellaway, Lauriston A; Stein, Dan J; Russell, Vivienne A

2016-06-17

Developmental stress has been hypothesised to interact with genetic predisposition to increase the risk of developing substance use disorders. Here we have investigated the effects of maternal separation-induced developmental stress using a behavioural proxy of methamphetamine preference in an animal model of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, the spontaneously hypertensive rat, versus Wistar Kyoto and Sprague-Dawley comparator strains. Analysis of results obtained using a conditioned place preference paradigm revealed a significant strain × stress interaction with maternal separation inducing preference for the methamphetamine-associated compartment in spontaneously hypertensive rats. Maternal separation increased behavioural sensitization to the locomotor-stimulatory effects of methamphetamine in both spontaneously hypertensive and Sprague-Dawley strains but not in Wistar Kyoto rats. Our findings indicate that developmental stress in a genetic rat model of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder may foster a vulnerability to the development of substance use disorders.

Evidence to Practice Commentary: New Evidence in Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Novak, Iona

2013-01-01

Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is frequently under-recognized, but in fact, it occurs in as many as 5-6% of children. DCD is a disorder of motor coordination that is not explained by intellectual disability or any congenital or acquired neurological disorder. Families seek physical and occupational therapy (OT) to ameliorate a child…

Influence of Methylphenidate on Motor Performance and Attention in Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bart, Orit; Daniel, Liron; Dan, Orrie; Bar-Haim, Yair

2013-01-01

Individuals with attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) often have coexisting developmental coordination disorder (DCD). The positive therapeutic effect of methylphenidate on ADHD symptoms is well documented, but its effects on motor coordination are less studied. We assessed the influence of methylphenidate on motor performance in children…

Common and Unique Impairments in Facial-Expression Recognition in Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified and Asperger's Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Uono, Shota; Sato, Wataru; Toichi, Motomi

2013-01-01

This study was designed to identify specific difficulties and associated features related to the problems with social interaction experienced by individuals with pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) using an emotion-recognition task. We compared individuals with PDD-NOS or Asperger's disorder (ASP) and typically…

Parents' Strategies to Elicit Autobiographical Memories in Autism Spectrum Disorders, Developmental Language Disorders and Typically Developing Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goldman, Sylvie; DeNigris, Danielle

2015-01-01

Conversations about the past support the development of autobiographical memory. Parents' strategies to elicit child's participation and recall during past event conversations were compared across three school-age diagnostic groups: autism spectrum disorder (ASD, n = 11), developmental language disorders (n = 11) and typically developing (TD,…

CAPs-IDD: Characteristics of Assessment Instruments for Psychiatric Disorders in Persons with Intellectual Developmental Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zeilinger, E. L.; Nader, I. W.; Brehmer-Rinderer, B.; Koller, I.; Weber, G.

2013-01-01

Background: Assessment of psychiatric disorders in persons with an intellectual developmental disorder (IDD) can be performed with a variety of greatly differing instruments. This makes the choice of an instrument best suited for the intended purpose challenging. In this study, we developed a comprehensive set of characteristics for the evaluation…

Metapragmatic Explicitation and Social Attribution in Social Communication Disorder and Developmental Language Disorder: A Comparative Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adams, Catherine; Lockton, Elaine; Collins, Anna

2018-01-01

Purpose: The purposes of this study are to investigate metapragmatic (MP) ability in 6-11-year-old children with social communication disorder (SCD), developmental language disorder (DLD), and typical language development and to explore factors associated with MP explicitation and social understanding (SU). Method: In this cross-sectional study,…

Evaluating Physical Activity Using Accelerometry in Children at Risk of Developmental Coordination Disorder in the Presence of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baerg, Sally; Cairney, John; Hay, John; Rempel, Lynn; Mahlberg, Nadilein; Faught, Brent E.

2011-01-01

Physical activity (PA) is compromised in children and adolescents with developmental coordination disorder (DCD). Approximately half of all children with DCD suffer from attention-deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD); a cohort often considered more physically active than typically developing youth. Accelerometry is an effective method of assessing…

Comorbidities in Preschool Children at Family Risk of Dyslexia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gooch, Debbie; Hulme, Charles; Nash, Hannah M.; Snowling, Margaret J.

2014-01-01

Background: Comorbidity among developmental disorders such as dyslexia, language impairment, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and developmental coordination disorder is common. This study explores comorbid weaknesses in preschool children at family risk of dyslexia with and without language impairment and considers the role that…

[Review of assessment methods used to evaluate feeding for children with pervasive developmental disorder].

PubMed

Nadon, G; Ehrmann Feldman, D; Gisel, E

2008-08-01

Current evaluations used by occupational therapists to assess and treat feeding problems derive mainly from the domain of dysphagia. The purpose of this article is to familiarize the reader with tools used, in research, for children with pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) and to determine if any of these meet the needs of occupational therapists. The following data bases were searched: Medline, CINAHL, HAPI and PsyINFO, using the terms pervasive developmental disorder, autism, Asperger syndrome, pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified, eating behavior, eating disorder, food preference, food selectivity, feeding disorders, picky eater and child. All articles published between 1980 and 2006 (n=27) were reviewed. A total of 20 studies met our selection criteria. Assessment methods are compared using the Disability Creation Model (DCP). The DCP is the Quebec alternative to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). None of the evaluation tools reviewed met all factors that may influence eating in children with PDD. Implications for research and practice in occupational therapy are discussed.

Developmental disorders of the female genital tract

MedlinePlus

... vagina, ovaries, uterus, and cervix; Developmental disorder of female reproductive tract ... CARES Foundation -- www.caresfoundation.org Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia Education and Support Network -- www.congenitaladrenalhyperplasia.org DES Action ...

Neurotoxicity of developmental hypothyroxinemia and hypothyroidism in rats: Impairments of long-term potentiation are mediated by phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase signaling pathway

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang, Yi; Wei, Wei; Wang, Yuan

Neurotoxicity of iodine deficiency-induced hypothyroidism during developmental period results in serious impairments of brain function, such as learning and memory. These impairments are largely irreversible, and the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. In addition to hypothyroidism, iodine deficiency may cause hypothyroxinemia, a relatively subtle form of thyroid hormone deficiency. Neurotoxicity of developmental hypothyroxinemia also potentially impairs learning and memory. However, more direct evidence of the associations between developmental hypothyroxinemia and impairments of learning and memory should be provided, and the underlying mechanisms remain to be elucidated. Thus, in the present study, we investigated the effects of developmental hypothyroxinemia and hypothyroidism onmore » long-term potentiation (LTP), a widely accepted cellular model of learning and memory, in the hippocampal CA1 region. The activation of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) signaling pathway – a pathway closely associated with synaptic plasticity and learning and memory – was also investigated. Wistar rats were treated with iodine deficient diet or methimazole (MMZ) to induce developmental hypothyroxinemia or hypothyroidism. The results showed that developmental hypothyroxinemia caused by mild iodine deficiency and developmental hypothyroidism caused by severe iodine deficiency or MMZ significantly reduced the field-excitatory postsynaptic potential (f-EPSP) slope and the population spike (PS) amplitude. Decreased activation of the PI3K signaling pathway was also observed in rats subjected to developmental hypothyroxinemia or hypothyroidism. Our results may support the hypothesis that neurotoxicity of both developmental hypothyroxinemia and hypothyroidism causes damages to learning and memory. Our results also suggest that decreased activation of the PI3K signaling pathway may contribute to impairments of LTP caused by neurotoxicity of both developmental hypothyroxinemia and hypothyroidism. - Highlights: • Neurotoxicity of developmental hypothyroxinemia impaired LTP. • Decreased activation of PI3K signaling contributed to LTP impairments. • The recovery of TH after the developmental period did not prevent LTP impairments. • ID diet successfully induced neurotoxicity of developmental hypothyroxinemia.« less

[Developmental disorders in children and adolescents of the Los Ríos region, Valdivia, Chile, 2006-2008].

PubMed

Guzmán C, Maria L; Guzmán C, Sergio F; Guzmán, Maria E; Marín, Fransisco; Remolcois, Elisabeth; Gallardo, Andrés; Rozas, Néstor; Urra, Edmundo; Rojas, Fabián

2015-01-01

To study possible findings of factors in the antenatal, perinatal or postnatal period, in the mother or the child that may have an influence on the appearance of a developmental disorder. A Data Base of Clinical Histories from every patient with a developmental disorder (F80-F90 ICD10) was created. The patients attended the Child Psychiatric Unit at Hospital Regional of Valdivia, Chile, from August 2006 to December 2008. Total: 493 patientes (48.7% of the total of patients consulting); 32 healthy patients. odds ratio (95% confidence). The main risk factors for developing a developmental disorder (P<.005, 25% frequency in the consulting population) are: prematurity, male sex, mother with low education, early hospitalizations, and medical illnesses (all with a significant odds ratio). Also, having a mother with psychiatric illness doubles the risk of having a developmental disorder. It requires an interdisciplinary collaborative work between neonatologists, obstetricians, child psychiatrists and the primary care to detect early children at risk. Copyright © 2015 Sociedad Chilena de Pediatría. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

A Developmental Perspective on Assessment of Infants with Clefts and Related Disorders.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Savage, Hallie E.; And Others

1994-01-01

This article presents a rationale for comprehensive developmental assessment for infants with cleft palates/lips and related disorders. The assessment model is based on risk factors influencing early development and on clinical research on developmental outcomes. Implications on the clinical assessment process and early intervention are discussed.…

A Trajectory of Troubles: Parents' Impressions of the Impact of Developmental Coordination Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Missiuna, Cheryl; Moll, Sandra; King, Susanne; King, Gillian; Law, Mary

2007-01-01

Objective: To explore parent perspectives regarding the early experiences of their children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). Methods: A phenomenological approach was used to explore the meaning of developmental experiences for children with DCD and their families. Parents of 13 children with DCD, aged 6-14, were recruited through…

Language used in interaction during developmental science instruction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Avenia-Tapper, Brianna

The coordination of theory and evidence is an important part of scientific practice. Developmental approaches to instruction, which make the relationship between the abstract and the concrete a central focus of students' learning activity, provide educators with a unique opportunity to strengthen students' coordination of theory and evidence. Therefore, developmental approaches may be a useful instructional response to documented science achievement gaps for linguistically diverse students. However, if we are to leverage the potential of developmental instruction to improve the science achievement of linguistically diverse students, we need more information on the intersection of developmental science instruction and linguistically diverse learning contexts. This manuscript style dissertation uses discourse analysis to investigate the language used in interaction during developmental teaching-learning in three linguistically diverse third grade classrooms. The first manuscript asks how language was used to construct ascension from the abstract to the concrete. The second manuscript asks how students' non-English home languages were useful (or not) for meeting the learning goals of the developmental instructional program. The third manuscript asks how students' interlocutors may influence student choice to use an important discourse practice--justification--during the developmental teaching-learning activity. All three manuscripts report findings relevant to the instructional decisions that teachers need to make when implementing developmental instruction in linguistically diverse contexts.

Prevalence and Impact of Unhealthy Weight in a National Sample of US Adolescents with Autism and Other Learning and Behavioral Disabilities

PubMed Central

Phillips, Keydra L.; Visser, Susanna; Boulet, Sheree; Sharma, Andrea J.; Kogan, Michael D.; Boyle, Coleen A.; Yeargin-Allsopp, Marshalyn

2015-01-01

We estimated the prevalence of obesity, overweight, and underweight among US adolescents with and without autism and other learning and behavioral developmental disabilities (DDs) and assessed the health consequences of obesity among adolescents with DDs. From the 2008 to 2010 National Health Interview Survey, we selected 9,619 adolescents ages 12–17 years. Parent respondents reported weight, height, presence of DDs and health conditions. We calculated body mass index (BMI) and defined obesity, overweight, and underweight as ≥95th, ≥85th to <95th, and <5th percentiles, respectively, using established criteria. We created mutually-exclusive DD subgroups using the following order of precedence: autism; intellectual disability; attention-deficit-hyper-activity-disorder; learning disorder/other developmental delay. We compared BMI outcomes among adolescents in each DD group versus adolescents without DDs using multivariable logistic regression. Socio-demographic factors and birthweight were included as confounders. Estimates were weighted to reflect the US population. Both obesity and underweight prevalences were higher among adolescents with than without DDs [adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR) 1.5 (1.25–1.75) and 1.5 (1.01–2.20), respectively]. Obesity was elevated among adolescents with all DD types, and was highest among the autism subgroup [aPR 2.1 (1.44–3.16)]. Adolescents with either a DD or obesity had higher prevalences of common respiratory, gastrointestinal, dermatological and neurological conditions/symptoms than nonobese adolescents without DDs. Adolescents with both DDs and obesity had the highest estimates for most conditions. Obesity is high among adolescents with autism and other DDs and poses added chronic health risks. Obesity prevention and management approaches for this vulnerable population subgroup need further consideration. PMID:24553796

Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Natural Fit with DDD.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Myles, Brenda Smith; Simpson, Richard L.; Babkie, Andrea M.

2003-01-01

This position statement from the Critical Issues Committee of the Developmental Disabilities Division of the Council for Exceptional Children focuses on clarifying the place of autism spectrum disorders within the field of developmental disabilities. The representation of concerns relating to autism spectrum disorders by the Developmental…

Neurocognitive profiles of learning disabled children with neurofibromatosis type 1

PubMed Central

Orraca-Castillo, Miladys; Estévez-Pérez, Nancy; Reigosa-Crespo, Vivian

2014-01-01

Neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1) is a genetic condition generally associated with intellectual deficiency and learning disabilities. Although there have been groundbreaking advances in the understanding of the molecular, cellular, and neural systems underlying learning deficits associated to NF1 in animal models, much remains to be learned about the spectrum of neurocognitive phenotype associated with the NF1 clinical syndrome. In the present study, 32 children with NF1 ranging from 7 to 14 years were evaluated with neurocognitive tests dedicated to assess basic capacities which are involved in reading and mathematical achievement. Deficits in lexical and phonological strategies and poor number facts retrieval were found underlying reading and arithmetic disorders, respectively. Additionally, efficiencies in lexical/phonological strategies and mental arithmetic were significant predictors of individual differences in reading attainment and math. However, deficits in core numeric capacities were not found in the sample, suggesting that it is not responsible for calculation dysfluency. The estimated prevalence of Developmental Dyscalculia was 18.8%, and the male:female ratio was 5:1. On the other hand, the prevalence of Developmental Dyslexia was almost 3 times as high (50%), and no gender differences were found (male: female ratio = 1:1). This study offers new evidence to the neurocognitive phenotype of NF1 contributing to an in depth understanding of this condition, but also to possible treatments for the cognitive deficits associated with NF1. PMID:24936179

Project TENDR: Targeting Environmental Neuro-Developmental Risks The TENDR Consensus Statement

PubMed Central

Bennett, Deborah; Bellinger, David C.; Birnbaum, Linda S.; Bradman, Asa; Chen, Aimin; Cory-Slechta, Deborah A.; Engel, Stephanie M.; Fallin, M. Daniele; Halladay, Alycia; Hauser, Russ; Hertz-Picciotto, Irva; Kwiatkowski, Carol F.; Lanphear, Bruce P.; Marquez, Emily; Marty, Melanie; McPartland, Jennifer; Newschaffer, Craig J.; Payne-Sturges, Devon; Patisaul, Heather B.; Perera, Frederica P.; Ritz, Beate; Sass, Jennifer; Schantz, Susan L.; Webster, Thomas F.; Whyatt, Robin M.; Woodruff, Tracey J.; Zoeller, R. Thomas; Anderko, Laura; Campbell, Carla; Conry, Jeanne A.; DeNicola, Nathaniel; Gould, Robert M.; Hirtz, Deborah; Huffling, Katie; Landrigan, Philip J.; Lavin, Arthur; Miller, Mark; Mitchell, Mark A.; Rubin, Leslie; Schettler, Ted; Tran, Ho Luong; Acosta, Annie; Brody, Charlotte; Miller, Elise; Miller, Pamela; Swanson, Maureen; Witherspoon, Nsedu Obot

2016-01-01

Summary: Children in America today are at an unacceptably high risk of developing neurodevelopmental disorders that affect the brain and nervous system including autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, intellectual disabilities, and other learning and behavioral disabilities. These are complex disorders with multiple causes—genetic, social, and environmental. The contribution of toxic chemicals to these disorders can be prevented. Approach: Leading scientific and medical experts, along with children’s health advocates, came together in 2015 under the auspices of Project TENDR: Targeting Environmental Neuro-Developmental Risks to issue a call to action to reduce widespread exposures to chemicals that interfere with fetal and children’s brain development. Based on the available scientific evidence, the TENDR authors have identified prime examples of toxic chemicals and pollutants that increase children’s risks for neurodevelopmental disorders. These include chemicals that are used extensively in consumer products and that have become widespread in the environment. Some are chemicals to which children and pregnant women are regularly exposed, and they are detected in the bodies of virtually all Americans in national surveys conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The vast majority of chemicals in industrial and consumer products undergo almost no testing for developmental neurotoxicity or other health effects. Conclusion: Based on these findings, we assert that the current system in the United States for evaluating scientific evidence and making health-based decisions about environmental chemicals is fundamentally broken. To help reduce the unacceptably high prevalence of neurodevelopmental disorders in our children, we must eliminate or significantly reduce exposures to chemicals that contribute to these conditions. We must adopt a new framework for assessing chemicals that have the potential to disrupt brain development and prevent the use of those that may pose a risk. This consensus statement lays the foundation for developing recommendations to monitor, assess, and reduce exposures to neurotoxic chemicals. These measures are urgently needed if we are to protect healthy brain development so that current and future generations can reach their fullest potential. PMID:27479987

Mechanistic insight into neurotoxicity induced by developmental insults

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tamm, Christoffer; Ceccatelli, Sandra

Epidemiological and/or experimental studies have shown that unfavorable prenatal environmental factors, such as stress or exposure to certain neurotoxic environmental contaminants, may have adverse consequences for neurodevelopment. Alterations in neurogenesis can have harmful effects not only for the developing nervous system, but also for the adult brain where neurogenesis is believed to play a role in learning, memory, and even in depression. Many recent advances in the understanding of the complex process of nervous system development can be integrated into the field of neurotoxicology. In the past 15 years we have been using cultured neural stem or progenitor cells tomore » investigate the effects of neurotoxic stimuli on cell survival, proliferation and differentiation, with special focus on heritable effects. This is an overview of the work performed by our group in the attempt to elucidate the mechanisms of developmental neurotoxicity and possibly provide relevant information for the understanding of the etiopathogenesis of complex brain disorders. - Highlights: • The developing nervous system is highly sensitive to toxic insults. • Neural stem cells are relevant models for mechanistic studies as well as for identifying heritable effects due to epigenetic changes. • Depending on the dose, the outcome of exposure to neurotoxicants ranges from altered proliferation and differentiation to cell death. • The elucidation of neurotoxicity mechanisms is relevant for understanding the etiopathogenesis of developmental and adult nervous system disorders.« less

Developmental Dyspraxia

MedlinePlus

... disorder may be of average or above average intelligence, they may behave immaturely. × Definition Developmental dyspraxia is ... disorder may be of average or above average intelligence, they may behave immaturely. View Full Definition Treatment ...

Implicit learning seems to come naturally for children with autism, but not for children with specific language impairment: Evidence from behavioral and ERP data.

PubMed

Zwart, Fenny S; Vissers, Constance Th W M; Kessels, Roy P C; Maes, Joseph H R

2018-04-20

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and specific language impairment (SLI) are two neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by deficits in verbal and nonverbal communication skills. These skills are thought to develop largely through implicit-or automatic-learning mechanisms. The aim of the current paper was to investigate the role of implicit learning abilities in the atypical development of communication skills in ASD and SLI. In the current study, we investigated Response Times (RTs) and Event Related Potentials (ERPs) during implicit learning on a Serial Reaction Time (SRT) task in a group of typically developing (TD) children (n = 17), a group of autistic children (n = 16), and a group of children with SLI (n = 13). Findings suggest that learning in both ASD and SLI are similar to that in TD. However, electrophysiological findings suggest that autistic children seem to rely mainly on more automatic processes (as reflected by an N2b component), whereas the children with SLI seem to rely on more controlled processes (as reflected by a P3 component). The TD children appear to use a combination of both learning mechanisms. These findings suggest that clinical interventions should aim at compensating for an implicit learning deficit in children with SLI, but not in children with ASD. Future research should focus on developmental differences in implicit learning and related neural correlates in TD, ASD, and SLI. Autism Res 2018. © 2018 The Authors Autism Research published by International Society for Autism Research and Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Autism and Specific Language Impairment (SLI) are two disorders characterized by problems in social communication and language. Social communication and language are believed to be learned in an automatic way. This is called "implicit learning." We have found that implicit learning is intact in autism. However, in SLI there seems different brain activity during implicit learning. Maybe children with SLI learn differently, and maybe this different learning makes it more difficult for them to learn language. © 2018 The Authors Autism Research published by International Society for Autism Research and Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Why Are There Developmental Stages in Language Learning? A Developmental Robotics Model of Language Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morse, Anthony F.; Cangelosi, Angelo

2017-01-01

Most theories of learning would predict a gradual acquisition and refinement of skills as learning progresses, and while some highlight exponential growth, this fails to explain why natural cognitive development typically progresses in stages. Models that do span multiple developmental stages typically have parameters to "switch" between…

Determining Differences in Social Cognition between High-Functioning Autistic Disorder and Other Pervasive Developmental Disorders Using New Advanced "Mind-Reading" Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuroda, Miho; Wakabayashi, Akio; Uchiyama, Tokio; Yoshida, Yuko; Koyama, Tomonori; Kamio, Yoko

2011-01-01

Deficits in understanding the mental state of others ("mind-reading") have been well documented in individuals with pervasive developmental disorders (PDD). However, it is unclear whether this deficit in social cognition differs between the subgroups of PDD defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text…

Psychometric Characteristics of a Measure of Emotional Dispositions Developed to Test a Developmental Propensity Model of Conduct Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lahey, Benjamin B.; Applegate, Brooks; Chronis, Andrea M.; Jones, Heather A.; Williams, Stephanie Hall; Loney, Jan; Waldman, Irwin D.

2008-01-01

Lahey and Waldman proposed a developmental propensity model in which three dimensions of children's emotional dispositions are hypothesized to transact with the environment to influence risk for conduct disorder, heterogeneity in conduct disorder, and comorbidity with other disorders. To prepare for future tests of this model, a new measure of…

Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Pharmacological Treatment of the Symptoms of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Children with Pervasive Developmental Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reichow, Brian; Volkmar, Fred R.; Bloch, Michael H.

2013-01-01

Many children with pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) exhibit behaviors and symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We sought to determine the relative efficacy of medications for treating ADHD symptoms in children with PDD by identifying all double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trials examining the efficacy of…

DSM-V diagnostic criteria for bereavement-related disorders in children and adolescents: developmental considerations.

PubMed

Kaplow, Julie B; Layne, Christopher M; Pynoos, Robert S; Cohen, Judith A; Lieberman, Alicia

2012-01-01

Two bereavement-related disorders are proposed for the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V): Adjustment Disorder Related to Bereavement, to be located in the main body of the text as an official diagnostic entity; and Bereavement-Related Disorder, including a Traumatic Death Specifier, to be located in the Appendix as an invitation for further research. These diagnoses currently do not include developmentally informed criteria, despite the importance of developmental processes in the ways children and adolescents grieve. In this article, we draw upon a selective review of the empirical literature and expert clinical knowledge to recommend developmentally informed modifications and specifiers of the proposed criteria for both bereavement disorders and strategies to improve future research. This article is derived from an invited report submitted to the DSM-V Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Trauma, and Dissociative Disorders Sub-Work Group, and suggested modifications have received preliminary approval to be incorporated into the DSM-V at the time of this writing. Adoption of these proposals will have far-reaching consequences, given that DSM-V criteria will influence both critical treatment choices for bereaved youth and the next generation of research studies.

Acquisition of Joint Attention by a Developmental Learning Model based on Interactions between a Robot and a Caregiver

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nagai, Yukie; Asada, Minoru; Hosoda, Koh

This paper presents a developmental learning model for joint attention between a robot and a human caregiver. The basic idea of the proposed model comes from the insight of the cognitive developmental science that the development can help the task learning. The model consists of a learning mechanism based on evaluation and two kinds of developmental mechanisms: a robot's development and a caregiver's one. The former means that the sensing and the actuating capabilities of the robot change from immaturity to maturity. On the other hand, the latter is defined as a process that the caregiver changes the task from easy situation to difficult one. These two developments are triggered by the learning progress. The experimental results show that the proposed model can accelerate the learning of joint attention owing to the caregiver's development. Furthermore, it is observed that the robot's development can improve the final task performance by reducing the internal representation in the learned neural network. The mechanisms that bring these effects to the learning are analyzed in line with the cognitive developmental science.

Implicit learning and reading: insights from typical children and children with developmental dyslexia using the artificial grammar learning (AGL) paradigm.

PubMed

Pavlidou, Elpis V; Williams, Joanne M

2014-07-01

We examined implicit learning in school-aged children with and without developmental dyslexia based on the proposal that implicit learning plays a significant role in mastering fluent reading. We ran two experiments with 16 typically developing children (9 to 11-years-old) and 16 age-matched children with developmental dyslexia using the artificial grammar learning (AGL) paradigm. In Experiment 1 (non-transfer task), children were trained on stimuli that followed patterns (rules) unknown to them. Subsequently, they were asked to decide from a novel set which stimuli follow the same rules (grammaticality judgments). In Experiment 2 (transfer task), training and testing stimuli differed in their superficial characteristics but followed the same rules. Again, children were asked to make grammaticality judgments. Our findings expand upon previous research by showing that children with developmental dyslexia show difficulties in implicit learning that are most likely specific to higher-order rule-like learning. These findings are discussed in relation to current theories of developmental dyslexia and of implicit learning. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Recent Advances in the Genetics of Vocal Learning

PubMed Central

Condro, Michael C.; White, Stephanie A.

2015-01-01

Language is a complex communicative behavior unique to humans, and its genetic basis is poorly understood. Genes associated with human speech and language disorders provide some insights, originating with the FOXP2 transcription factor, a mutation in which is the source of an inherited form of developmental verbal dyspraxia. Subsequently, targets of FOXP2 regulation have been associated with speech and language disorders, along with other genes. Here, we review these recent findings that implicate genetic factors in human speech. Due to the exclusivity of language to humans, no single animal model is sufficient to study the complete behavioral effects of these genes. Fortunately, some animals possess subcomponents of language. One such subcomponent is vocal learning, which though rare in the animal kingdom, is shared with songbirds. We therefore discuss how songbird studies have contributed to the current understanding of genetic factors that impact human speech, and support the continued use of this animal model for such studies in the future. PMID:26052371

ADHD and Comorbid Developmental Coordination Disorder: Implications and Recommendations for School Psychologists

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lange, Stephen M.

2018-01-01

Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is frequently comorbid with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). DCD results in functional impairment in activities of daily living, and children's physical activities with peers. Children with DCD report fewer friendships, more bullying, and less confidence in their ability to participate in…

Predictors and Moderators of Psychological Distress in Mothers of Children with Pervasive Developmental Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tobing, Lauren E.; Glenwick, David S.

2006-01-01

This study explored potential predictors of psychological distress and moderators of the relation between parenting stress and psychological distress in mothers of children with pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs). Ninety-seven mothers of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders completed measures assessing children's functional…

Pervasive Developmental Disorders. NICHCY Briefing Paper FS20.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tsai, Luke Y.

This briefing paper is intended to provide basic information about the diagnosis, educational programming, and special needs of children and youth with Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD), a group of neurological disorders usually evident by age 3 and characterized by impairments in social interaction, imaginative activity, and verbal and…

Brief Report: Pervasive Developmental Disorder Can Evolve into ADHD--Case Illustrations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fein, Deborah; Dixon, Pamela; Paul, Jennifer; Levin, Harriet

2005-01-01

Despite prominent attentional symptoms in Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD) the relationship between PDD and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has received little direct examination. In addition, outcome studies of children with PDD often focus on language, educational placement, or adaptive skills, but seldom on loss of the…

Fragmented Visuospatial Processing in Children with Pervasive Developmental Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schlooz, Wim A. J. M.; Hulstijn, Wouter; van den Broek, Pieter J. A.; van der Pijll, Angela C. A. M.; Gabreels, Fons; van der Gaag, Rutger J.; Rotteveel, Jan J.

2006-01-01

Children diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) and Asperger Syndrome (AS) may be characterised by a similar perceptual focus on details as children with autistic disorder (AD). This was tested by analysing their performance in a visuoperceptual task [the Children's Embedded Figure Test (CEFT)] and a…

A Psychiatric Primer for Programs Serving People with Developmental Disabilities. Monograph #101.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dal Pozzo, Earlene; Bernstein, Gail S.

Intended for personnel in programs serving persons with developmental disabilities, the booklet provides basic information about the major psychiatric disorders and their treatment. Five sections cover: the major disorders; medications--uses and problems; assessment; cooordination of services; and psychiatric emergencies. Major disorders such as…

Developmental deficits in adult patients with arteriovenous malformations.

PubMed

Lazar, R M; Connaire, K; Marshall, R S; Pile-Spellman, J; Hacein-Bey, L; Solomon, R A; Sisti, M B; Young, W L; Mohr, J P

1999-01-01

Cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) are congenital masses of arteries and veins that appear to undergo an unclear "maturation" for many years. Using structured interviews, we compared developmental history of adult patients with AVM with a comparison group of patients with cerebral tumor or aneurysm. To determine whether a remote history of developmental abnormality in adult patients with AVM might be an early marker of cerebral status. Adult patients with AVM and a comparison group of patients with cerebral aneurysm or low-grade tumor participated in a survey. Urban medical school-based tertiary care center. Forty-four randomly selected patients with AVM from the Columbia-Presbyterian AVM Database. There were 32 comparison patients:15 randomly chosen patients from the institution's Cerebral Aneurysm Database and all 17 patients who underwent a biopsy from 1990 to 1995 with a diagnosis of low-grade tumor and who could be contacted. A brief, structured interview adapted from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for its 1994 study of the prevalence of learning disabilities in American children. We defined the positive occurrence of a condition as an affirmative answer to the question, " Did have (condition) during his/her school-age years?" Each patient was also asked if there had been any problems in the following skill areas: reading, writing, listening, speaking, attention, impulsivity, organization, mathematics, or drawing. The AVM size was calculated on the angiographic film by measuring its longest diameter in any dimension. Patients with AVM were significantly more likely to report a positive occurrence to any survey question (P<.05). Two thirds of all patients with AVM (66%) reported at least 1 skill difficulty during their school years, significantly more than the comparison group (P<.001). Neither the maximum AVM diameter nor the occurrence of hemorrhage as an adult differed between patients with AVM with and without early skill difficulty. Patients with AVM are more likely to report a developmental learning disorder than patients with tumor or aneurysm despite the absence of other neurologic symptoms of diseases not diagnosed for another 20 years. These data support the notion that disorders of behavioral and intellectual function are sensitive markers of early cerebral status.

Neurodevelopmental attributes of joint hypermobility syndrome/Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, hypermobility type: Update and perspectives.

PubMed

Ghibellini, Giulia; Brancati, Francesco; Castori, Marco

2015-03-01

In the last decade, increasing attention has been devoted to the extra-articular and extra-cutaneous manifestations of joint hypermobility syndrome, also termed Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, hypermobility type (i.e., JHS/EDS-HT). Despite the fact that the current diagnostic criteria for both disorders remain focused on joint hypermobility, musculoskeletal pain and skin changes, medical practice and research have started investigating a wide spectrum of visceral, neurological and developmental complications, which represent major burdens for affected individuals. In particular, children with generalized joint hypermobility often present with various neurodevelopmental issues and can be referred for neurological consultation. It is common that investigations in these patients yield negative or inconsistent results, eventually leading to the exclusion of any structural neurological or muscle disorder. In the context of specialized clinics for connective tissue disorders, a clear relationship between generalized joint hypermobility and a characteristic neurodevelopmental profile affecting coordination is emerging. The clinical features of these patients tend to overlap with those of developmental coordination disorder and can be associated with learning and other disabilities. Physical and psychological consequences of these additional difficulties add to the chief manifestations of the pre-existing connective tissue disorder, affecting the well-being and development of children and their families. In this review, particular attention is devoted to the nature of the link between joint hypermobility, coordination difficulties and neurodevelopmental issues in children. Presumed pathogenesis and management issues are explored in order to attract more attention on this association and nurture future clinical research. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Gastrostomy Tube Feeding in Children With Developmental or Acquired Disorders: A Longitudinal Comparison on Healthcare Provision and Eating Outcomes 4 Years After Gastrostomy.

PubMed

Backman, Ellen; Karlsson, Ann-Kristin; Sjögreen, Lotta

2018-03-30

Studies on long-term feeding and eating outcomes in children requiring gastrostomy tube feeding (GT) are scarce. The aim of this study was to describe children with developmental or acquired disorders receiving GT and to compare longitudinal eating and feeding outcomes. A secondary aim was to explore healthcare provision related to eating and feeding. This retrospective cohort study reviewed medical records of children in 1 administrative region of Sweden with GT placement between 2005 and 2012. Patient demographics, primary diagnoses, age at GT placement, and professional healthcare contacts prior to and after GT placement were recorded and compared. Feeding and eating outcomes were assessed 4 years after GT placement. The medical records of 51 children, 28 boys and 23 girls, were analyzed and grouped according to "acquired" (n = 13) or "developmental" (n = 38) primary diagnoses. At 4 years after GT placement, 67% were still using GT. Only 6 of 37 (16%) children with developmental disorders transferred to eating all orally, as opposed to 10 of 11 (91%) children with acquired disorders. Children with developmental disorders were younger at the time of GT placement and displayed a longer duration of GT activity when compared with children with acquired disorders. This study demonstrates a clear difference between children with developmental or acquired disorders in duration of GT activity and age at GT placement. The study further shows that healthcare provided to children with GT is in some cases multidisciplinary, but primarily focuses on feeding rather than eating. © 2018 American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition.

DIAGNOSTIC CLASSIFICATION OF MENTAL HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS OF INFANCY AND EARLY CHILDHOOD DC:0-5: SELECTIVE REVIEWS FROM A NEW NOSOLOGY FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD PSYCHOPATHOLOGY.

PubMed

Zeanah, Charles H; Carter, Alice S; Cohen, Julie; Egger, Helen; Gleason, Mary Margaret; Keren, Miri; Lieberman, Alicia; Mulrooney, Kathleen; Oser, Cindy

2016-09-01

The Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health and Developmental Disorders of Infancy and Early Childhood: Revised Edition (DC:0-5; ZERO TO THREE) is scheduled to be published in 2016. The articles in this section are selective reviews that have been undertaken as part of the process of refining and updating the nosology. They provide the rationales for new disorders, for disorders that had not been included previously in the Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health and Developmental Disorders of Infancy and Early Childhood: Revised Edition (DC:0-3R; ZERO TO THREE, 2005), and for changes in how certain types of disorders are conceptualized. © 2016 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.

Gesture Production in School vs. Clinical Samples of Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) and Typically Developing Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sinani, Charikleia; Sugden, David A.; Hill, Elisabeth L.

2011-01-01

Dyspraxia, a difficulty in executing an operationalised act, has been associated with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). However, issues relating to the area such as comparisons across modalities, comparisons of school vs. clinical populations, and developmental delay vs. pathology have not been addressed in the same, comprehensive study.…

Performance of children with developmental dyslexia on high and low topological entropy artificial grammar learning task.

PubMed

Katan, Pesia; Kahta, Shani; Sasson, Ayelet; Schiff, Rachel

2017-07-01

Graph complexity as measured by topological entropy has been previously shown to affect performance on artificial grammar learning tasks among typically developing children. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of graph complexity on implicit sequential learning among children with developmental dyslexia. Our goal was to determine whether children's performance depends on the complexity level of the grammar system learned. We conducted two artificial grammar learning experiments that compared performance of children with developmental dyslexia with that of age- and reading level-matched controls. Experiment 1 was a high topological entropy artificial grammar learning task that aimed to establish implicit learning phenomena in children with developmental dyslexia using previously published experimental conditions. Experiment 2 is a lower topological entropy variant of that task. Results indicated that given a high topological entropy grammar system, children with developmental dyslexia who were similar to the reading age-matched control group had substantial difficulty in performing the task as compared to typically developing children, who exhibited intact implicit learning of the grammar. On the other hand, when tested on a lower topological entropy grammar system, all groups performed above chance level, indicating that children with developmental dyslexia were able to identify rules from a given grammar system. The results reinforced the significance of graph complexity when experimenting with artificial grammar learning tasks, particularly with dyslexic participants.

Use of drawings in children with pervasive developmental disorder during hospitalization: a developmental perspective.

PubMed

Stefanatou, Athena

2008-12-01

The level and nature of emotional upheaval and relationship to developmental stage was studied in children with pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) hospitalized for head injury. The sample consisted of 25 hospitalized children aged 5-12 years. Children were asked to make the drawing of a ;person in hospital'. The drawings were evaluated by Koppitz's emotional indicators. Punishment and persecution were the main cognitive constructs of children in order to explain hospitalization.

[Comorbidity in autism spectrum disorders - II. Genetic syndromes and neurological problems].

PubMed

Noterdaeme, Michele A; Hutzelmeyer-Nickels, Anna

2010-07-01

Children with a pervasive developmental disorder show in addition to core symptoms a variety of genetic syndromes as well as neurological problems, which are relevant for the treatment and the course of the disorder. The objective of our study is to analyse the nature and the frequency of these co-morbid somatic disorders in relation to the level of intellectual functioning of the patients. The sample consists of 601 patients with a pervasive developmental disorder diagnosed at the Department of Developmental Disorders at the Heckscher-Klinikum between 1997 and 2007. In addition to genetic syndromes, we also recorded a variety of neurological disorders. 373 of the patients (62%) had at least one additional diagnosis and 121 (20%) had at least two additional diagnoses on Axis IV of the multi-axial classification scheme. Genetic syndromes were found in 6% of the patients (N = 37). Movement disorders (N = 214; 35.6%) and epilepsy (N = 98; 16.3%) were the most frequent neurological disorders. Children with mental retardation showed significantly more somatic diagnoses than children without mental retardation. Children with pervasive developmental disorders show a wide variety of co-morbid somatic problems, which are relevant for the treatment and the course of the disorder. Children with autism and mental retardation show more co-morbid conditions and are more impaired in their psychosocial adaptation than children with autism without mental retardation.

[Comparison of attachment-related social behaviors in autistic disorder and developmental disability].

PubMed

Akdemir, Devrim; Pehlivantürk, Berna; Unal, Fatih; Ozusta, Seniz

2009-01-01

This study examined social behaviors related to attachment in children with autistic disorder and the differences in these behaviors from those observed in developmentally disabled children. Additionally, we aimed to investigate the relationship between attachment behaviors and clinical variables, such as age, cognitive development, severity of autism, language development, and mothers' attachment styles. The study group consisted of 19 children with autistic disorder (mean age: 37.9 +/- 6.8 months) and the control group consisted of 18 developmentally disabled children without autistic disorder that were matched with respect to age, gender, and cognitive development. The Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) was administered to all the children by two child psychiatrists. Mothers completed the Relationships Scale Questionnaire (RSQ). Cognitive development of the children was assessed with the Stanford-Binet intelligence scale. Attachment behaviors of the children were evaluated with a modified Strange Situation Procedure (SSP). Attachment behaviors in the children with autistic disorder and in the children with developmental disabilities were similar. In contrast to the developmentally disabled group, the children with autistic disorder stayed closer toward their mothers compared with their responses to strangers. In the autistic disorder group, attachment behaviors were not associated with age, intelligence quotient, or mothers' attachment styles; however, a significant relationship between the severity of autism and the presence of speech was observed. Parents' understanding of the attachment needs and the attachment behaviors of their autistic children in the early stages of the disorder may lead to more secure attachment relationships and improved social development.

Maternal impulse control disability and developmental disorder traits are risk factors for child maltreatment.

PubMed

Tachibana, Yoshiyuki; Takehara, Kenji; Kakee, Naoko; Mikami, Masashi; Inoue, Eisuke; Mori, Rintaro; Ota, Erika; Koizumi, Tomoe; Okuyama, Makiko; Kubo, Takahiko

2017-11-14

Previous work has suggested that maternal developmental disorder traits related to autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are significantly associated with child maltreatment. However, there may be other important maternal characteristics that contribute to child maltreatment. We hypothesized that maternal impulse control disability may also affect child maltreatment in addition to maternal developmental disorder traits. We aimed to test this hypothesis via a cohort study performed in Tokyo (n = 1,260). Linear regression analyses using the Behavioural Inhibition/Behavioural Activation Scales, the self-administered short version of the Pervasive Developmental Disorders Autism Society Japan Rating Scale, the short form of the Adult Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Self-Report Scale, and the Child Maltreatment Scale, revealed that excessive inhibition of behaviour and affect, which is impulse control disability, is significantly associated with child maltreatment (b = 0.031, p = 0.018) in addition to maternal developmental disorder traits (ASD: b = 0.052, p = 0.004; ADHD: b = 0.178, p < 0.001). Logistic regression analyses revealed that ASD (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.083, p = 0.014) and high behavioural inhibition (AOR = 1.068, p = 0.016) were significantly associated with moderate child maltreatment, while ADHD was associated (AOR = 1.034, p = 0.022) with severe child maltreatment. These maternal characteristics may inform the best means for prevention and management of child maltreatment cases.

The co-occurrence of mental disorders in children and adolescents with intellectual disability/intellectual developmental disorder

PubMed Central

Munir, Kerim M.

2016-01-01

Purpose of review The study summarizes supportive epidemiological data regarding the true co-occurrence (comorbidity) and course of mental disorders in children with intellectual disability/intellectual developmental disorders (ID/IDD) across the lifespan. Recent findings Published studies involving representative populations of children and adolescents with ID/IDD have demonstrated a three to four-fold increase in prevalence of co-occurring mental disorders. The effect of age, sex, and severity (mild, moderate, severe, and profound) and socioeconomic status on prevalence is currently not clearly understood. To date there are no prevalence estimates of co-occurring mental disorders in youth identified using the new DSM-5 (and proposed ICD-11) definition of ID/IDD using measures of intellectual functions and deficits in adaptive functioning with various severity levels defined on the basis of adaptive functioning, and not intellectual quotient scores. Summary The true relationship between two forms of morbidity remains complex and causal relationships that may be true for one disorder may not apply to another. The new conceptualization of ID/IDD offers a developmentally better informed psychobiological approach that can help distinguish co-occurrence of mental disorders within the neurodevelopmental section with onset during the developmental period as well as the later onset of other mental disorders. PMID:26779862

The co-occurrence of mental disorders in children and adolescents with intellectual disability/intellectual developmental disorder.

PubMed

Munir, Kerim M

2016-03-01

The study summarizes supportive epidemiological data regarding the true co-occurrence (comorbidity) and course of mental disorders in children with intellectual disability/intellectual developmental disorders (ID/IDD) across the lifespan. Published studies involving representative populations of children and adolescents with ID/IDD have demonstrated a three to four-fold increase in prevalence of co-occurring mental disorders. The effect of age, sex, and severity (mild, moderate, severe, and profound) and socioeconomic status on prevalence is currently not clearly understood. To date there are no prevalence estimates of co-occurring mental disorders in youth identified using the new DSM-5 (and proposed ICD-11) definition of ID/IDD using measures of intellectual functions and deficits in adaptive functioning with various severity levels defined on the basis of adaptive functioning, and not intellectual quotient scores. The true relationship between two forms of morbidity remains complex and causal relationships that may be true for one disorder may not apply to another. The new conceptualization of ID/IDD offers a developmentally better informed psychobiological approach that can help distinguish co-occurrence of mental disorders within the neurodevelopmental section with onset during the developmental period as well as the later onset of other mental disorders.

Development and psychometric evaluation of a psychosocial quality-of-life questionnaire for individuals with autism and related developmental disorders.

PubMed

Markowitz, Leslie A; Reyes, Charina; Embacher, Rebecca A; Speer, Leslie L; Roizen, Nancy; Frazier, Thomas W

2016-10-01

This study investigated the psychometric properties of the Child and Family Quality of Life scale, a measure of psychosocial quality of life in those with autism and related developmental disorders. Parents of 212 children suspected of autism spectrum disorder completed the Child and Family Quality of Life prior to a diagnostic evaluation. Results indicated that the Child and Family Quality of Life measured six unique quality-of-life constructs (child, family/caregiver, financial, external support, partner relationship, and coping), had good reliability across score ranges and exhibited expected patterns of convergent validity. Caregivers of autism spectrum disorder-affected children reported reduced family quality of life prior to the time of diagnosis relative to caregivers of children with other developmental disabilities. The Child and Family Quality of Life is a brief, reliable measure for assessing psychosocial quality of life in families affected by developmental disability. This study is the first to demonstrate impairments in family quality of life early in the developmental course of autism spectrum disorder, prior to formal diagnosis. In addition to traditional child-focused intervention strategies, families with autism spectrum disorder-affected children require early, broad intervention strategies that positively impact the whole family. © The Author(s) 2015.

Autistic traits and cognitive performance in young people with mild intellectual impairment.

PubMed

Harris, Jonathan M; Best, Catherine S; Moffat, Vivien J; Spencer, Michael D; Philip, Ruth C M; Power, Michael J; Johnstone, Eve C

2008-08-01

Cognitive performance and the relationship between theory of mind (TOM), weak central coherence and executive function were investigated in a cohort of young people with additional learning needs. Participants were categorized by social communication questionnaire score into groups of 10 individuals within the autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) range, 14 within the pervasive developmental disorder range and 18 with few autistic traits. The ASD group were significantly poorer than the other groups on a test of cognitive flexibility. In the ASD group only, there was a strong relationship between executive performance and TOM which remained after controlling for IQ. Our findings suggest that the relationship between cognitive traits may more reliably distinguish autism than the presence of individual deficits alone.

Is pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified less stable than autistic disorder? A meta-analysis.

PubMed

Rondeau, Emélie; Klein, Leslie S; Masse, André; Bodeau, Nicolas; Cohen, David; Guilé, Jean-Marc

2011-09-01

We reviewed the stability of the diagnosis of pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS). A Medline search found eight studies reiterating a diagnostic assessment for PDD-NOS. The pooled group included 322 autistic disorder (AD) and 122 PDD-NOS cases. We used percentage of individuals with same diagnose at Times 1 and 2 as response criterion. The pooled Relative Risk was 1.95 (p < 0.001) showing that AD diagnostic stability was higher than PDD-NOS. When diagnosed before 36 months PDD-NOS bore a 3-year stability rate of 35%. Examining the developmental trajectories showed that PDD-NOS corresponded to a group of heterogeneous pathological conditions including prodromic forms of later AD, remitted or less severe forms of AD, and developmental delays in interaction and communication.

A developmental and clinical perspective of rhythmic interpersonal coordination: From mimicry toward the interconnection of minds.

PubMed

Xavier, Jean; Magnat, Julien; Sherman, Alain; Gauthier, Soizic; Cohen, David; Chaby, Laurence

2016-11-01

Imitation plays a critical role in the development of intersubjectivity and serves as a prerequisite for understanding the emotions and intentions of others. In our review, we consider spontaneous motor imitation between children and their peers as a developmental process involving repetition and perspective-taking as well as flexibility and reciprocity. During childhood, this playful dynamic challenges developing visuospatial abilities and requires temporal coordination between partners. As such, we address synchrony as form of communication and social signal per se, that leads, from an experience of similarity, to the interconnection of minds. In this way, we argue that, from a developmental perspective, rhythmic interpersonal coordination through childhood imitative interactions serves as a precursor to higher- level social and cognitive abilities, such as theory of mind (TOM) and empathy. Finally, to clinically illustrate our idea, we focus on developmental coordination disorder (DCD), a condition characterized not only by learning difficulties, but also childhood deficits in motor imitation. We address the challenges faced by these children on an emotional and socio-interactional level through the perspective of their impairments in intra- and interpersonal synchrony. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Telepsychiatry and Virtual Reality an the Teatment of Patients with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

PubMed

Krysta, Krzysztof; Krzystanek, Marek; Cubała, Wiesław J; Wiglusz, Mariusz S; Jakuszkowiak-Wojten, Katarzyna; Gałuszko-Węgielnik, Maria; Czarnowska-Cubała, Monika; Szarmach, Joanna; Włodarczyk, Adam; Janas-Kozik, Małgorzata

2017-09-01

Treatment and rehabilitation of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities is a multidisciplinary challenge, which require implementing new attitudes. The use of modern technology solutions like telepsychiatry or virtual reality may be a valuable addition to the traditional methods. The objective of this review was to explore the usability of new technological solutions in this special population of patients. The search in the PubMed was conducted using the following terms: (intellectual disability (Title/Abstract) OR developmental disability OR learning disorder (Title/Abstract)) AND virtual reality (Title/Abstract) OR telepsychiatry OR telemedicine OR e-mental health AND English (lang) AND (1995/01/01(PDAT): 2017/07/31(PDAT)). Telepsychiatry may be a useful tool in situations, when the direct access to professional assistance is limited, in solving particular problems like e.g. managing challenging behavior, also to support patients' parents and for diagnostic and educational purposes. Virtual reality can be a safe and effective method of improving different skills, developing physical fitness, and enriching the ways of spending the leisure time. Using modern technology is a relatively new and promising field in which new ideas may develop to support the already existing services for patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Effective Developmental Math Instructional Practices That Facilitate Learning and Academic Success of Community College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Little, Pamela Hilson

2017-01-01

The purpose of the qualitative study was to discover instructional practices used by developmental math instructors that facilitate learning and academic success of students in developmental math courses at select community colleges in Alabama in order to generate improved instructional practices in the developmental education field. Emergent data…

Deficit in implicit motor sequence learning among children and adolescents with spastic cerebral palsy.

PubMed

Gofer-Levi, Moran; Silberg, Tamar; Brezner, Amichai; Vakil, Eli

2013-11-01

Skill learning (SL) is learning as a result of repeated exposure and practice, which encompasses independent explicit (response to instructions) and implicit (response to hidden regularities) processes. Little is known about the effects of developmental disorders, such as Cerebral Palsy (CP), on the ability to acquire new skills. We compared performance of CP and typically developing (TD) children and adolescents in completing the serial reaction time (SRT) task, which is a motor sequence learning task, and examined the impact of various factors on this performance as indicative of the ability to acquire motor skills. While both groups improved in performance, participants with CP were significantly slower than TD controls and did not learn the implicit sequence. Our results indicate that SL in children and adolescents with CP is qualitatively and quantitatively different than that of their peers. Understanding the unique aspects of SL in children and adolescents with CP might help plan appropriate and efficient interventions. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Case against Diagnosing Developmental Language Disorder by Default: A Single Case Study of Acquired Aphasia Associated with Convulsive Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marinac, Julie V.; Harper, Laura

2009-01-01

The aim of this article is to inform the diagnostic knowledge base for professionals working in the field of language disorders when classic symptoms, characteristics and sequences are not found. The information reveals the risk of diagnosis with a developmental language disorder (DLD) by default when no underlying cause can be readily identified.…

Cognitive Profiles of Adults with Asperger's Disorder, High-Functioning Autism, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified Based on the WAIS-III

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kanai, Chieko; Tani, Masayuki; Hashimoto, Ryuichiro; Yamada, Takashi; Ota, Haruhisa; Watanabe, Hiromi; Iwanami, Akira; Kato, Nobumasa

2012-01-01

Little is known about the cognitive profiles of high-functioning Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD) in adults based on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale III (WAIS-III). We examined cognitive profiles of adults with no intellectual disability (IQ greater than 70), and in adults with Asperger's disorder (AS; n = 47), high-functioning autism (HFA;…

What Is Not Working in Working Memory of Children with Literacy Disorders? Evidence from a Three-Year-Longitudinal Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fischbach, Anne; Könen, Tanja; Rietz, Chantal S.; Hasselhorn, Marcus

2014-01-01

The goals of this study were to explore the deficits in working memory associated with literacy disorders (i.e. developmental disorders of reading and/or spelling) and the developmental trajectories of these working memory deficits. The performance of 28 children with literacy disorders was compared to a non-disabled control group with the same…

Overlapping Phenotypes in Autism Spectrum Disorder and Developmental Coordination Disorder: A Cross-Syndrome Comparison of Motor and Social Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sumner, Emma; Leonard, Hayley C.; Hill, Elisabeth L.

2016-01-01

Motor and social difficulties are often found in children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and with developmental coordination disorder (DCD), to varying degrees. This study investigated the extent of overlap of these problems in children aged 7-10 years who had a diagnosis of either ASD or DCD, compared to typically-developing controls.…

[Cognitive Profiles of Preschool Children with Developmental Coordination Disorders and ADHD].

PubMed

Jascenoka, Julia; Korsch, Franziska; Petermann, Franz; Petermann, Ulrike

2015-01-01

Cognitive Profiles of Preschool Children with Developmental Coordination Disorders and ADHD Studies confirm that developmental coordination disorders (DCD) are often accompanied by ADHD. It is important to know why children with combined disorders show a special profile in a common intelligence test (WPPSI-III). For this purpose, the WPPSI-III results of a total of 125 children aged five to six years with diagnosed isolated DCD, isolated ADHD, combined disorders and a normative sample were compared. Children with isolated ADHD showed the best cognitive profile. Children of all three diagnosis subgroups presented significantly poorer abilities in all WPPSI-III scales than the normative sample. In comparison with preschoolers showing isolated ADHD, children with DCD and ADHD have a significant lower Processing Speed Quotient.

Cerebellar contribution to locomotor behavior: A neurodevelopmental perspective.

PubMed

Sathyanesan, Aaron; Gallo, Vittorio

2018-04-30

The developmental trajectory of the formation of cerebellar circuitry has significant implications for locomotor plasticity and adaptive learning at later stages. While there is a wealth of knowledge on the development of locomotor behavior in human infants, children, and adolescents, pre-clinical animal models have fallen behind on the study of the emergence of behavioral motifs in locomotor function across postnatal development. Since cerebellar development is protracted, it is subject to higher risk of genetic or environmental disruption, potentially leading to abnormal behavioral development. This highlights the need for more sophisticated and specific functional analyses of adaptive cerebellar behavior within the context of whole-body locomotion across the entire span of postnatal development. Here we review evidence on cerebellar contribution to adaptive locomotor behavior, highlighting methodologies employed to quantify and categorize behavior at different developmental stages, with the ultimate goal of following the course of early behavioral alterations in neurodevelopmental disorders. Since experimental paradigms used to study cerebellar behavior are lacking in both specificity and applicability to locomotor contexts, we highlight the use of the Erasmus Ladder - an advanced, computerized, fully automated system to quantify adaptive cerebellar learning in conjunction with locomotor function. Finally, we emphasize the need to develop objective, quantitative, behavioral tasks which can track changes in developmental trajectories rather than endpoint measurement at the adult stage of behavior. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cognitive Characteristics of Children with Genetic Syndromes

PubMed Central

Simon, Tony J.

2008-01-01

The cognitive profile of several different populations of children, each with a distinct neurogenetic disorder that has been described as fitting the pattern of a “nonverbal learning disorder”, is examined. In particular, this paper presents the view that a cognitive endophenotype, specified in terms of specific cognitive processes involving the spatial, temporal and attentional domains, can be used to generate an explanation of the neurocognitive foundation of the common impairments found in these disorders. Methods for evaluating cognitive impairments are first compared and contrasted and the concept of “nonverbal learning disorders” is described. The paper then examines data from experimental tests of spatiotemporal and executive cognitive function acquired from children with one of several disorders to determine whether such a cognitive endophenotype holds promise for moving from descriptions of to explanations for the impairments observed and whether prescriptions for therapeutic interventions might flow from such an account. Synopsis This paper presents the cognitive profile observed in children with one of several common genetic syndromes associated with “nonverbal learning disorders”. It introduces the concept of a cognitive endophenotype in order to help explain the similar pattern of impairments across the syndromes. It explores the explanation of diverse impairments in higher-order visual, spatial, temporal, numerical and executive cognitive competencies deriving from origins in more basic attentional and spatial cognitive dysfunctions. The importance of a developmental approach to understanding dysfunction is stressed. PMID:17562581

Quality of Life of Adults with Pervasive Developmental Disorders and Intellectual Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gerber, F.; Baud, M. A.; Giroud, M.; Carminati, G. Galli

2008-01-01

The purpose of this study was to observe quality of life (QoL) and global evolution of persons with Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD) in three different groups. Individualized programs for PDD were compared to traditional programs for intellectual disabilities. Behavioural disorders were repeatedly evaluated using the Aberrant Behaviour…

Finding Susceptibility Genes for Developmental Disorders of Speech: The Long and Winding Road.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Felsenfeld, Susan

2002-01-01

This article explores the gene-finding process for developmental speech disorders (DSDs), specifically disorders of articulation/phonology and stuttering. It reviews existing behavioral genetic studies of these phenotypes, discusses roadblocks that may impede the molecular study of DSDs, and reviews the findings of the small number of molecular…

Pervasive Developmental Disorder: Client-Centered Approach. A Guide for Parents and Teachers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stewart, Bonnie C.

This guide to pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) or autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) first provides a review of the literature on defining characteristics of PDD/ASD, causes of PDD, and diagnosis of PDD. Review of intervention and treatment comprises the major portion of the paper. After briefly considering parent education, this section…

Handwriting-Based Model for Identification of Developmental Disorders among North Indian Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dhall, Jasmine Kaur

2016-01-01

Handwriting execution is based on the cognitive, kinesthetic, motor skills, and manual co-ordination skills of an individual. The deterioration in handwriting quality is a common implication of neurological disorders. Difficulty and degradation in handwriting has been attributed to the sensory motor deficits prevalent in developmental disorders.…

Emerging Adulthood in Developmental Co-Ordination Disorder: Parent and Young Adult Perspectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kirby, A.; Edwards, L.; Sugden, D.

2011-01-01

Recent research widely acknowledges that developmental co-ordination disorder (DCD) is a pervasive and enduring disorder, which persists into adolescence and adulthood ([Cousins and Smyth, 2003] and [Kirby et al., 2008]). However, few studies have given detailed consideration to the range and level of functioning difficulties in emerging adults…

Developmental and Communication Disorders in Children with Intellectual Disability: The Place Early Intervention for Effective Inclusion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jacob, Udeme Samuel; Olisaemeka, Angela Nneka; Edozie, Isioma Sitamalife

2015-01-01

The paper attempts to discuss the place of intervention in the developmental and communication disorders of children with intellectual disability for the purpose of providing effective inclusion programme. The definition of early intervention was stated, areas affected by children communication disorder such as language comprehension, fluency,…

Gender Differences in Anxiety Trajectories from Middle to Late Adolescence

PubMed Central

Ohannessian, Christine McCauley; Milan, Stephanie; Vannucci, Anna

2016-01-01

Although developmental trajectories of anxiety symptomatology have begun to be explored, most research has focused on total anxiety symptom scores during childhood and early adolescence, using racially/ethnically homogenous samples. Understanding the heterogeneous courses of anxiety disorder symptoms during middle to late adolescence has the potential to clarify developmental risk models of anxiety and to inform prevention programs. Therefore, this study specifically examined gender differences in developmental trajectories of anxiety disorder symptoms (generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and social anxiety disorder) from middle to late adolescence in a diverse community sample (N=1,000; 57% female; 65% White), assessed annually over two years. Latent growth curve modeling revealed that girls exhibited a slight linear decrease in generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and social anxiety disorder symptoms, whereas boys exhibited a stable course. These models suggested that one trajectory was appropriate for panic disorder symptoms in both girls and boys. Growth mixture models indicated the presence of four latent generalized anxiety disorder symptom trajectory classes: low increasing, moderate decreasing slightly, high decreasing, and very high decreasing rapidly. Growth mixture models also suggested the presence of five latent social anxiety disorder symptom trajectory classes: a low stable trajectory class and four classes that were qualitatively similar to the latent generalized anxiety disorder trajectories. For both generalized anxiety disorder and social anxiety disorder symptoms, girls were significantly more likely than boys to be in trajectory classes characterized by moderate or high initial symptoms that subsequently decreased over time. These findings provide novel information regarding the developmental course of anxiety disorder symptoms in adolescents. PMID:27889856

[Obsessive-compulsive symptoms, tics, stereotypic movements or need for absolute consistency? The occurrence of repetitive activities in patients with pervasive developmental disorders--case studies].

PubMed

Bryńska, Anita; Lipińska, Elzbieta; Matelska, Monika

2011-01-01

Repetitive and stereotyped behaviours in the form of stereotyped interests or specific routine activities are one ofthe diagnostic criteria in pervasive developmental disorders. The occurrence of repetitive behaviours in patients with pervasive developmental disorders is a starting point for questions about the type and classification criteria of such behaviours. The aim of the article is to present case studies of patients with pervasive developmental disorders and co-morbid symptoms in the form of routine activities, tics, obsessive-compulsive symptoms or stereotyped behaviours. The first case study describes a patient with Asperger's syndrome and obsessive compulsive symptoms. The diagnostic problems regarding complex motor tics are discussed in the second case study which describes a patient with Asperger's syndrome and Gilles de la Tourette syndrome. The third and fourth case study describes mono-zygotic twins with so called High Functioning Autism whose repetitive activities point to either obsessive compulsive symptoms, stereotypic movements, need for absolute consistency or echopraxia. The possible comorbidity of pervasive developmental disorders and symptoms in the form of repetitive behaviours, possible interactions as well as diagnostic challenges is discussed in the article.

Nonspeech oral motor treatment issues related to children with developmental speech sound disorders.

PubMed

Ruscello, Dennis M

2008-07-01

This article examines nonspeech oral motor treatments (NSOMTs) in the population of clients with developmental speech sound disorders. NSOMTs are a collection of nonspeech methods and procedures that claim to influence tongue, lip, and jaw resting postures; increase strength; improve muscle tone; facilitate range of motion; and develop muscle control. In the case of developmental speech sound disorders, NSOMTs are employed before or simultaneous with actual speech production treatment. First, NSOMTs are defined for the reader, and there is a discussion of NSOMTs under the categories of active muscle exercise, passive muscle exercise, and sensory stimulation. Second, different theories underlying NSOMTs along with the implications of the theories are discussed. Finally, a review of pertinent investigations is presented. The application of NSOMTs is questionable due to a number of reservations that include (a) the implied cause of developmental speech sound disorders, (b) neurophysiologic differences between the limbs and oral musculature, (c) the development of new theories of movement and movement control, and (d) the paucity of research literature concerning NSOMTs. There is no substantive evidence to support NSOMTs as interventions for children with developmental speech sound disorders.

Neurodevelopmental disorders: cluster 2 of the proposed meta-structure for DSM-V and ICD-11.

PubMed

Andrews, G; Pine, D S; Hobbs, M J; Anderson, T M; Sunderland, M

2009-12-01

DSM-IV and ICD-10 are atheoretical and largely descriptive. Although this achieves good reliability, the validity of diagnoses can be increased by an understanding of risk factors and other clinical features. In an effort to group mental disorders on this basis, five clusters have been proposed. We now consider the second cluster, namely neurodevelopmental disorders. We reviewed the literature in relation to 11 validating criteria proposed by a DSM-V Task Force Study Group. This cluster reflects disorders of neurodevelopment rather than a 'childhood' disorders cluster. It comprises disorders subcategorized in DSM-IV and ICD-10 as Mental Retardation; Learning, Motor, and Communication Disorders; and Pervasive Developmental Disorders. Although these disorders seem to be heterogeneous, they share similarities on some risk and clinical factors. There is evidence of a neurodevelopmental genetic phenotype, the disorders have an early emerging and continuing course, and all have salient cognitive symptoms. Within-cluster co-morbidity also supports grouping these disorders together. Other childhood disorders currently listed in DSM-IV share similarities with the Externalizing and Emotional clusters. These include Conduct Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Separation Anxiety Disorder. The Tic, Eating/Feeding and Elimination disorders, and Selective Mutisms were allocated to the 'Not Yet Assigned' group. Neurodevelopmental disorders meet some of the salient criteria proposed by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) to suggest a classification cluster.

The Probable Prevalence and Sociodemographic Characteristics of Specific Learning Disorder in Primary School Children in Edirne.

PubMed

Görker, Işık; Bozatli, Leyla; Korkmazlar, Ümran; Yücel Karadağ, Meltem; Ceylan, Cansın; Söğüt, Ceren; Aykutlu, Hasan Cem; Subay, Büşra; Turan, Nesrin

2017-12-01

The aim of this study was to research the probable prevalence of Specific Learning Disorder (SLD) in primary school children in Edirne City and the relationships with their sociodemographic characteristics. The sample of our study was composed of 2,174 children who were educated in primary schools in second, third, and fourth grades in the academic year 2013-2014 in Edirne City. The teachers and parents of these children were given Specific Learning Difficulties Symptom Scale, Learning Disabilities Symptoms Checklist (teacher and parent forms), and sociodemographic data forms to fill in. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to assess the risk factors for SLD. Our study revealed that the probable prevalence of SLD was 13.6%; 17% for boys and 10.4% for girls. Reading impairment was 3.6%, writing impairment was 6.9%, and mathematic impairment was 6.5%. We determined that consanguineous marriages, low income, history of neonatal jaundice were found as risks for SLD; born by caesarean, developmental delay of walking, and history of neonatal jaundice were found as risks for mathematic impairment. A history of learning difficulties of parents was a risk factor for forming SLD and subtypes. Our findings were consistent with other study results about the prevalence of SLD. The relationships between the probable prevalence rates and sociodemographic data were discussed.

The Probable Prevalence and Sociodemographic Characteristics of Specific Learning Disorder in Primary School Children in Edirne

PubMed Central

GÖRKER, Işık; BOZATLI, Leyla; KORKMAZLAR, Ümran; YÜCEL KARADAĞ, Meltem; CEYLAN, Cansın; SÖĞÜT, Ceren; AYKUTLU, Hasan Cem; SUBAY, Büşra; TURAN, Nesrin

2017-01-01

Introduction The aim of this study was to research the probable prevalence of Specific Learning Disorder (SLD) in primary school children in Edirne City and the relationships with their sociodemographic characteristics. Methods The sample of our study was composed of 2,174 children who were educated in primary schools in second, third, and fourth grades in the academic year 2013–2014 in Edirne City. The teachers and parents of these children were given Specific Learning Difficulties Symptom Scale, Learning Disabilities Symptoms Checklist (teacher and parent forms), and sociodemographic data forms to fill in. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to assess the risk factors for SLD. Results Our study revealed that the probable prevalence of SLD was 13.6%; 17% for boys and 10.4% for girls. Reading impairment was 3.6%, writing impairment was 6.9%, and mathematic impairment was 6.5%. We determined that consanguineous marriages, low income, history of neonatal jaundice were found as risks for SLD; born by caesarean, developmental delay of walking, and history of neonatal jaundice were found as risks for mathematic impairment. A history of learning difficulties of parents was a risk factor for forming SLD and subtypes. Conclusion Our findings were consistent with other study results about the prevalence of SLD. The relationships between the probable prevalence rates and sociodemographic data were discussed. PMID:29321709

Psychomotor development and learning difficulties in preschool children with probable attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: An epidemiological study in Navarre and La Rioja.

PubMed

Marín-Méndez, J J; Borra-Ruiz, M C; Álvarez-Gómez, M J; Soutullo Esperón, C

2017-10-01

ADHD symptoms begin to appear at preschool age. ADHD may have a significant negative impact on academic performance. In Spain, there are no standardized tools for detecting ADHD at preschool age, nor is there data about the incidence of this disorder. To evaluate developmental factors and learning difficulties associated with probable ADHD and to assess the impact of ADHD in school performance. We conducted a population-based study with a stratified multistage proportional cluster sample design. We found significant differences between probable ADHD and parents' perception of difficulties in expressive language, comprehension, and fine motor skills, as well as in emotions, concentration, behaviour, and relationships. Around 34% of preschool children with probable ADHD showed global learning difficulties, mainly in patients with the inattentive type. According to the multivariate analysis, learning difficulties were significantly associated with both delayed psychomotor development during the first 3 years of life (OR: 5.57) as assessed by parents, and probable ADHD (OR: 2.34) CONCLUSIONS: There is a connection between probable ADHD in preschool children and parents' perception of difficulties in several dimensions of development and learning. Early detection of ADHD at preschool ages is necessary to start prompt and effective clinical and educational interventions. Copyright © 2016 Sociedad Española de Neurología. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Developmental psychopathology: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

PubMed

Schmidt, Sören; Petermann, Franz

2009-09-17

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), formerly regarded as a typical childhood disorder, is now known as a developmental disorder persisting over the lifespan. Starting in preschool-age, symptoms vary depending on the age group affected. According to the variability of ADHD-symptoms and the heterogeneity of comorbid psychiatric disorders, a broad review of recent studies was performed. These findings were summarized in a developmental psychopathological model, documenting relevant facts on a timeline. Based on a genetic disposition and a neuropsychological deregulation, there is evidence for factors which persist across the lifespan, change age-dependently, or show validity in a specific developmental phase. Qualitative changes can be found for children in preschool-age and adults. These differences have implications for clinical practice as they can be used for prevention, diagnostic proceedings, and therapeutic intervention as well as for planning future studies. The present article is a translated and modified version of the German article "Entwicklungspsychopathologie der ADHS", published in Zeitschrift für Psychiatrie, Psychologie und Psychotherapie, 56, 2008, S. 265-274.

Expanding the phenotype of Triple X syndrome: A comparison of prenatal versus postnatal diagnosis.

PubMed

Wigby, Kristen; D'Epagnier, Cheryl; Howell, Susan; Reicks, Amy; Wilson, Rebecca; Cordeiro, Lisa; Tartaglia, Nicole

2016-11-01

Triple X syndrome (47, XXX) occurs in approximately 1:1,000 female births and has a variable phenotype of physical and psychological features. Prenatal diagnosis rates of 47, XXX are increasing due to non-invasive prenatal genetic testing. Previous studies suggest that prenatal diagnosed females have better neurodevelopmental outcomes. This cross-sectional study describes diagnosis, physical features, medical problems, and neurodevelopmental features in a large cohort of females with 47, XXX. Evaluation included review of medical and developmental history, physical exam, cognitive, and adaptive testing. Medical and developmental features were compared between the prenatal and postnatal diagnosis groups using rate calculations and Fisher's exact test. Cognitive and adaptive tests scores were compared using t-tests. Seventy-four females age 6 months-24 years (mean 8.3 years) participated. Forty-four (59.5%) females were in the prenatal diagnosis group. Mean age of postnatal diagnosis was 5.9 years; developmental delay was the most common indication for postnatal genetic testing. Common physical features included hypertelorism, epicanthal folds, clinodactyly, and hypotonia. Medical problems included dental disorders (44.4%), seizure disorders (16.2%), genitourinary malformations (12.2%). The prenatal diagnosis group had higher verbal (P < 0.001), general ability index (P = 0.004), and adaptive functioning scores (P < 0.001). Rates of ADHD (52.2% vs. 45.5%, P = 0.77) and learning disabilities (39.1% vs. 36.3%, P = 1.00) were similar between the two groups. These findings expand on the phenotypic features in females with Triple X syndrome and support that prenatally ascertained females have better cognitive and functional outcomes. However, prenatally diagnosed females are still at risk for neurodevelopmental disorders. Genetic counseling and treatment recommendations are summarized. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A developmental approach to the treatment of bipolar disorder: IPSRT with an adolescent.

PubMed

Crowe, Marie; Inder, Maree; Joyce, Peter; Moor, Stephanie; Carter, Janet; Luty, Sue

2009-01-01

This case study explains how a psychotherapy previously used with adults can be used with adolescents by focusing on the specific developmental issues associated with adolescence. Bipolar disorder is a damaging disorder to experience during the developmental phase of adolescence. Interpersonal social rhythm psychotherapy has been developed as an adjunct to medication for managing bipolar disorder and shows some promising outcomes in adults. This is a single case study design drawn from a larger randomised control trial of two psychotherapies for bipolar disorder. The case study addressed the question: How can Interpersonal social rhythm therapy be applied with adolescents who have bipolar disorder? This study used a purposeful sampling process by selecting the youngest adolescent participating in the randomised control trial. All the subject's sessions of Interpersonal social rhythm therapy were taped, transcribed and analysed. The analysis involved describing the process of psychotherapy as it occurred over time, mapping the process as a trajectory across the three phases of psychotherapy experience and focusing the analysis around the impact of bipolar disorder and IPSRT on adolescent developmental issues, specifically the issue of identity development. Interpersonal social rhythm therapy allowed the therapist to address developmental issues within its framework. As a result of participation in the psychotherapy the adolescent was able to manage her mood symptoms and develop a sense of identity that was age-appropriate. Interpersonal social rhythm therapy provided the adolescent in the case study the opportunity to consider what it meant to have bipolar disorder and to integrate this meaning into her sense of self. Bipolar disorder is a chronic and recurring disorder that can have a serious impact on development and functioning. Interpersonal social rhythm therapy provides an approach to nursing care that enables adolescents to improve social functioning.

How Evolution May Work Through Curiosity-Driven Developmental Process.

PubMed

Oudeyer, Pierre-Yves; Smith, Linda B

2016-04-01

Infants' own activities create and actively select their learning experiences. Here we review recent models of embodied information seeking and curiosity-driven learning and show that these mechanisms have deep implications for development and evolution. We discuss how these mechanisms yield self-organized epigenesis with emergent ordered behavioral and cognitive developmental stages. We describe a robotic experiment that explored the hypothesis that progress in learning, in and for itself, generates intrinsic rewards: The robot learners probabilistically selected experiences according to their potential for reducing uncertainty. In these experiments, curiosity-driven learning led the robot learner to successively discover object affordances and vocal interaction with its peers. We explain how a learning curriculum adapted to the current constraints of the learning system automatically formed, constraining learning and shaping the developmental trajectory. The observed trajectories in the robot experiment share many properties with those in infant development, including a mixture of regularities and diversities in the developmental patterns. Finally, we argue that such emergent developmental structures can guide and constrain evolution, in particular with regard to the origins of language. Copyright © 2016 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Developmental Changes in Learning: Computational Mechanisms and Social Influences

PubMed Central

Bolenz, Florian; Reiter, Andrea M. F.; Eppinger, Ben

2017-01-01

Our ability to learn from the outcomes of our actions and to adapt our decisions accordingly changes over the course of the human lifespan. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in using computational models to understand developmental changes in learning and decision-making. Moreover, extensions of these models are currently applied to study socio-emotional influences on learning in different age groups, a topic that is of great relevance for applications in education and health psychology. In this article, we aim to provide an introduction to basic ideas underlying computational models of reinforcement learning and focus on parameters and model variants that might be of interest to developmental scientists. We then highlight recent attempts to use reinforcement learning models to study the influence of social information on learning across development. The aim of this review is to illustrate how computational models can be applied in developmental science, what they can add to our understanding of developmental mechanisms and how they can be used to bridge the gap between psychological and neurobiological theories of development. PMID:29250006

Effect of Developmental Quotient on Symptoms of Inattention and Impulsivity among Toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matson, Johnny L.; Mahan, Sara; Hess, Julie A.; Fodstad, Jill C.

2010-01-01

The effect of developmental quotient on symptoms of inattention and impulsivity was examined among 198 toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorders. There were two levels of developmental quotient: (1) low (less than or equal to 70; n = 80), and (2) typical (greater than 70; n = 118). Symptoms of inattention and impulsivity were assessed using 14 items…

Stability and Composition of Functional Synergies for Speech Movements in Children with Developmental Speech Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Terband, H.; Maassen, B.; van Lieshout, P.; Nijland, L.

2011-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the consistency and composition of functional synergies for speech movements in children with developmental speech disorders. Kinematic data were collected on the reiterated productions of syllables spa(/spa[image omitted]/) and paas(/pa[image omitted]s/) by 10 6- to 9-year-olds with developmental speech…

An Examination of Specific Child Behavior Problems as Predictors of Parenting Stress among Families of Children with Pervasive Developmental Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis, Allyson L.; Neece, Cameron L.

2017-01-01

Introduction: Studies have shown that parents of children with pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) exhibit higher levels of stress than parents of typically developing children or children with other types of developmental delays (DD). This relationship appears to be mediated by elevated levels of behavior problems observed in children with…

mTOR: A pathogenic signaling pathway in developmental brain malformations.

PubMed

Crino, Peter B

2011-12-01

The mTOR signaling network functions as a pivotal regulatory cascade during the development of the cerebral cortex. Aberrant hyperactivation of mTOR as a consequence of loss-of-function gene mutations encoding mTOR inhibitor proteins such as TSC1, TSC2, PTEN and STRADα has been recently linked to developmental cortical malformations associated with epilepsy and neurobehavioral disabilities. Investigation of mTOR signaling in these disorders provides for the first time exciting future avenues for assessment of biomarkers, patient stratification and prognostic measures as well as the opportunity for targeted therapy to regulate mTOR activity across all age groups. As we learn more about mTOR and its activity in the developing brain, many challenges will arise that must be overcome before widespread clinical therapeutics can be implemented. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Precursors to language development in typically and atypically developing infants and toddlers: the importance of embracing complexity.

PubMed

D'Souza, Dean; D'Souza, Hana; Karmiloff-Smith, Annette

2017-05-01

In order to understand how language abilities emerge in typically and atypically developing infants and toddlers, it is important to embrace complexity in development. In this paper, we describe evidence that early language development is an experience-dependent process, shaped by diverse, interconnected, interdependent developmental mechanisms, processes, and abilities (e.g. statistical learning, sampling, functional specialization, visual attention, social interaction, motor ability). We also present evidence from our studies on neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g. Down syndrome, fragile X syndrome, Williams syndrome) that variations in these factors significantly contribute to language delay. Finally, we discuss how embracing complexity, which involves integrating data from different domains and levels of description across developmental time, may lead to a better understanding of language development and, critically, lead to more effective interventions for cases when language develops atypically.

Establishing a protocol for building a pan-Canadian population-based monitoring system for early childhood development for children with health disorders: Canadian Children’s Health in Context Study (CCHICS)

PubMed Central

Janus, Magdalena; Brownell, Marni; Reid-Westoby, Caroline; Bennett, Teresa; Birken, Catherine; Coplan, Robert; Duku, Eric; Ferro, Mark A; Forer, Barry; Georgiades, Stelios; Gorter, Jan Willem; Guhn, Martin; Maguire, Jonathon L; Manson, Heather; Pei, Jacqueline; Santos, Rob

2018-01-01

Introduction Health disorders early in life have tremendous impact on children’s developmental trajectories. Almost 80% of children with health disorders lack the developmental skills to take full advantage of school-based education relative to 27% of children without a health disorder. In Canada, there is currently a dearth of nationally representative data on the social determinants of early childhood development for children with health disorders. Evidence from Canada and other countries indicate that poorer developmental outcomes in typically developing children are associated with lower socioeconomic status (SES). However, to date, it is not known whether this relationship is stronger among children with health disorders. The study’s objectives are to estimate the prevalence and to investigate social determinants of developmental outcomes for young children with health disorders, using the Early Development Instrument (EDI). Methods and analysis Study objectives will be achieved through three steps. First, using existing EDI data for 10 provinces and 2 territories collected from 2004 to 2015, we will investigate differences in developmental health outcomes among children with identified health disorders. Second, population-level EDI data will be linked with neighbourhood sociodemographic census data to explore associations between socioeconomic characteristics and rates of specific diagnoses among children aged 5–6 years, including trends over time. Third, for 3 of these 12 regions, additional health and/or education databases will be linked at an individual level. These data will be used to establish differences in EDI outcomes in relation to the age-of-onset of diagnosis, and presence of intervention or treatment. Ethics and dissemination Study methodologies have been approved by the Hamilton Integrated Research Ethics Board. The results of the analyses of developmental health outcomes for children with health disorders combined with SES will have implications for both health service delivery and school-based intervention strategies. Results will contribute to a framework for public policy. PMID:29844103

Peer problems mediate the relationship between developmental coordination disorder and behavioral problems in school-aged children.

PubMed

Wagner, Matthias Oliver; Bös, Klaus; Jascenoka, Julia; Jekauc, Darko; Petermann, Franz

2012-01-01

The aim of this study was to gain insights into the relationship between developmental coordination disorder, peer problems, and behavioral problems in school-aged children where both internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems were considered. We assumed that the relationship between developmental coordination disorder and internalizing/externalizing problems in school-aged children is mediated by peer problems and tested the hypothesis that a greater degree of motor impairment causes a greater degree of peer problems and thus a greater degree of internalizing or externalizing problems. Seventy boys and girls aged between 5 and 11 years were examined using the Movement Assessment Battery for Children 2 and the Intelligence and Developmental Scales. The results of path analysis showed that the relationship between developmental coordination disorder and internalizing/externalizing problems in school-aged children is mediated at least in part by peer problems. However, the cross-sectional design of the study does not provide conclusive evidence for a cause-effect relationship and only allows for the conservative prognosis that a greater degree of motor impairment may cause a greater degree of peer problems and thus a greater degree of internalizing/externalizing problems. Nevertheless, the results of this study emphasize the importance of being well-integrated in their peer group especially for children with developmental coordination disorder. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

From emotion resonance to empathic understanding: a social developmental neuroscience account.

PubMed

Decety, Jean; Meyer, Meghan

2008-01-01

The psychological construct of empathy refers to an intersubjective induction process by which positive and negative emotions are shared, without losing sight of whose feelings belong to whom. Empathy can lead to personal distress or to empathic concern (sympathy). The goal of this paper is to address the underlying cognitive processes and their neural underpinnings that constitute empathy within a developmental neuroscience perspective. In addition, we focus on how these processes go awry in developmental disorders marked by impairments in social cognition, such as autism spectrum disorder, and conduct disorder. We argue that empathy involves both bottom-up and top-down information processing, underpinned by specific and interacting neural systems. We discuss data from developmental psychology as well as cognitive neuroscience in support of such a model, and highlight the impact of neural dysfunctions on social cognitive developmental behavior. Altogether, bridging developmental science and cognitive neuroscience helps approach a more complete understanding of social cognition. Synthesizing these two domains also contributes to a better characterization of developmental psychopathologies that impacts the development of effective treatment strategies.

Is Long-Term Prognosis for Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified Different from Prognosis for Autistic Disorder? Findings from a 30-Year Follow-Up Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mordre, Marianne; Groholt, Berit; Knudsen, Ann Kristin; Sponheim, Eili; Mykletun, Arnstein; Myhre, Anne Margrethe

2012-01-01

We followed 74 children with autistic disorder (AD) and 39 children with pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD NOS) for 17-38 years in a record linkage study. Rates of disability pension award, marital status, criminality and mortality were compared between groups. Disability pension award was the only outcome measure that…

Accurate or assumed: visual learning in children with ASD.

PubMed

Trembath, David; Vivanti, Giacomo; Iacono, Teresa; Dissanayake, Cheryl

2015-10-01

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are often described as visual learners. We tested this assumption in an experiment in which 25 children with ASD, 19 children with global developmental delay (GDD), and 17 typically developing (TD) children were presented a series of videos via an eye tracker in which an actor instructed them to manipulate objects in speech-only and speech + pictures conditions. We found no group differences in visual attention to the stimuli. The GDD and TD groups performed better when pictures were available, whereas the ASD group did not. Performance of children with ASD and GDD was positively correlated with visual attention and receptive language. We found no evidence of a prominent visual learning style in the ASD group.

Recent advances in Tourette syndrome research.

PubMed

Albin, Roger L; Mink, Jonathan W

2006-03-01

Tourette syndrome (TS) is a developmentally regulated neurobehavioral disorder characterized by involuntary, stereotyped, repetitive movements. Recent anatomical and neuroimaging studies have provided evidence for abnormal basal ganglia and dopaminergic function in TS. Basic research on striatal inhibitory mechanisms and dopaminergic function complements the recent neuroimaging and anatomical data. Parallel studies of basal ganglia participation in the normal performance and learning of stereotyped repetitive behaviors or habits has provided additional insight. These lines of research have provided new pieces to the TS puzzle, and their increasing convergence is showing how those pieces can be put together.

Gene x Environment Interactions in Reading Disability and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pennington, Bruce F.; McGrath, Lauren M.; Rosenberg, Jenni; Barnard, Holly; Smith, Shelley D.; Willcutt, Erik G.; Friend, Angela; DeFries, John C.; Olson, Richard K.

2009-01-01

This article examines Gene x Environment (G x E) interactions in two comorbid developmental disorders--reading disability (RD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)--as a window on broader issues on G x E interactions in developmental psychology. The authors first briefly review types of G x E interactions, methods for detecting…

Neural Dissociation of Phonological and Visual Attention Span Disorders in Developmental Dyslexia: fMRI Evidence from Two Case Reports

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peyrin, C.; Lallier, M.; Demonet, J. F.; Pernet, C.; Baciu, M.; Le Bas, J. F.; Valdois, S.

2012-01-01

A dissociation between phonological and visual attention (VA) span disorders has been reported in dyslexic children. This study investigates whether this cognitively-based dissociation has a neurobiological counterpart through the investigation of two cases of developmental dyslexia. LL showed a phonological disorder but preserved VA span whereas…

Research on Children & Adolescents with Mental, Behavioral & Developmental Disorders. Mobilizing a National Initiative. Report of a Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Institute of Medicine (NAS), Washington, DC. Div. of Mental Health and Behavioral Medicine.

This report focuses on the 7.5 million children in the United States with diagnosable mental illnesses, examining developmental, behavioral and emotional disorders in this group. Progress being made toward understanding, preventing, and treating these disorders is documented, future directions for research are put forth, and critical resource…

Sensory Symptoms in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Other Developmental Disorders and Typical Development: A Longitudinal Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCormick, Carolyn; Hepburn, Susan; Young, Gregory S.; Rogers, Sally J.

2016-01-01

Sensory symptoms are prevalent in autism spectrum disorder but little is known about the early developmental patterns of these symptoms. This study examined the development of sensory symptoms and the relationship between sensory symptoms and adaptive functioning during early childhood. Three groups of children were followed across three time…

Cross-Cultural Validity of the Social Communication Questionnaire for Adults with Intellectual Developmental Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sappok, Tanja; Brooks, Whitney; Heinrich, Manuel; McCarthy, Jane; Underwood, Lisa

2017-01-01

Diagnosing Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) is important throughout the lifespan. The objective was to investigate the transcultural diagnostic validity of the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) in a clinical sample of 451 adults with Intellectual Developmental Disorder (IDD) with and without ASD in Germany, the U.S.A. and Great Britain.…

Differential Language Markers of Pathology in Autism, Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified and Specific Language Impairment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Demouy, Julie; Plaza, Monique; Xavier, Jean; Ringeval, Fabien; Chetouani, Mohamed; Perisse, Didier; Chauvin, Dominique; Viaux, Sylvie; Golse, Bernard; Cohen, David; Robel, Laurence

2011-01-01

Language impairment is a common core feature in Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD) and Specific Language Impairment (SLI). Many studies have tried to define the specific language profiles of these disorders, some claiming the existence of overlaps, and others conceiving of them as separate categories. Fewer have sought to determine whether…

A Preliminary Study on the Effect of Methylphenidate on Motor Performance in Children with Comorbid DCD and ADHD

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bart, Orit; Podoly, Tamar; Bar-Haim, Yair

2010-01-01

Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) and Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) are two developmental disorders with considerable comorbidity. The impact of Methylphenidate (MPH) on ADHD symptoms is well documented. However, the effects of MPH on motor coordination are less studied. We assessed the influence of MPH on motor performance…

Developmentally Sensitive Diagnostic Criteria for Mental Health Disorders in Early Childhood: The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV, the Research Diagnostic Criteria-Preschool Age, and the Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health and Developmental Disorders of Infancy and Early Childhood-Revised

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Egger, Helen L.; Emde, Robert N.

2011-01-01

As the infant mental health field has turned its focus to the presentation, course, and treatment of clinically significant mental health disorders, the need for reliable and valid criteria for identifying and assessing mental health symptoms and disorders in early childhood has become urgent. In this article we offer a critical perspective on…

Understanding the autistic dental patient.

PubMed

Green, Danielle; Flanagan, Dennis

2008-01-01

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is one of many pervasive developmental disorders (PDD); others include Rett syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder (also known as Heller's syndrome), pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS), and the higher functioning Asperger's syndrome. Because ASD is the most common of the developmental disabilities, it is not unusual for dentists to have ASD patients among their patient population. As the name indicates, ASD varies widely in its clinical manifestations; however, dentists are likely to encounter difficulties with communication and socialization. Although communication may be difficult, it is not impossible. A thorough understanding of this complex neurological disorder and displaying patience are vital for the dentist. This article seeks to familiarize readers with ASD characteristics and co-morbid conditions that may affect dental treatment and provide some management strategies for this unique population.

The Role of Developmental Screening Practices in Early Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders: An Analysis of All-Payer Claims Data in New Hampshire

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Humphreys, Betsy P.

2013-01-01

Universal developmental screening during pediatric well child care detects early delays in development and is a critical gateway to early intervention for young children at risk for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Developmental screening practices are highly variable, and few studies have examined screening utilization for children at risk for…

Child maltreatment syndrome: demographics and developmental issues of inpatient cases.

PubMed

Ngiam, Xin Ying; Kang, Ying Qi; Aishworiya, Ramkumar; Kiing, Jennifer; Law, Evelyn Chung Ning

2015-11-01

This study aimed to describe the demographic, social, developmental and behavioural profile of children hospitalised for alleged child maltreatment syndrome (CMS). This study was a retrospective review of the consecutive inpatient records of children (0-16 years) admitted to the National University Hospital, Singapore, for alleged CMS over a three-year period. Descriptive data on the demographic characteristics, alleged maltreatment, medical and developmental histories, and family background of these children were collected and analysed. Chi-square statistics were used to test whether family factors were associated with the type of maltreatment and the presence of developmental disorders. A total of 89 children, who accounted for 90 admission cases, were studied. Physical abuse (70.0%) was the most common, followed by neglect (11.1%) and sexual abuse (7.8%). Child protection services had already been involved in 29.2% of the cases prior to the child's admission. Children who were victims of abuse were more likely to come from homes with a prior history of domestic violence (p = 0.028). Financial difficulty was found to be a risk factor for neglect (p = 0.005). Among the 89 children, 15.7% were found to have developmental disorders and 10.1% had mental health diagnoses. Children who had developmental disorders were more likely to have a parent with a mental health disorder (p = 0.002). A sizeable proportion of the children admitted for alleged CMS had developmental or behavioural disorders. Clinicians have a role in ensuring that these children have appropriate follow-up plans. Children from high-risk families should be screened for maltreatment.

Child maltreatment syndrome: demographics and developmental issues of inpatient cases

PubMed Central

Ngiam, Xin Ying; Kang, Ying Qi; Aishworiya, Ramkumar; Kiing, Jennifer; Law, Evelyn Chung Ning

2015-01-01

INTRODUCTION This study aimed to describe the demographic, social, developmental and behavioural profile of children hospitalised for alleged child maltreatment syndrome (CMS). METHODS This study was a retrospective review of the consecutive inpatient records of children (0–16 years) admitted to the National University Hospital, Singapore, for alleged CMS over a three-year period. Descriptive data on the demographic characteristics, alleged maltreatment, medical and developmental histories, and family background of these children were collected and analysed. Chi-square statistics were used to test whether family factors were associated with the type of maltreatment and the presence of developmental disorders. RESULTS A total of 89 children, who accounted for 90 admission cases, were studied. Physical abuse (70.0%) was the most common, followed by neglect (11.1%) and sexual abuse (7.8%). Child protection services had already been involved in 29.2% of the cases prior to the child’s admission. Children who were victims of abuse were more likely to come from homes with a prior history of domestic violence (p = 0.028). Financial difficulty was found to be a risk factor for neglect (p = 0.005). Among the 89 children, 15.7% were found to have developmental disorders and 10.1% had mental health diagnoses. Children who had developmental disorders were more likely to have a parent with a mental health disorder (p = 0.002). CONCLUSION A sizeable proportion of the children admitted for alleged CMS had developmental or behavioural disorders. Clinicians have a role in ensuring that these children have appropriate follow-up plans. Children from high-risk families should be screened for maltreatment. PMID:26668405

Why Are There Developmental Stages in Language Learning? A Developmental Robotics Model of Language Development.

PubMed

Morse, Anthony F; Cangelosi, Angelo

2017-02-01

Most theories of learning would predict a gradual acquisition and refinement of skills as learning progresses, and while some highlight exponential growth, this fails to explain why natural cognitive development typically progresses in stages. Models that do span multiple developmental stages typically have parameters to "switch" between stages. We argue that by taking an embodied view, the interaction between learning mechanisms, the resulting behavior of the agent, and the opportunities for learning that the environment provides can account for the stage-wise development of cognitive abilities. We summarize work relevant to this hypothesis and suggest two simple mechanisms that account for some developmental transitions: neural readiness focuses on changes in the neural substrate resulting from ongoing learning, and perceptual readiness focuses on the perceptual requirements for learning new tasks. Previous work has demonstrated these mechanisms in replications of a wide variety of infant language experiments, spanning multiple developmental stages. Here we piece this work together as a single model of ongoing learning with no parameter changes at all. The model, an instance of the Epigenetic Robotics Architecture (Morse et al 2010) embodied on the iCub humanoid robot, exhibits ongoing multi-stage development while learning pre-linguistic and then basic language skills. Copyright © 2016 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Metabolic correlates of learning disability.

PubMed

Nyhan, W L; Wulfeck, B B; Tallal, P; Marsden, D L

1989-01-01

To summarize, the neuropsychologic findings in MSUD and MMA children in both groups demonstrated deficits in cognitive/language areas, but interesting individual differences existed. For example, a marked contrast in abilities existed between NT and GV, even taking into account the age difference between these children with MSUD. While NT's general intellectual functioning was within the low-average range, GV was severely impaired. In more specific areas of cognitive functioning, NT had an uneven performance profile with areas of strengths and weaknesses, while GV evidenced a flat profile with significant impairment in all areas. NT demonstrated mild delay in visual-spatial processing, articulation development, motor-speech abilities, and selective attention and concentration; however, his language and psychosocial development were within the broad range of normality. In contrast, GV exhibited severe dysfunction in speech, language, and perceptual/conceptual development. The three children with MMA also exhibited a range of disabilities in cognitive functioning. TJ and SH contrasted in the degree of developmental delay across language and cognitive domains. Both were distractible and exhibited very short attention spans but there was a measurable difference in the extent of their speech, language, visual-spatial development. CH was markedly delayed in all areas of cognitive development, which is consistent with global retardation. The severity of her disease and its probable impact on brain development were undoubtedly related to her intellectual impairment. These datasets illustrate the challenges we face, because within each group we see a range of impairment. Nevertheless, we are optimistic that our efforts to relate metabolic, anatomic and neuropsychologic findings for such children will lead to a better understanding of these disorders. We are hopeful that this will result in new advances in diagnosis and intervention, which will ultimately improve the prognosis for cognitive development. In summary, a multidisciplinary center has been established at UCSD to study the neurologic basis of disorders of language, learning and behavior in infants and children. The center draws together a group of researchers from many fields including neurology, biochemistry, pediatrics, cognitive and developmental neuropsychology, psycholinguistics, neurophysiology and communicative disorders. Because of the diverse interests and expertise of our group, it is hoped to forge a synthesis of the behavioral and neurosciences to study populations of children with a variety of neurologic, metabolic, and language/learning disorders. Disorders currently under study include Lesch-Nyhan disease, oculocutaneous tyrosinemia, propionic acidemia, carnitine palmityl transferase deficiency, Schwachman-Diamond syndrome, histidinemia, Hartnup disease, citrullinemia, galactosemia, maple syrup urine disease, and methylmalonic acidemia.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Blueprint for Incorporating Service Learning: A Basic, Developmental, K-12 Service Learning Typology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Terry, Alice W.; Bohnenberger, Jann E.

2004-01-01

Citing the need for a basic, K-12 developmental framework for service learning, this article describes such a model. This model, an inclusive typology of service learning, distinguishes three levels of service learning: Community Service, Community Exploration, and Community Action. The authors correlate this typology to Piaget's cognitive…

Need For Long-Term Care in Children is Increasingly Caused by Disorders of Psychological Development. Changes in the Care Causing Diagnoses According to German Social Code (SGB XI) Between 2009-2014.

PubMed

Beck-Ripp, Julia Christiane; Dressel, Holger

2018-05-22

There is an ongoing discussion on the increasing number of children with mental and developmental disorders, with some even needing long-term care according to the German Social Code XI. This study was performed to identify the main diagnoses justifying such care in children and to analyse their prevalence over time. The diagnoses justifying long-term care were evaluated using care assessments of Bavarian children and adolescents between 2009 to 2014 by the medical service of statutory health insurance. Over the years investigated, the percentage of assessments due to a mental and behavioural disorder rose significantly from 36.2 to 42.2%. Since 2012, the most common diagnose changed from Down's syndrome to pervasive developmental disorders with marked increase of also mixed specific developmental disorders. In new applications for nursing insurance services the proportion of pervasive developmental disorders rose gradually from 151 in 2010 to 254 in 2014. During the whole period of time, the overall care dependency in children seemed to be stable. These observations might rather be influenced by altered awareness of health and illness, increasing readiness to seek help with psychological or developmental impairments as well as changed diagnostic criteria than by a steady increase in affected individuals. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Developmental Diversity in the Academic Language-Learning Experiences of Adult English as a Second or Other Language Learners: A Constructive-Developmental Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ouellette-Schramm, Jennifer R.

2016-01-01

Academic language is a challenging yet increasingly important skill for Adult Basic Education/English as a Second or Other Language learners. Related to academic language learning is an adult's developmental perspective. Developmental perspectives have been shown to vary in adulthood and shape qualitatively distinct ways of reasoning and learning…

Mechanism of Developmental Change in the PLAY Project Home Consultation Program: Evidence from a Randomized Control Trial.

PubMed

Mahoney, Gerald; Solomon, Richard

2016-05-01

This investigation is a secondary analysis of data from a randomized control trial of the PLAY Home Consultation Intervention Program which was conducted with 112 preschool children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and their parents (Solomon et al. in J Dev Behav Pediatr 35:475-485, 2014). Subjects were randomly assigned to either a community standard (CS) treatment group or to the PLAY Project plus CS Treatment (PLAY). PLAY subjects received monthly parent-child intervention sessions for 1 year during which parents learned how to use the rationale and interactive strategies of the Developmental, Individual-differences, Relationship-based (DIR) intervention model (Greenspan and Weider in The child with special needs: encouraging intellectual and emotional growth. DeCapo Press, Cambridge, MA, 1998) to engage in more responsive, affective and less directive interactions with their children. This investigation examined whether PLAY intervention effects on parents' style of interacting with their children as well as on children's social engagement mediated the effects of PLAY on children's autism severity as measured by ADOS calibrated severity scores. Regression procedures were used to test for mediation. There were two main findings. First the effects of PLAY on children's social engagement were mediated by the increases in parental responsiveness and affect that were promoted by PLAY. Second, the effects of PLAY on the severity children's Social Affect disorders were mediated by changes in parental responsiveness and affect; however, the effects of Responsive/Affect were mediated by the impact these variables had on children's social engagement. Results are discussed in terms of contemporary models of developmental change including the developmental change model that is the foundation for DIR.

The importance of physician knowledge of autism spectrum disorder: results of a parent survey.

PubMed

Rhoades, Rachel A; Scarpa, Angela; Salley, Brenda

2007-11-20

Early diagnosis and referral to treatment prior to age 3-5 years improves the prognosis of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). However, ASD is often not diagnosed until age 3-4 years, and medical providers may lack training to offer caregivers evidence-based treatment recommendations. This study tested hypotheses that 1) children with ASD would be diagnosed between ages 3-4 years (replicating prior work), 2) caregivers would receive little information beyond the diagnosis from their medical providers, and 3) caregivers would turn to other sources, outside of their local health care professionals, to learn more about ASD. 146 ASD caregivers responded to an online survey that consisted of questions about demographics, the diagnostic process, sources of information/support, and the need and availability of local services for ASDs. Hypotheses were tested using descriptives, regression analyses, analyses of variance, and chi-squared. The average age of diagnosis was 4 years, 10 months and the mode was 3 years. While approximately 40% of professionals gave additional information about ASD after diagnosis and 15-34% gave advice on medical/educational programs, only 6% referred to an autism specialist and 18% gave no further information. The diagnosis of Autism was made at earlier ages than Asperger's Disorder or PDD-NOS. Developmental pediatricians (relative to psychiatrists/primary care physicians, neurologists, and psychologists) were associated with the lowest age of diagnosis and were most likely to distribute additional information. Caregivers most often reported turning to the media (i.e., internet, books, videos), conferences, and other parents to learn more about ASD. The average age of ASD diagnosis (4 years, 10 months) was later than optimal if children are to receive the most benefit from early intervention. Most professionals gave caregivers further information about ASDs, especially developmental pediatricians, but a sizeable minority did not. This may reflect a lack of training in the wide range of behaviors that occur across the autism spectrum. Parents turned to outside sources to learn more about ASD. We recommend that all physicians receive specialized training about ASDs to improve upon early screening and diagnosis, and then advise caregivers about empirically-supported services.

Social Skills Groups for Asperger’s Disorder and Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified

PubMed Central

2008-01-01

Pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) including Asperger’s disorder are relatively rare conditions that can be very disabling for individuals affected. This article focuses on social skills therapy, looking at research that has been completed in a group therapy format and then using composite case examples to review basic techniques that have been used to teach social skills to children with a diagnosis of PDD. PMID:19727303

Development in Children and Adolescents Whose Mothers Have Borderline Personality Disorder

PubMed Central

2009-01-01

A mother's mental illness may have a profound effect on her child's development, including an increased risk of the child developing the same disorder. From a developmental psychopathology perspective, offspring provide an opportunity to examine pathways to disorder versus resilience. Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a severe disorder diagnosed in early adulthood involving stormy relationships, an unstable sense of identity, and self-destructive behavior. Interestingly, the domains of dysfunction are conceptually similar to developmental tasks in early childhood reworked in adolescence: attachment, self development, and self-regulation. Early deviation may increase the risk for later disorder. There are five empirical studies of children whose mothers have BPD, two conducted from a developmental perspective. This article proposes a theoretical framework and an innovative methodology with which to extend this research, and suggests an intervention to bring development back on track if necessary. PMID:20161670

Cross-Modal Binding in Developmental Dyslexia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Manon W.; Branigan, Holly P.; Parra, Mario A.; Logie, Robert H.

2013-01-01

The ability to learn visual-phonological associations is a unique predictor of word reading, and individuals with developmental dyslexia show impaired ability in learning these associations. In this study, we compared developmentally dyslexic and nondyslexic adults on their ability to form cross-modal associations (or "bindings") based…

Research in Developmental Writing Courses and Implications for Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sabrio, David; Burchfield, Mitchel

2007-01-01

This article briefly surveys the literature on ways that developmental writing students learn; reports on student learning style research carried out in developmental writing classrooms at Texas A&M University-Kingsville and Southwest Texas Junior College, using the "Productivity Environmental Preference Survey"; suggests specific…

Crisis on campus: Eating disorder intervention from a developmental-ecological perspective.

PubMed

Taylor, Julia V; Gibson, Donna M

2016-01-01

The purpose of this article is to review a crisis intervention using the developmental-ecological protocol (Collins and Collins, 2005) with a college student presenting with symptomatology of an active eating disorder. Participants included University Wellness Center employees responding to the crisis. Methods include an informal review of the crisis intervention response and application of the ABCDE developmental-ecological crisis model. Results reported include insight into crisis intervention when university counseling and health center is not available as resources. ABCDE Developmental-ecological model recommendations for university faculty and staff are included.

Non-ASD outcomes at 36 months in siblings at familial risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD): A baby siblings research consortium (BSRC) study.

PubMed

Charman, Tony; Young, Gregory S; Brian, Jessica; Carter, Alice; Carver, Leslie J; Chawarska, Katarzyna; Curtin, Suzanne; Dobkins, Karen; Elsabbagh, Mayada; Georgiades, Stelios; Hertz-Picciotto, Irva; Hutman, Ted; Iverson, Jana M; Jones, Emily J; Landa, Rebecca; Macari, Suzanne; Messinger, Daniel S; Nelson, Charles A; Ozonoff, Sally; Saulnier, Celine; Stone, Wendy L; Tager-Flusberg, Helen; Webb, Sara Jane; Yirmiya, Nurit; Zwaigenbaum, Lonnie

2017-01-01

We characterized developmental outcomes of a large sample of siblings at familial high-risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), who themselves did not have ASD (n = 859), and low-risk controls with no family history of ASD (n = 473). We report outcomes at age 3 years using the Mullen Scales of Early Learning, the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS), the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) and adaptive functioning on the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales. Around 11% of high-risk siblings had mild-to-moderate levels of developmental delay, a rate higher than the low-risk controls. The groups did not differ in the proportion of toddlers with mild-to-moderate language delay. Thirty percent of high-risk siblings had elevated scores on the ADOS, double the rate seen in the low-risk controls. High-risk siblings also had higher parent reported levels of ASD symptoms on the ADI-R and lower adaptive functioning on the Vineland. Males were more likely to show higher levels of ASD symptoms and lower levels of developmental ability and adaptive behavior than females across most measures but not mild-to-moderate language delay. Lower maternal education was associated with lower developmental and adaptive behavior outcomes. These findings are evidence for early emerging characteristics related to the "broader autism phenotype" (BAP) previously described in older family members of individuals with ASD. There is a need for ongoing clinical monitoring of high-risk siblings who do not have an ASD by age 3 years, as well as continued follow-up into school age to determine their developmental and behavioral outcomes. Autism Res 2017, 10: 169-178. © 2016 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Deficient saccadic inhibition in Asperger's disorder and the social-emotional processing disorder

PubMed Central

Manoach, D; Lindgren, K; Barton, J

2004-01-01

Background: Both Asperger's disorder and the social-emotional processing disorder (SEPD), a form of non-verbal learning disability, are associated with executive function deficits. SEPD has been shown to be associated with deficient saccadic inhibition. Objective: To study two executive functions in Asperger's disorder and SEPD, inhibition and task switching, using a single saccadic paradigm. Methods: 22 control subjects and 27 subjects with developmental social processing disorders—SEPD, Asperger's disorder, or both syndromes—performed random sequences of prosaccades and antisaccades. This design resulted in four trial types, prosaccades and antisaccades, that were either repeated or switched. The design allowed the performance costs of inhibition and task switching to be isolated. Results: Subjects with both Asperger's disorder and SEPD showed deficient inhibition, as indicated by increased antisaccade errors and a disproportionate increase in latency for antisaccades relative to prosaccades. In contrast, task switching error and latency costs were normal and unrelated to the costs of inhibition. Conclusions: This study replicates the finding of deficient saccadic inhibition in SEPD, extends it to Asperger's disorder, and implicates prefrontal cortex dysfunction in these syndromes. The finding of intact task switching shows that executive function deficits in Asperger's disorder and SEPD are selective and suggests that inhibition and task switching are mediated by distinct neural networks. PMID:15548490

The Evolution of Neuroimaging Research and Developmental Language Disorders.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lane, Angela B.; Foundas, Anne L.; Leonard, Christiana M.

2001-01-01

This article reviews current neuroimaging literature, including computer tomography, positron emission tomography, single photon emission spectroscopy, and magnetic resonance imaging, on individuals with developmental language disorders. The review suggests a complicated relationship between cortical morphometry and language development that is…

Examining the relationships between attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and developmental coordination disorder symptoms, and writing performance in Japanese second grade students.

PubMed

Noda, Wataru; Ito, Hiroyuki; Fujita, Chikako; Ohnishi, Masafumi; Takayanagi, Nobuya; Someki, Fumio; Nakajima, Syunji; Ohtake, Satoko; Mochizuki, Naoto; Tsujii, Masatsugu

2013-09-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and developmental coordination disorder symptoms and writing performance in Japanese second grade students from regular classrooms. The second grade students (N=873) in Japanese public elementary schools participated in this study. We examined a variety of writing tasks, such as tracing, copying, handwriting (Hiragana and Katakana), and spelling (Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji). We employed the Japanese version of the home form ADHD-rating scale (ADHD-RS) and the Japanese version of the Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire (DCDQ-J) to assess the developmental characteristics of the participating children. Seven writing performance scores were submitted to a principal component analysis with a promax rotation, which yielded three composite scores (Spelling Accuracy, Tracing and Copying Accuracy, and Handwriting Fluency). A multiple regression analysis found that inattention predicted Spelling Accuracy and Handwriting Fluency and that hyperactive-impulsive predicted Handwriting Fluency. In addition, fine motor ability predicted Tracing and Copying Accuracy. The current study offered empirical evidence suggesting that developmental characteristics such as inattention and fine motor skill are related to writing difficulties in Japanese typical developing children. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pervasive Developmental Disorders in Individuals with Cerebral Palsy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kilincaslan, Ayse; Mukaddes, Nahit Motavalli

2009-01-01

The aim of the present study was to describe the prevalence and associated factors of pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), including autistic disorder and PDD not otherwise specified (NOS), in a clinical sample of 126 children and adolescents (75 males, 51 females; age range 4-18y, mean 8y 8mo, SD 3y 8mo) with tetraplegic, hemiplegic,…

The Perception of Substance Use Disorder among Clinicians, Caregivers and Family Members of Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

VanDerNagel, Joanne E. L.; van Duijvenbode, Neomi; Ruedrich, Stephen; Ayu, Astri P.; Schellekens, Arnt F. A.

2018-01-01

Introduction: Substance use disorders (SUD) are common among individuals with intellectual and developmental disorders (IDD). The quality of care individuals with these conditions receive can be affected by perceptions and attributions of SUD among clinicians, professional caregivers, and family members. The aim of this study was to explore such…

Mothers of Children with Developmental Disorders in the Bedouin Community in Israel: Family Functioning, Caregiver Burden, and Coping Abilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Manor-Binyamini, Iris

2011-01-01

This preliminary study compares the family functioning, caregiver burden, and coping abilities between mothers of 300 children with developmental disorders and mothers of 100 children with no such disorders in the Bedouin community in Israel. The mothers completed the McMaster Family Assessment Device Scale, the Caregiver Burden Index, and the…

Effects of Methylphenidate on Quality of Life in Children with Both Developmental Coordination Disorder and ADHD

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flapper, Boudien C. T.; Schoemaker, Marina M

2008-01-01

Measurement of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) gives a more complete picture of day-to-day functioning and treatment effects than behavioural rating alone. The aim of this pilot study was to investigate the impact of the combined diagnoses of developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and…

Locus of Control Fails to Mediate between Stress and Anxiety and Depression in Parents of Children with a Developmental Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hamlyn-Wright, Sarah; Draghi-Lorenz, Riccardo; Ellis, Jason

2007-01-01

Stress, anxiety and depression are raised amongst parents of children with a developmental disorder. However, the processes by which stress leads to depression and anxiety are poorly understood. In a cross-sectional survey, levels of parental stress, depression and anxiety were compared between parents of children with an autistic disorder,…

Developmental Trajectories of Positive and Negative Affect in Children at High and Low Familial Risk for Depressive Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olino, Thomas M.; Lopez-Duran, Nestor L.; Kovacs, Maria; George, Charles J.; Gentzler, Amy L.; Shaw, Daniel S.

2011-01-01

Background: Although low positive affect (PA) and high negative affect (NA) have been posited to predispose to depressive disorders, little is known about the developmental trajectories of these affects in children at familial risk for mood disorders. Methods: We examined 202 offspring of mothers who had a history of juvenile-onset unipolar…

Accuracy of "Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers" ("M-CHAT") in Detecting Autism and Other Developmental Disorders in Community Clinics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Toh, Teck-Hock; Tan, Vivian Wee-Yen; Lau, Peter Sie-Teck; Kiyu, Andrew

2018-01-01

This study determined the accuracy of "Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers" ("M-CHAT") in detecting toddlers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other developmental disorders (DD) in community mother and child health clinics. We analysed 19,297 eligible toddlers (15-36 months) who had "M-CHAT" performed in…

Development of the uncinate fasciculus: Implications for theory and developmental disorders.

PubMed

Olson, Ingrid R; Von Der Heide, Rebecca J; Alm, Kylie H; Vyas, Govinda

2015-08-01

The uncinate fasciculus (UF) is a long-range white matter tract that connects limbic regions in the temporal lobe to the frontal lobe. The UF is one of the latest developing tracts, and continues maturing into the third decade of life. As such, individual differences in the maturational profile of the UF may serve to explain differences in behavior. Indeed, atypical macrostructure and microstructure of the UF have been reported in numerous studies of individuals with developmental and psychiatric disorders such as social deprivation and maltreatment, autism spectrum disorders, conduct disorder, risk taking, and substance abuse. The present review evaluates what we currently know about the UF's developmental trajectory and reviews the literature relating UF abnormalities to specific disorders. Additionally, we take a dimensional approach and critically examine symptoms and behavioral impairments that have been demonstrated to cluster with UF aberrations, in an effort to relate these impairments to our speculations regarding the functionality of the UF. We suggest that developmental disorders with core problems relating to memory retrieval, reward and valuation computation, and impulsive decision making may be linked to aberrations in uncinate microstructure. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Early developmental characteristics and features of major depressive disorder among child psychiatric patients in Hungary.

PubMed

Kapornai, Krisztina; Gentzler, Amy L; Tepper, Ping; Kiss, Eniko; Mayer, László; Tamás, Zsuzsanna; Kovacs, Maria; Vetró, Agnes

2007-06-01

We investigate the relations of early atypical characteristics (perinatal problems, developmental delay, and difficult temperament) and onset-age (as well as severity of) first major depressive disorder (MDD) and first internalizing disorder in a clinical sample of depressed children in Hungary. Participants were 371 children (ages 7-14) with MDD, and their biological mothers, recruited through multiple clinical sites. Diagnoses (via DSM-IV criteria) and onset dates of disorders were finalized "best estimate" psychiatrists, and based on multiple information sources. Mothers provided developmental data in a structured interview. Difficult temperament predicted earlier onset of MDD and first internalizing disorder, but its effect was ameliorated if the family was intact during early childhood. Further, the importance of difficult temperament decreased as a function of time. Perinatal problems and developmental delay did not impact onset ages of disorders, and none of the early childhood characteristics associated with MDD episode severity. Children with MDD may have added disadvantage of earlier onset if they had a difficult temperament in infancy. Because early temperament mirrors physiological reactivity and regulatory capacity, it can affect various areas of functioning related to psychopathology. Early caregiver stability may attenuate some adverse effects of difficult infant temperament.

Exploring the Impact of Learning Communities at a Community College: An Effort to Support Students Enrolled in a Developmental Math Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

VonHandorf, Teri A.

2012-01-01

The purpose of this mixed-methods participatory action research study was to explore the impact of learning communities on students enrolled in the lowest level of developmental math at a two-year college. The learning community consisted of twenty-three students who were enrolled in both a student success course (GEN102) and a developmental math…

Speech Perception and Short Term Memory Deficits in Persistent Developmental Speech Disorder

PubMed Central

Kenney, Mary Kay; Barac-Cikoja, Dragana; Finnegan, Kimberly; Jeffries, Neal; Ludlow, Christy L.

2008-01-01

Children with developmental speech disorders may have additional deficits in speech perception and/or short-term memory. To determine whether these are only transient developmental delays that can accompany the disorder in childhood or persist as part of the speech disorder, adults with a persistent familial speech disorder were tested on speech perception and short-term memory. Nine adults with a persistent familial developmental speech disorder without language impairment were compared with 20 controls on tasks requiring the discrimination of fine acoustic cues for word identification and on measures of verbal and nonverbal short-term memory. Significant group differences were found in the slopes of the discrimination curves for first formant transitions for word identification with stop gaps of 40 and 20 ms with effect sizes of 1.60 and 1.56. Significant group differences also occurred on tests of nonverbal rhythm and tonal memory, and verbal short-term memory with effect sizes of 2.38, 1.56 and 1.73. No group differences occurred in the use of stop gap durations for word identification. Because frequency-based speech perception and short-term verbal and nonverbal memory deficits both persisted into adulthood in the speech-impaired adults, these deficits may be involved in the persistence of speech disorders without language impairment. PMID:15896836

Pre- and/or postnatal protein restriction in rats impairs learning and motivation in male offspring.

PubMed

Reyes-Castro, L A; Rodriguez, J S; Rodríguez-González, G L; Wimmer, R D; McDonald, T J; Larrea, F; Nathanielsz, P W; Zambrano, E

2011-04-01

Suboptimal developmental environments program offspring to lifelong health complications including affective and cognitive disorders. Little is known about the effects of suboptimal intra-uterine environments on associative learning and motivational behavior. We hypothesized that maternal isocaloric low protein diet during pregnancy and lactation would impair offspring associative learning and motivation as measured by operant conditioning and the progressive ratio task, respectively. Control mothers were fed 20% casein (C) and restricted mothers (R) 10% casein to provide four groups: CC, RR, CR, and RC (first letter pregnancy diet and second letter lactation diet), to evaluate effects of maternal diet on male offspring behavior. Impaired learning was observed during fixed ratio-1 operant conditioning in RC offspring that required more sessions to learn vs. the CC offspring (9.4±0.8 and 3.8±0.3 sessions, respectively, p<0.05). Performance in fixed ratio-5 conditioning showed the RR (5.4±1.1), CR (4.0±0.8), and RC (5.0±0.8) offspring required more sessions to reach performance criterion than CC offspring (2.5±0.5, p<0.05). Furthermore, motivational effects during the progressive ratio test revealed less responding in the RR (48.1±17), CR (74.7±8.4), and RC (65.9±11.2) for positive reinforcement vs. the CC offspring (131.5±7.5, p<0.05). These findings demonstrate negative developmental programming effects due to perinatal isocaloric low protein diet on learning and motivation behavior with the nutritional challenge in the prenatal period showing more vulnerability in offspring behavior. Copyright © 2010 ISDN. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Implicit Learning Deficits among Adults with Developmental Dyslexia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kahta, Shani; Schiff, Rachel

2016-01-01

The aim of the present study was to investigate implicit learning processes among adults with developmental dyslexia (DD) using a visual linguistic artificial grammar learning (AGL) task. Specifically, it was designed to explore whether the intact learning reported in previous studies would also occur under conditions including minimal training…

Changes in Visual Object Recognition Precede the Shape Bias in Early Noun Learning

PubMed Central

Yee, Meagan; Jones, Susan S.; Smith, Linda B.

2012-01-01

Two of the most formidable skills that characterize human beings are language and our prowess in visual object recognition. They may also be developmentally intertwined. Two experiments, a large sample cross-sectional study and a smaller sample 6-month longitudinal study of 18- to 24-month-olds, tested a hypothesized developmental link between changes in visual object representation and noun learning. Previous findings in visual object recognition indicate that children’s ability to recognize common basic level categories from sparse structural shape representations of object shape emerges between the ages of 18 and 24 months, is related to noun vocabulary size, and is lacking in children with language delay. Other research shows in artificial noun learning tasks that during this same developmental period, young children systematically generalize object names by shape, that this shape bias predicts future noun learning, and is lacking in children with language delay. The two experiments examine the developmental relation between visual object recognition and the shape bias for the first time. The results show that developmental changes in visual object recognition systematically precede the emergence of the shape bias. The results suggest a developmental pathway in which early changes in visual object recognition that are themselves linked to category learning enable the discovery of higher-order regularities in category structure and thus the shape bias in novel noun learning tasks. The proposed developmental pathway has implications for understanding the role of specific experience in the development of both visual object recognition and the shape bias in early noun learning. PMID:23227015

Integrating genetic and toxicogenomic information for determining underlying susceptibility to developmental disorders.

PubMed

Robinson, Joshua F; Port, Jesse A; Yu, Xiaozhong; Faustman, Elaine M

2010-10-01

To understand the complex etiology of developmental disorders, an understanding of both genetic and environmental risk factors is needed. Human and rodent genetic studies have identified a multitude of gene candidates for specific developmental disorders such as neural tube defects (NTDs). With the emergence of toxicogenomic-based assessments, scientists now also have the ability to compare and understand the expression of thousands of genes simultaneously across strain, time, and exposure in developmental models. Using a systems-based approach in which we are able to evaluate information from various parts and levels of the developing organism, we propose a framework for integrating genetic information with toxicogenomic-based studies to better understand gene-environmental interactions critical for developmental disorders. This approach has allowed us to characterize candidate genes in the context of variables critical for determining susceptibility such as strain, time, and exposure. Using a combination of toxicogenomic studies and complementary bioinformatic tools, we characterize NTD candidate genes during normal development by function (gene ontology), linked phenotype (disease outcome), location, and expression (temporally and strain-dependent). In addition, we show how environmental exposures (cadmium, methylmercury) can influence expression of these genes in a strain-dependent manner. Using NTDs as an example of developmental disorder, we show how simple integration of genetic information from previous studies into the standard microarray design can enhance analysis of gene-environment interactions to better define environmental exposure-disease pathways in sensitive and resistant mouse strains. © Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Lessons learned while developing, adapting and implementing a pilot parent-mediated behavioural intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder in rural Bangladesh.

PubMed

Blake, Jasmine M; Rubenstein, Eric; Tsai, Peng-Chou; Rahman, Hafizur; Rieth, Sarah R; Ali, Hasmot; Lee, Li-Ching

2017-07-01

Low- and middle-income countries often have limited resources, underdeveloped health systems and scarce knowledge of autism spectrum disorder. The objectives of this preliminary study were to develop and adapt intervention materials and to train a native clinician to implement a community-based parent-mediated behavioural intervention in rural Gaibandha, Bangladesh. Intervention materials to support parents' use of behavioural strategies were developed and refined by US behavioural intervention experts and Bangladesh field experts. Study investigators trained a native child psychologist in developmental milestones and behavioural intervention techniques. The native clinician delivered a 1-day group education session attended by 10 families of children aged 7-9 years with autism spectrum disorder, followed by two one-on-one training sessions with each family to train and practice individualized strategies for targeted challenging behaviours. Preliminary qualitative results indicate the importance of materials that are culturally appropriate and at an adequate literacy level. All families expressed strong desires to have learned the behavioural strategies when their child was younger and vocalized their need for further support and tools to help their children. This study is a preliminary step to creating sustainable and low-cost autism spectrum disorder interventions in rural Bangladesh, and possibly for families in regions with similar cultural and socioeconomic status backgrounds.

Cyber "Pokes": Motivational Antidote for Developmental College Readers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bowers-Campbell, Joy

2008-01-01

Difficulties characterizing developmental college students are reviewed within the context of motivational theories of learning. The author highlights problems of low self-efficacy and inadequate self-regulated learning for developmental college students. The author argues that the use of Facebook, a widely-used social networking technology, may…

Developmental psychopathology: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

PubMed Central

Schmidt, Sören; Petermann, Franz

2009-01-01

Background Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), formerly regarded as a typical childhood disorder, is now known as a developmental disorder persisting over the lifespan. Starting in preschool-age, symptoms vary depending on the age group affected. Method According to the variability of ADHD-symptoms and the heterogeneity of comorbid psychiatric disorders, a broad review of recent studies was performed. These findings were summarized in a developmental psychopathological model, documenting relevant facts on a timeline. Results Based on a genetic disposition and a neuropsychological deregulation, there is evidence for factors which persist across the lifespan, change age-dependently, or show validity in a specific developmental phase. Qualitative changes can be found for children in preschool-age and adults. Conclusion These differences have implications for clinical practice as they can be used for prevention, diagnostic proceedings, and therapeutic intervention as well as for planning future studies. The present article is a translated and modified version of the German article "Entwicklungspsychopathologie der ADHS", published in Zeitschrift für Psychiatrie, Psychologie und Psychotherapie, 56, 2008, S. 265-274. PMID:19761584

Differences in adjustment by child developmental stage among caregivers of children with disorders of sex development

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background The current study sought to compare levels of overprotection and parenting stress reported by caregivers of children with disorders of sex development at four different developmental stages. Methods Caregivers (N = 59) of children with disorders of sex development were recruited from specialty clinics and were asked to complete the Parent Protection Scale and Parenting Stress Index/Short Form as measures of overprotective behaviors and parenting stress, respectively. Results Analyses of covariance (ANCOVAs) were conducted to examine differences between caregiver report of overprotection and parenting stress. Results revealed that caregivers of infants and toddlers exhibited more overprotective behaviors than caregivers of children in the other age groups. Further, caregivers of adolescents experienced significantly more parenting stress than caregivers of school-age children, and this effect was driven by personal distress and problematic parent-child interactions, rather than having a difficult child. Conclusions These results suggest that caregivers of children with disorders of sex development may have different psychosocial needs based upon their child's developmental stage and based upon the disorder-related challenges that are most salient at that developmental stage. PMID:22074416

Study to Determine Whether There Are Any Cognitive or Motor Effects From Taking the Medicine Risperidone.

ClinicalTrials.gov

2016-06-21

Oppositional Defiant Disorder; Conduct Disorder; Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD); Intermittent Explosive Disorder; Impulse-Control Disorders; Adjustment Disorder; Bipolar Disorder; Pervasive Developmental Disorder

Practitioner Review: Multilingualism and neurodevelopmental disorders - an overview of recent research and discussion of clinical implications.

PubMed

Uljarević, Mirko; Katsos, Napoleon; Hudry, Kristelle; Gibson, Jenny L

2016-11-01

Language and communication skills are essential aspects of child development, which are often disrupted in children with neurodevelopmental disorders. Cutting edge research in psycholinguistics suggests that multilingualism has potential to influence social, linguistic and cognitive development. Thus, multilingualism has implications for clinical assessment, diagnostic formulation, intervention and support offered to families. We present a systematic review and synthesis of the effects of multilingualism for children with neurodevelopmental disorders and discuss clinical implications. We conducted systematic searches for studies on multilingualism in neurodevelopmental disorders. Keywords for neurodevelopmental disorders were based on Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition categories as follows; Intellectual Disabilities, Communication Disorders, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Specific Learning Disorder, Motor Disorders, Other Neurodevelopmental Disorders. We included only studies based on empirical research and published in peer-reviewed journals. Fifty studies met inclusion criteria. Thirty-eight studies explored multilingualism in Communication Disorders, 10 in ASD and two in Intellectual Disability. No studies on multilingualism in Specific Learning Disorder or Motor Disorders were identified. Studies which found a disadvantage for multilingual children with neurodevelopmental disorders were rare, and there appears little reason to assume that multilingualism has negative effects on various aspects of functioning across a range of conditions. In fact, when considering only those studies which have compared a multilingual group with developmental disorders to a monolingual group with similar disorders, the findings consistently show no adverse effects on language development or other aspects of functioning. In the case of ASD, a positive effect on communication and social functioning has been observed. There is little evidence to support the widely held view that multilingual exposure is detrimental to the linguistic or social development of individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders. However, we also note that the available pool of studies is small and the number of methodologically high quality studies is relatively low. We discuss implications of multilingualism for clinical management of neurodevelopmental disorders, and discuss possible directions for future research. © 2016 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

[An investigation of the imitation skills in children with autism spectrum disorder and their association with receptive-expressive language development].

PubMed

Turan, Figen; Ökçün Akçamuş, Meral Çilem

2013-01-01

This study aimed to compare imitation skills in children with autism spectrum disorder, and age-matched typically developing children and children with developmental delay, as well as to examine the association between imitation skills, and receptive and expressive language development in children with autism spectrum disorder. Imitation skills in children with autism spectrum disorder (n=18), and age-matched children with developmental delay (n=15) and typically developing children (n= 16) were assessed using the Motor Imitation Scale and Imitation Battery, and the differences in mean imitation scores between the groups were examined. Receptive language and expressive language development in the children with autism spectrum disorder were assessed using the Turkish Communicative Development Inventory (TCDI), and their association with imitation scores was explored. The children with autism spectrum disorder had significantly lower imitation scores than the children with developmental delay and typically developing children; however, there wasn't a significant difference in imitation scores between the children with developmental delay and typically developing children. A significant association between imitation scores, and receptive and expressive language development was observed in the children with autism spectrum disorder. The present findings indicate that deficient imitation skills are a distinctive feature of children with autism spectrum disorder and that imitation skills play a crucial role in children's language development.

Emotional learning, stress, and development: An ever-changing landscape shaped by early-life experience.

PubMed

Pattwell, Siobhan S; Bath, Kevin G

2017-09-01

The capacity to learn to associate cues with negative outcomes is a highly adaptive process that appears to be conserved across species. However, when the cue is no longer a valid predictor of danger, but the emotional response persists, this can result in maladaptive behaviors, and in humans contribute to debilitating emotional disorders. Over the past several decades, work in neuroscience, psychiatry, psychology, and biology have uncovered key processes underlying, and structures governing, emotional responding and learning, as well as identified disruptions in the structural and functional integrity of these brain regions in models of pathology. In this review, we highlight some of this elegant body of work as well as incorporate emerging findings from the field of developmental neurobiology to emphasize how development contributes to changes in the ability to learn and express emotional responses, and how early experiences, such as stress, shape the development and functioning of these circuits. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Contemporary cognitive theories about developmental dyscalculia].

PubMed

Castro-Cañizares, D; Estévez-Pérez, N; Reigosa-Crespo, V

To analyze the current theories describing the cognitive mechanisms underlying developmental dyscalculia. The four most researched hypotheses concerning the cognitive deficits related to developmental dyscalculia, as well as experimental evidences supporting or refusing them are presented. The first hypothesis states that developmental dyscalculia is consequence of domain general cognitive deficits. The second hypothesis suggests that it is due to a failure in the development of specialized brain systems dedicated to numerosity processing. The third hypothesis asserts the disorder is caused by a deficit in accessing quantity representation through numerical symbols. The last hypothesis states developmental dyscalculia appears as a consequence of impairments in a generalized magnitude system dedicated to the processing of continuous and discrete magnitudes. None of the hypotheses has been proven more plausible than the rest. Relevant issues rose by them need to be revisited and answered in the light of new experimental designs. In the last years the understanding of cognitive disorders involved in developmental dyscalculia has remarkably increased, but it is nonetheless insufficient. Additional research is required in order to achieve a comprehensive cognitive model of numerical processing development and its disorders. This will improve the diagnostic precision and the effectiveness of developmental dyscalculia intervention strategies.

Autism and the mirror neuron system: insights from learning and teaching

PubMed Central

Vivanti, Giacomo; Rogers, Sally J.

2014-01-01

Individuals with autism have difficulties in social learning domains which typically involve mirror neuron system (MNS) activation. However, the precise role of the MNS in the development of autism and its relevance to treatment remain unclear. In this paper, we argue that three distinct aspects of social learning are critical for advancing knowledge in this area: (i) the mechanisms that allow for the implicit mapping of and learning from others' behaviour, (ii) the motivation to attend to and model conspecifics and (iii) the flexible and selective use of social learning. These factors are key targets of the Early Start Denver Model, an autism treatment approach which emphasizes social imitation, dyadic engagement, verbal and non-verbal communication and affect sharing. Analysis of the developmental processes and treatment-related changes in these different aspects of social learning in autism can shed light on the nature of the neuropsychological mechanisms underlying social learning and positive treatment outcomes in autism. This knowledge in turn may assist in developing more successful pedagogic approaches to autism spectrum disorder. Thus, intervention research can inform the debate on relations among neuropsychology of social learning, the role of the MNS, and educational practice in autism. PMID:24778379

Autism and the mirror neuron system: insights from learning and teaching.

PubMed

Vivanti, Giacomo; Rogers, Sally J

2014-01-01

Individuals with autism have difficulties in social learning domains which typically involve mirror neuron system (MNS) activation. However, the precise role of the MNS in the development of autism and its relevance to treatment remain unclear. In this paper, we argue that three distinct aspects of social learning are critical for advancing knowledge in this area: (i) the mechanisms that allow for the implicit mapping of and learning from others' behaviour, (ii) the motivation to attend to and model conspecifics and (iii) the flexible and selective use of social learning. These factors are key targets of the Early Start Denver Model, an autism treatment approach which emphasizes social imitation, dyadic engagement, verbal and non-verbal communication and affect sharing. Analysis of the developmental processes and treatment-related changes in these different aspects of social learning in autism can shed light on the nature of the neuropsychological mechanisms underlying social learning and positive treatment outcomes in autism. This knowledge in turn may assist in developing more successful pedagogic approaches to autism spectrum disorder. Thus, intervention research can inform the debate on relations among neuropsychology of social learning, the role of the MNS, and educational practice in autism.

Role of Class III phosphoinositide 3-kinase in the brain development: possible involvement in specific learning disorders.

PubMed

Inaguma, Yutaka; Matsumoto, Ayumi; Noda, Mariko; Tabata, Hidenori; Maeda, Akihiko; Goto, Masahide; Usui, Daisuke; Jimbo, Eriko F; Kikkawa, Kiyoshi; Ohtsuki, Mamitaro; Momoi, Mariko Y; Osaka, Hitoshi; Yamagata, Takanori; Nagata, Koh-Ichi

2016-10-01

Class III phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PIK3C3 or mammalian vacuolar protein sorting 34 homolog, Vps34) regulates vesicular trafficking, autophagy, and nutrient sensing. Recently, we reported that PIK3C3 is expressed in mouse cerebral cortex throughout the developmental process, especially at early embryonic stage. We thus examined the role of PIK3C3 in the development of the mouse cerebral cortex. Acute silencing of PIK3C3 with in utero electroporation method caused positional defects of excitatory neurons during corticogenesis. Time-lapse imaging revealed that the abnormal positioning was at least partially because of the reduced migration velocity. When PIK3C3 was silenced in cortical neurons in one hemisphere, axon extension to the contralateral hemisphere was also delayed. These aberrant phenotypes were rescued by RNAi-resistant PIK3C3. Notably, knockdown of PIK3C3 did not affect the cell cycle of neuronal progenitors and stem cells at the ventricular zone. Taken together, PIK3C3 was thought to play a crucial role in corticogenesis through the regulation of excitatory neuron migration and axon extension. Meanwhile, when we performed comparative genomic hybridization on a patient with specific learning disorders, a 107 Kb-deletion was identified on 18q12.3 (nt. 39554147-39661206) that encompasses exons 5-23 of PIK3C3. Notably, the above aberrant migration and axon growth phenotypes were not rescued by the disease-related truncation mutant (172 amino acids) lacking the C-terminal kinase domain. Thus, functional defects of PIK3C3 might impair corticogenesis and relate to the pathophysiology of specific learning disorders and other neurodevelopmental disorders. Acute knockdown of Class III phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PIK3C3) evokes migration defects of excitatory neurons during corticogenesis. PIK3C3-knockdown also disrupts axon outgrowth, but not progenitor proliferation in vivo. Involvement of PIK3C3 in neurodevelopmental disorders might be an interesting future subject since a deletion mutation in PIK3C3 was detected in a patient with specific learning disorders (SLD). © 2016 International Society for Neurochemistry.

Developmental rodent models of fear and anxiety: from neurobiology to pharmacology.

PubMed

Ganella, Despina E; Kim, Jee Hyun

2014-10-01

Anxiety disorders pose one of the biggest threats to mental health in the world, and they predominantly emerge early in life. However, research of anxiety disorders and fear-related memories during development has been largely neglected, and existing treatments have been developed based on adult models of anxiety. The present review describes animal models of anxiety disorders across development and what is currently known of their pharmacology. To summarize, the underlying mechanisms of intrinsic 'unlearned' fear are poorly understood, especially beyond the period of infancy. Models using 'learned' fear reveal that through development, rats exhibit a stress hyporesponsive period before postnatal day 10, where they paradoxically form odour-shock preferences, and then switch to more adult-like conditioned fear responses. Juvenile rats appear to forget these aversive associations more easily, as is observed with the phenomenon of infantile amnesia. Juvenile rats also undergo more robust extinction, until adolescence where they display increased resistance to extinction. Maturation of brain structures, such as the amygdala, prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, along with the different temporal recruitment and involvement of various neurotransmitter systems (including NMDA, GABA, corticosterone and opioids) are responsible for these developmental changes. Taken together, the studies described in this review highlight that there is a period early in development where rats appear to be more robust in overcoming adverse early life experience. We need to understand the fundamental pharmacological processes underlying anxiety early in life in order to take advantage of this period for the treatment of anxiety disorders. © 2014 The British Pharmacological Society.

Cognitive development: no stages please--we're British.

PubMed

Goswami, U

2001-02-01

British cognitive developmental psychology is characterized by its interest in philosophical questions, its preference for linking basic research to applied issues in education and cognitive disorders, and its willingness to learn both methodologically and theoretically from work in animal psychology and in physiology more generally. It has also been influenced profoundly by Jean Piaget's cognitive stage theory although in general British work has focused on demonstrating early strengths, rather than early deficits, in infant and child cognition. Following an overview of British work that encompasses past and present interests, issues and challenges for the future are highlighted. While the perspectives of the founding members of the British Psychological Society (BPS), as outlined by Edgell (1947), are still apparent in British research in cognitive developmental psychology today, it is argued that future cognitive work must become even more interdisciplinary and that the symbiotic relationship between research in adult cognition and in cognitive development needs greater recognition.

Cognitive development: No stages please - we're British.

PubMed

Goswami, Usha

2001-02-01

British cognitive developmental psychology is characterized by its interest in philosophical questions, its preference for linking basic research to applied issues in education and cognitive disorders, and its willingness to learn both methodologically and theoretically from work in animal psychology and in physiology more generally. It has also been influenced profoundly by Jean Piaget's cognitive stage theory although in general British work has focused on demonstrating early strengths, rather than early deficits, in infant and child cognition. Following an overview of British work that encompasses past and present interests, issues and challenges for the future are highlighted. While the perspectives of the founding members of the British Psychological Society (BPS), as outlined by Edgell (1947), are still apparent in British research in cognitive developmental psychology today, it is argued that future cognitive work must become even more interdisciplinary and that the symbiotic relationship between research in adult cognition and in cognitive development needs greater recognition.

Microglia and Beyond: Innate Immune Cells As Regulators of Brain Development and Behavioral Function.

PubMed

Lenz, Kathryn M; Nelson, Lars H

2018-01-01

Innate immune cells play a well-documented role in the etiology and disease course of many brain-based conditions, including multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, traumatic brain and spinal cord injury, and brain cancers. In contrast, it is only recently becoming clear that innate immune cells, primarily brain resident macrophages called microglia, are also key regulators of brain development. This review summarizes the current state of knowledge regarding microglia in brain development, with particular emphasis on how microglia during development are distinct from microglia later in life. We also summarize the effects of early life perturbations on microglia function in the developing brain, the role that biological sex plays in microglia function, and the potential role that microglia may play in developmental brain disorders. Finally, given how new the field of developmental neuroimmunology is, we highlight what has yet to be learned about how innate immune cells shape the development of brain and behavior.

Neurodevelopmental and neurobehavioral characteristics in males and females with CDKL5 duplications.

PubMed

Szafranski, Przemyslaw; Golla, Sailaja; Jin, Weihong; Fang, Ping; Hixson, Patricia; Matalon, Reuben; Kinney, Daniel; Bock, Hans-Georg; Craigen, William; Smith, Janice L; Bi, Weimin; Patel, Ankita; Wai Cheung, Sau; Bacino, Carlos A; Stankiewicz, Paweł

2015-07-01

Point mutations and genomic deletions of the CDKL5 (STK9) gene on chromosome Xp22 have been reported in patients with severe neurodevelopmental abnormalities, including Rett-like disorders. To date, only larger-sized (8-21 Mb) duplications harboring CDKL5 have been described. We report seven females and four males from seven unrelated families with CDKL5 duplications 540-935 kb in size. Three families of different ethnicities had identical 667kb duplications containing only the shorter CDKL5 isoform. Four affected boys, 8-14 years of age, and three affected girls, 6-8 years of age, manifested autistic behavior, developmental delay, language impairment, and hyperactivity. Of note, two boys and one girl had macrocephaly. Two carrier mothers of the affected boys reported a history of problems with learning and mathematics while at school. None of the patients had epilepsy. Similarly to CDKL5 mutations and deletions, the X-inactivation pattern in all six studied females was random. We hypothesize that the increased dosage of CDKL5 might have affected interactions of this kinase with its substrates, leading to perturbation of synaptic plasticity and learning, and resulting in autistic behavior, developmental and speech delay, hyperactivity, and macrocephaly.

Autism spectrum disorder - childhood disintegrative disorder

MedlinePlus

... part of the larger developmental disorder category of autism spectrum disorder . ... American Psychiatric Association. Autism spectrum disorder. ... ed. Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing: 2013;50-59. ...

Developmentally defined forebrain circuits regulate appetitive and aversive olfactory learning.

PubMed

Muthusamy, Nagendran; Zhang, Xuying; Johnson, Caroline A; Yadav, Prem N; Ghashghaei, H Troy

2017-01-01

Postnatal and adult neurogenesis are region- and modality-specific, but the significance of developmentally distinct neuronal populations remains unclear. We demonstrate that chemogenetic inactivation of a subset of forebrain and olfactory neurons generated at birth disrupts responses to an aversive odor. In contrast, novel appetitive odor learning is sensitive to inactivation of adult-born neurons, revealing that developmentally defined sets of neurons may differentially participate in hedonic aspects of sensory learning.

Development and Psychometric Evaluation of a Psychosocial Quality-of-Life Questionnaire for Individuals with Autism and Related Developmental Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Markowitz, Leslie A.; Reyes, Charina; Embacher, Rebecca A.; Speer, Leslie L.; Roizen, Nancy; Frazier, Thomas W.

2016-01-01

This study investigated the psychometric properties of the Child and Family Quality of Life scale, a measure of psychosocial quality of life in those with autism and related developmental disorders. Parents of 212 children suspected of autism spectrum disorder completed the Child and Family Quality of Life prior to a diagnostic evaluation. Results…

The Effectiveness of Exercise Intervention on Inhibitory Control in Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder: Using a Visuospatial Attention Paradigm as a Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tsai, Chia-Liang

2009-01-01

Children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) have been demonstrated to show a deficit of inhibitory control in volitional shifts of attention. The aim of this study was to use ecological intervention to investigate the efficacy of table-tennis training on treating both problems with attentional networks and motor disorder in children…

Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorders: Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, 14 Sites, United States, 2008. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Surveillance Summaries. Volume 61, Number 3

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baio, Jon

2012-01-01

Problem/Condition: Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are a group of developmental disabilities characterized by impairments in social interaction and communication and by restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior. Symptoms typically are apparent before age 3 years. The complex nature of these disorders, coupled with a lack of…

Psychometric Properties of Spanish Adaptation of the PDD-MRS Scale in Adults with Intellectual Developmental Disorders: The EVTEA-DI Scale

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cortés, Maria José; Orejuela, Carmen; Castellví, Gemma; Folch, Annabel; Rovira, Lluís; Salvador-Carulla, Luis; Irazábal, Marcia; Muñoz, Silvia; Haro, Josep Maria; Vilella, Elisabet; Martínez-Leal, Rafael

2018-01-01

Strategies for the early detection of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in people with intellectual developmental disorder (IDD) are urgently needed, but few specific tools have been developed. The present study examines the psychometric properties of the EVTEA-DI, a Spanish adaptation of the PDD-MRS, in a large randomized sample of 979 adults with…

Changes in the Population of Persons with Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorders in California's Developmental Services System: 1987 through 1998. A Report to the Legislature, March 1, 1999.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

California State Dept. of Developmental Services, Sacramento.

This report discusses the results of an analysis of demographic and Client Development Evaluation Record data compiled at each of the 21 regional centers in California serving individuals with autism and pervasive developmental disorders. Data covering a period of 11 years, beginning in January 1987 and continuing through December 1998, show that…

Unraveling the Miswired Connectome: A Developmental Perspective

PubMed Central

Di Martino, Adriana; Fair, Damien A.; Kelly, Clare; Satterthwaite, Theodore D.; Castellanos, F. Xavier; Thomason, Moriah E.; Craddock, R. Cameron; Luna, Beatriz; Leventhal, Bennett L.; Zuo, Xi-Nian; Milham, Michael P.

2014-01-01

Summary The vast majority of mental illnesses can be conceptualized as developmental disorders of neural interactions within the connectome, or developmental miswiring. The recent maturation of pediatric in vivo brain imaging is bringing within reach the identification of clinically meaningful brain-based biomarkers of developmental disorders. Even more auspicious, is the ability to study the evolving connectome throughout life, beginning in utero, which promises to move the field from topological phenomenology to etiological nosology. Here, we scope advances in pediatric imaging of the brain connectome as the field faces the challenge of unraveling developmental miswiring. We highlight promises while also providing a pragmatic review of the many obstacles ahead that must be overcome to significantly impact public health. PMID:25233316

Teaching for Developmental Growth: Learning Partnerships and Student Development in Graduate Education in China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cen, Yuhao

2018-01-01

Teaching and learning in higher education can integrate and accomplish student developmental goals in addition to promoting student learning of subject matter knowledge and transferrable skills. Drawn from the theoretical concept of self-authorship, the Learning Partnerships Model was implemented in teaching a graduate-level course on social…

Teaching, Learning and Leading in Today's Complex World: Reaching New Heights with a Developmental Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Drago-Severson, Eleanor

2016-01-01

"What is happening in education today?" and "What is most needed for the future of teaching, learning and leading?" This article presents a developmental approach to learning, leadership and advancing professional learning--one that takes into account adults' diverse meaning making processes--that can help educators build the…

Using e-Learning Platforms for Mastery Learning in Developmental Mathematics Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boggs, Stacey; Shore, Mark; Shore, JoAnna

2004-01-01

Many colleges and universities have adopted e-learning platforms to utilize computers as an instructional tool in developmental (i.e., beginning and intermediate algebra) mathematics courses. An e-learning platform is a computer program used to enhance course instruction via computers and the Internet. Allegany College of Maryland is currently…

Students Negotiating and Designing Their Collaborative Learning Norms: A Group Developmental Perspective in Learning Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hod, Yotam; Ben-Zvi, Dani

2015-01-01

This research shows how participants in classroom learning communities (LCs) come to take responsibility over designing their collaborative learning norms. Taking a micro-developmental perspective within a graduate-level course, we examined fine-grained changes in group discourse during a period of rapid change where this responsibility taking…

[Treatment of sensory information in neurodevelopmental disorders].

PubMed

Zoenen, D; Delvenne, V

2018-01-01

The processing of information coming from the elementary sensory systems conditions the development and fulfilment of a child's abilities. A dysfunction in the sensory stimuli processing may generate behavioural patterns that might affect a child's learning capacities as well as his relational sphere. The DSM-5 recognizes the sensory abnormalities as part of the symptomatology of Autism Spectrum Disorders. However, similar features are observed in other neurodevelopmental disorders. Over the years, these conditions have been the subject of numerous controversies. Nowadays, they are all grouped together under the term of Neurodevelopmental Disorders in DSM-5. The semiology of these disorders is rich and complex due to the frequent presence of comorbidities and their impact on cognitive, behavioural, and sensorimotor organization but also on a child's personality, as well as his family, his school, or his social relationships. We carried out a review of the literature on the alterations in the treatment of sensory information in ASD but also on the different neurodevelopmental clinical panels in order to show their impact on child development. Atypical sensory profiles have been demonstrated in several neurodevelopmental clinical populations such as Autism Spectrum Disorder, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorders, Dysphasia and Intellectual Disability. Abnomalies in the processing of sensory information should be systematically evaluated in child developmental disorders.

Brief Report: Representational Momentum for Dynamic Facial Expressions in Pervasive Developmental Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Uono, Shota; Sato, Wataru; Toichi, Motomi

2010-01-01

Individuals with pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) have difficulty with social communication via emotional facial expressions, but behavioral studies involving static images have reported inconsistent findings about emotion recognition. We investigated whether dynamic presentation of facial expression would enhance subjective perception of…

De novo mutations in regulatory elements in neurodevelopmental disorders

PubMed Central

Short, Patrick J.; McRae, Jeremy F.; Gallone, Giuseppe; Sifrim, Alejandro; Won, Hyejung; Geschwind, Daniel H.; Wright, Caroline F.; Firth, Helen V; FitzPatrick, David R.; Barrett, Jeffrey C.; Hurles, Matthew E.

2018-01-01

We previously estimated that 42% of patients with severe developmental disorders carry pathogenic de novo mutations in coding sequences. The role of de novo mutations in regulatory elements affecting genes associated with developmental disorders, or other genes, has been essentially unexplored. We identified de novo mutations in three classes of putative regulatory elements in almost 8,000 patients with developmental disorders. Here we show that de novo mutations in highly evolutionarily conserved fetal brain-active elements are significantly and specifically enriched in neurodevelopmental disorders. We identified a significant twofold enrichment of recurrently mutated elements. We estimate that, genome-wide, 1-3% of patients without a diagnostic coding variant carry pathogenic de novo mutations in fetal brain-active regulatory elements and that only 0.15% of all possible mutations within highly conserved fetal brain-active elements cause neurodevelopmental disorders with a dominant mechanism. Our findings represent a robust estimate of the contribution of de novo mutations in regulatory elements to this genetically heterogeneous set of disorders, and emphasize the importance of combining functional and evolutionary evidence to identify regulatory causes of genetic disorders. PMID:29562236

Effect of sports vision exercise on visual perception and reading performance in 7- to 10-year-old developmental dyslexic children.

PubMed

Badami, Rokhsareh; Mahmoudi, Sahar; Baluch, Bahman

2016-12-01

The presented study was aimed at identifying for the first time the influence of sports vision exercises on fundamental motor skills and cognitive skills of 7- to 10-year-old developmental dyslexic Persian children. A pretest-posttest quasi-experimental study was conducted. The statistical population of this study was 7- to 10-year-old dyslexic children referring to two centres of learning disorder in the city of Isfahan. Twenty two of these children were selected using available and purposive sampling from the statistical population and were randomly assigned into two groups of experimental and control. The former (experimental group) participated in sports vision exercise courses for 12 weeks (3 one hr sessions per week) and the latter (control group) continued their routine daily activities during the exercise. Before the beginning and at the end of the exercise, Gardner's test of visual perception test - revised and Dehkhoda's reading skills test was administered to both groups. The results showed that the sports vision exercises increases motor skills, visual perceptual skills and reading skills in developmental dyslexic children. Based on the results of the presented study it was concluded that sports vision exercises can be used for fundamental and cognitive skills of developmental dyslexic children.

Reliability and Validity of the MINI International Neuropsychiatric Interview for Children and Adolescents (MINI-KID)

ClinicalTrials.gov

2009-02-13

Major Depression; Mania; Anxiety Disorders; Psychotic Disorder; Alcohol Dependence; Drug Dependence; Eating Disorders; Suicidality; Dysthymia; ADHD; Tourettes Disorder; Conduct Disorder; Oppositional Defiant Disorder; Pervasive Developmental Disorder

Internalizing and externalizing psychopathology as predictors of cannabis use disorder onset during adolescence and early adulthood.

PubMed

Farmer, Richard F; Seeley, John R; Kosty, Derek B; Gau, Jeff M; Duncan, Susan C; Lynskey, Michael T; Lewinsohn, Peter M

2015-09-01

Risk-related liabilities associated with the development of cannabis use disorders (CUDs) during adolescence and early adulthood are thought to be established well before the emergence of the index episode. In this study, internalizing and externalizing psychopathology from earlier developmental periods were evaluated as risk factors for CUDs during adolescence and early adulthood. Participants (N = 816) completed 4 diagnostic assessments between the ages 16 and 30, during which current and past CUDs were assessed as well as a full range of psychiatric disorders associated with internalizing and externalizing psychopathology domains. In unadjusted and adjusted time-to-event analyses, externalizing but not internalizing psychopathology from proximal developmental periods predicted subsequent CUD onset. A large proportion of adolescent and early adult cases, however, did not manifest any externalizing or internalizing psychopathology during developmental periods before CUD onset. Findings are consistent with the emerging view that externalizing disorders from proximal developmental periods are robust risk factors for CUDs. Although the identification of externalizing liabilities may aid in the identification of individuals at risk for embarking on developmental pathways that culminate in CUDs, such liabilities are an incomplete indication of overall risk. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Where Environment Meets Cognition: A Focus on Two Developmental Intellectual Disability Disorders

PubMed Central

Ossowski, S.

2016-01-01

One of the most challenging questions in neuroscience is to dissect how learning and memory, the foundational pillars of cognition, are grounded in stable, yet plastic, gene expression states. All known epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation and hydroxymethylation, histone modifications, chromatin remodelling, and noncoding RNAs regulate brain gene expression, both during neurodevelopment and in the adult brain in processes related to cognition. On the other hand, alterations in the various components of the epigenetic machinery have been linked to well-known causes of intellectual disability disorders (IDDs). Two examples are Down Syndrome (DS) and Fragile X Syndrome (FXS), where global and local epigenetic alterations lead to impairments in synaptic plasticity, memory, and learning. Since epigenetic modifications are reversible, it is theoretically possible to use epigenetic drugs as cognitive enhancers for the treatment of IDDs. Epigenetic treatments act in a context specific manner, targeting different regions based on cell and state specific chromatin accessibility, facilitating the establishment of the lost balance. Here, we discuss epigenetic studies of IDDs, focusing on DS and FXS, and the use of epidrugs in combinatorial therapies for IDDs. PMID:27547454

Where Environment Meets Cognition: A Focus on Two Developmental Intellectual Disability Disorders.

PubMed

Toma, I De; Gil, L Manubens; Ossowski, S; Dierssen, M

2016-01-01

One of the most challenging questions in neuroscience is to dissect how learning and memory, the foundational pillars of cognition, are grounded in stable, yet plastic, gene expression states. All known epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation and hydroxymethylation, histone modifications, chromatin remodelling, and noncoding RNAs regulate brain gene expression, both during neurodevelopment and in the adult brain in processes related to cognition. On the other hand, alterations in the various components of the epigenetic machinery have been linked to well-known causes of intellectual disability disorders (IDDs). Two examples are Down Syndrome (DS) and Fragile X Syndrome (FXS), where global and local epigenetic alterations lead to impairments in synaptic plasticity, memory, and learning. Since epigenetic modifications are reversible, it is theoretically possible to use epigenetic drugs as cognitive enhancers for the treatment of IDDs. Epigenetic treatments act in a context specific manner, targeting different regions based on cell and state specific chromatin accessibility, facilitating the establishment of the lost balance. Here, we discuss epigenetic studies of IDDs, focusing on DS and FXS, and the use of epidrugs in combinatorial therapies for IDDs.

Psychotherapy for Anxiety in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

ClinicalTrials.gov

2017-11-30

Autism Spectrum Disorders; Autism; Asperger's Syndrome; Pervasive Developmental Disability - Not Otherwise Specified; Obsessive-compulsive Disorder; Social Phobia; Generalized Anxiety Disorder; Specific Phobia; Separation Anxiety Disorder

Children with Autism in Ethiopia: Diagnosis, Laws, and Educational and Behavioral Intervention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zeleke, Waganesh

2015-01-01

Since the late 1990s, the law, education, and intervention regarding childhood developmental disorders in Ethiopia have experienced significant reforms and development. However, education and intervention for children with severe developmental disabilities, especially children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), still suffer the greatest…

Physical Fitness in Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schott, Nadja; Alof, Verena; Hultsch, Daniela; Meermann, Dagmar

2007-01-01

The protective effects of physical activity and fitness on cardiovascular health have clearly been shown among normally developed children. However, data are currently lacking pertaining to children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD). The purpose of this study was to examine differences in fitness measures, body composition, and…

Neurodevelopmental outcomes in children with congenital heart disease: evaluation and management: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association.

PubMed

Marino, Bradley S; Lipkin, Paul H; Newburger, Jane W; Peacock, Georgina; Gerdes, Marsha; Gaynor, J William; Mussatto, Kathleen A; Uzark, Karen; Goldberg, Caren S; Johnson, Walter H; Li, Jennifer; Smith, Sabrina E; Bellinger, David C; Mahle, William T

2012-08-28

The goal of this statement was to review the available literature on surveillance, screening, evaluation, and management strategies and put forward a scientific statement that would comprehensively review the literature and create recommendations to optimize neurodevelopmental outcome in the pediatric congenital heart disease (CHD) population. A writing group appointed by the American Heart Association and American Academy of Pediatrics reviewed the available literature addressing developmental disorder and disability and developmental delay in the CHD population, with specific attention given to surveillance, screening, evaluation, and management strategies. MEDLINE and Google Scholar database searches from 1966 to 2011 were performed for English-language articles cross-referencing CHD with pertinent search terms. The reference lists of identified articles were also searched. The American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association classification of recommendations and levels of evidence for practice guidelines were used. A management algorithm was devised that stratified children with CHD on the basis of established risk factors. For those deemed to be at high risk for developmental disorder or disabilities or for developmental delay, formal, periodic developmental and medical evaluations are recommended. A CHD algorithm for surveillance, screening, evaluation, reevaluation, and management of developmental disorder or disability has been constructed to serve as a supplement to the 2006 American Academy of Pediatrics statement on developmental surveillance and screening. The proposed algorithm is designed to be carried out within the context of the medical home. This scientific statement is meant for medical providers within the medical home who care for patients with CHD. Children with CHD are at increased risk of developmental disorder or disabilities or developmental delay. Periodic developmental surveillance, screening, evaluation, and reevaluation throughout childhood may enhance identification of significant deficits, allowing for appropriate therapies and education to enhance later academic, behavioral, psychosocial, and adaptive functioning.

Varieties of preschool hyperactivity: multiple pathways from risk to disorder.

PubMed

Sonuga-Barke, Edmund J S; Auerbach, Judith; Campbell, Susan B; Daley, David; Thompson, Margaret

2005-03-01

In this paper we examine the characteristics of preschool attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) from both mental disorder and developmental psychopathology points of view. The equivalence of preschool and school-aged hyperactivity as a behavioral dimension is highlighted together with the potential value of extending the use of the ADHD diagnostic category to the preschool period where these behaviours take an extreme and impairing form (assuming age appropriate diagnostic items and thresholds can be developed). At the same time, the importance of identifying pathways between risk and later ADHD is emphasized. Developmental discontinuity and heterogeneity are identified as major characteristics of these pathways. We argue that models that distinguish among different developmental types of early-emerging problems are needed. An illustrative taxonomy of four developmental pathways implicating preschool hyperactivity is presented to provide a framework for future research.

Developmental cognitive genetics: How psychology can inform genetics and vice versa

PubMed Central

Bishop, Dorothy V. M.

2006-01-01

Developmental neuropsychology is concerned with uncovering the underlying basis of developmental disorders such as specific language impairment (SLI), developmental dyslexia, and autistic disorder. Twin and family studies indicate that genetic influences play an important part in the aetiology of all of these disorders, yet progress in identifying genes has been slow. One way forward is to cut loose from conventional clinical criteria for diagnosing disorders and to focus instead on measures of underlying cognitive mechanisms. Psychology can inform genetics by clarifying what the key dimensions are for heritable phenotypes. However, it is not a one-way street. By using genetically informative designs, one can gain insights about causal relationships between different cognitive deficits. For instance, it has been suggested that low-level auditory deficits cause phonological problems in SLI. However, a twin study showed that, although both types of deficit occur in SLI, they have quite different origins, with environmental factors more important for auditory deficit, and genes more important for deficient phonological short-term memory. Another study found that morphosyntactic deficits in SLI are also highly heritable, but have different genetic origins from impairments of phonological short-term memory. A genetic perspective shows that a search for the underlying cause of developmental disorders may be misguided, because they are complex and heterogeneous and are associated with multiple risk factors that only cause serious disability when they occur in combination. PMID:16769616

Making new genetic diagnoses with old data: iterative reanalysis and reporting from genome-wide data in 1,133 families with developmental disorders.

PubMed

Wright, Caroline F; McRae, Jeremy F; Clayton, Stephen; Gallone, Giuseppe; Aitken, Stuart; FitzGerald, Tomas W; Jones, Philip; Prigmore, Elena; Rajan, Diana; Lord, Jenny; Sifrim, Alejandro; Kelsell, Rosemary; Parker, Michael J; Barrett, Jeffrey C; Hurles, Matthew E; FitzPatrick, David R; Firth, Helen V

2018-01-11

PurposeGiven the rapid pace of discovery in rare disease genomics, it is likely that improvements in diagnostic yield can be made by systematically reanalyzing previously generated genomic sequence data in light of new knowledge.MethodsWe tested this hypothesis in the United Kingdom-wide Deciphering Developmental Disorders study, where in 2014 we reported a diagnostic yield of 27% through whole-exome sequencing of 1,133 children with severe developmental disorders and their parents. We reanalyzed existing data using improved variant calling methodologies, novel variant detection algorithms, updated variant annotation, evidence-based filtering strategies, and newly discovered disease-associated genes.ResultsWe are now able to diagnose an additional 182 individuals, taking our overall diagnostic yield to 454/1,133 (40%), and another 43 (4%) have a finding of uncertain clinical significance. The majority of these new diagnoses are due to novel developmental disorder-associated genes discovered since our original publication.ConclusionThis study highlights the importance of coupling large-scale research with clinical practice, and of discussing the possibility of iterative reanalysis and recontact with patients and health professionals at an early stage. We estimate that implementing parent-offspring whole-exome sequencing as a first-line diagnostic test for developmental disorders would diagnose >50% of patients.GENETICS in MEDICINE advance online publication, 11 January 2018; doi:10.1038/gim.2017.246.

The First Year Inventory: a longitudinal follow-up of 12-month-old to 3-year-old children.

PubMed

Turner-Brown, Lauren M; Baranek, Grace T; Reznick, J Steven; Watson, Linda R; Crais, Elizabeth R

2013-09-01

The First Year Inventory is a parent-report measure designed to identify 12-month-old infants at risk for autism spectrum disorder. First Year Inventory taps behaviors that indicate risk in the developmental domains of sensory-regulatory and social-communication functioning. This longitudinal study is a follow-up of 699 children at 3 years of age from a community sample whose parents completed the First Year Inventory when their children were 12 months old. Parents of all 699 children completed the Social Responsiveness Scale-Preschool version and the Developmental Concerns Questionnaire to determine age 3 developmental outcomes. In addition, children deemed at risk for autism spectrum disorder based on liberal cut points on the First Year Inventory, Social Responsiveness Scale-Preschool, and/or Developmental Concerns Questionnaire were invited for in-person diagnostic evaluations. We found 9 children who had a confirmed diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder from the sample of 699. Receiver operating characteristic analyses determined that a two-domain cutoff score yielded optimal classification of children: 31% of those meeting algorithm cutoffs had autism spectrum disorder and 85% had a developmental disability or concern by age 3. These results suggest that the First Year Inventory is a promising tool for identifying 12-month-old infants who are at risk for an eventual diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder.

Learning new faces in typical and atypical populations of children.

PubMed

Jones, Rebecca R; Blades, Mark; Coleman, Mike; Pascalis, Olivier

2013-02-01

Recognizing an individual as familiar is an important aspect of our social cognition, which requires both learning a face and recalling it. It has been suggested that children with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) have deficits and abnormalities in face processing. We investigated whether the process by which unfamiliar faces become familiar differs in typically developing (TD) children, children with ASD, and children with developmental delay. Children were familiarized with a set of moving novel faces presented over a three-day period. Recognition of the learned faces was assessed at five time points during the three-day period. Both immediate and delayed recall of faces was tested. All groups showed improvements in face recognition at immediate recall, which indicated that learning had occurred. The TD population showed slightly better performance than the two other groups, however no difference was specific to the ASD group. All groups showed similar levels of improvements with time. Our results are discussed in terms of learning in ASD. © 2013 The Authors. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology © 2013 The Scandinavian Psychological Associations.

A developmental approach to learning causal models for cyber security

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mugan, Jonathan

2013-05-01

To keep pace with our adversaries, we must expand the scope of machine learning and reasoning to address the breadth of possible attacks. One approach is to employ an algorithm to learn a set of causal models that describes the entire cyber network and each host end node. Such a learning algorithm would run continuously on the system and monitor activity in real time. With a set of causal models, the algorithm could anticipate novel attacks, take actions to thwart them, and predict the second-order effects flood of information, and the algorithm would have to determine which streams of that flood were relevant in which situations. This paper will present the results of efforts toward the application of a developmental learning algorithm to the problem of cyber security. The algorithm is modeled on the principles of human developmental learning and is designed to allow an agent to learn about the computer system in which it resides through active exploration. Children are flexible learners who acquire knowledge by actively exploring their environment and making predictions about what they will find,1, 2 and our algorithm is inspired by the work of the developmental psychologist Jean Piaget.3 Piaget described how children construct knowledge in stages and learn new concepts on top of those they already know. Developmental learning allows our algorithm to focus on subsets of the environment that are most helpful for learning given its current knowledge. In experiments, the algorithm was able to learn the conditions for file exfiltration and use that knowledge to protect sensitive files.

Eating disorders and the serotonin connection: state, trait and developmental effects

PubMed Central

Steiger, Howard

2004-01-01

Alterations in brain serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine [5-HT]) function are thought to contribute to diverse aspects of eating disorders, including binge eating, perfectionism, impulsivity and mood-regulation problems. In addition, 5-HT anomalies in individuals with eating disorders are believed to have multiple determinants associated with secondary (state-related) effects of their nutritional status, hereditary effects (related to such trait variations as impulsivity or perfectionism) and, possibly, long-term neurobiologic sequelae of developmental stressors (such as childhood abuse). On the strength of the available neurobiologic and genetic data, this paper presents the idea that 5-HT variations in those with eating disorders represent (1) a structured coaggregation of biologic, psychologic and social influences and (2) converging state, trait and developmental effects. Data are taken to support a multidimensional model of 5-HT function in eating disorders that, it is argued, can serve as a prototype for etiologic modelling, diagnostic classification and clinical decision-making bearing not only upon eating disorders but also upon other psychiatric disturbances. PMID:14719047

A stochastic multicellular model identifies biological watermarks from disorders in self-organized patterns of phyllotaxis

PubMed Central

Refahi, Yassin; Brunoud, Géraldine; Farcot, Etienne; Jean-Marie, Alain; Pulkkinen, Minna; Vernoux, Teva; Godin, Christophe

2016-01-01

Exploration of developmental mechanisms classically relies on analysis of pattern regularities. Whether disorders induced by biological noise may carry information on building principles of developmental systems is an important debated question. Here, we addressed theoretically this question using phyllotaxis, the geometric arrangement of plant aerial organs, as a model system. Phyllotaxis arises from reiterative organogenesis driven by lateral inhibitions at the shoot apex. Motivated by recurrent observations of disorders in phyllotaxis patterns, we revisited in depth the classical deterministic view of phyllotaxis. We developed a stochastic model of primordia initiation at the shoot apex, integrating locality and stochasticity in the patterning system. This stochastic model recapitulates phyllotactic patterns, both regular and irregular, and makes quantitative predictions on the nature of disorders arising from noise. We further show that disorders in phyllotaxis instruct us on the parameters governing phyllotaxis dynamics, thus that disorders can reveal biological watermarks of developmental systems. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.14093.001 PMID:27380805

Discovery of four recessive developmental disorders using probabilistic genotype and phenotype matching among 4,125 families

PubMed Central

Ansari, Morad; Balasubramanian, Meena; Blyth, Moira; Brady, Angela F.; Clayton, Stephen; Cole, Trevor; Deshpande, Charu; Fitzgerald, Tomas W.; Foulds, Nicola; Francis, Richard; Gabriel, George; Gerety, Sebastian S.; Goodship, Judith; Hobson, Emma; Jones, Wendy D.; Joss, Shelagh; King, Daniel; Klena, Nikolai; Kumar, Ajith; Lees, Melissa; Lelliott, Chris; Lord, Jenny; McMullan, Dominic; O'Regan, Mary; Osio, Deborah; Piombo, Virginia; Prigmore, Elena; Rajan, Diana; Rosser, Elisabeth; Sifrim, Alejandro; Smith, Audrey; Swaminathan, Ganesh J.; Turnpenny, Peter; Whitworth, James; Wright, Caroline F.; Firth, Helen V.; Barrett, Jeffrey C.; Lo, Cecilia W.; FitzPatrick, David R.; Hurles, Matthew E.

2018-01-01

Discovery of most autosomal recessive disease genes has involved analysis of large, often consanguineous, multiplex families or small cohorts of unrelated individuals with a well-defined clinical condition. Discovery of novel dominant causes of rare, genetically heterogenous developmental disorders has been revolutionized by exome analysis of large cohorts of phenotypically diverse parent-offspring trios 1,2. Here we analysed 4,125 families with diverse, rare, genetically heterogeneous developmental disorders and identified four novel autosomal recessive disorders. These four disorders were identified by integrating Mendelian filtering (identifying probands with rare biallelic putatively damaging variants in the same gene) with statistical assessments of (i) the likelihood of sampling the observed genotypes from the general population, and (ii) the phenotypic similarity of patients with the same recessive candidate gene. This new paradigm promises to catalyse discovery of novel recessive disorders, especially those with less consistent or nonspecific clinical presentations, and those caused predominantly by compound heterozygous genotypes. PMID:26437029

Discovery of four recessive developmental disorders using probabilistic genotype and phenotype matching among 4,125 families.

PubMed

Akawi, Nadia; McRae, Jeremy; Ansari, Morad; Balasubramanian, Meena; Blyth, Moira; Brady, Angela F; Clayton, Stephen; Cole, Trevor; Deshpande, Charu; Fitzgerald, Tomas W; Foulds, Nicola; Francis, Richard; Gabriel, George; Gerety, Sebastian S; Goodship, Judith; Hobson, Emma; Jones, Wendy D; Joss, Shelagh; King, Daniel; Klena, Nikolai; Kumar, Ajith; Lees, Melissa; Lelliott, Chris; Lord, Jenny; McMullan, Dominic; O'Regan, Mary; Osio, Deborah; Piombo, Virginia; Prigmore, Elena; Rajan, Diana; Rosser, Elisabeth; Sifrim, Alejandro; Smith, Audrey; Swaminathan, Ganesh J; Turnpenny, Peter; Whitworth, James; Wright, Caroline F; Firth, Helen V; Barrett, Jeffrey C; Lo, Cecilia W; FitzPatrick, David R; Hurles, Matthew E

2015-11-01

Discovery of most autosomal recessive disease-associated genes has involved analysis of large, often consanguineous multiplex families or small cohorts of unrelated individuals with a well-defined clinical condition. Discovery of new dominant causes of rare, genetically heterogeneous developmental disorders has been revolutionized by exome analysis of large cohorts of phenotypically diverse parent-offspring trios. Here we analyzed 4,125 families with diverse, rare and genetically heterogeneous developmental disorders and identified four new autosomal recessive disorders. These four disorders were identified by integrating Mendelian filtering (selecting probands with rare, biallelic and putatively damaging variants in the same gene) with statistical assessments of (i) the likelihood of sampling the observed genotypes from the general population and (ii) the phenotypic similarity of patients with recessive variants in the same candidate gene. This new paradigm promises to catalyze the discovery of novel recessive disorders, especially those with less consistent or nonspecific clinical presentations and those caused predominantly by compound heterozygous genotypes.

Access to services, quality of care, and family impact for children with autism, other developmental disabilities, and other mental health conditions.

PubMed

Vohra, Rini; Madhavan, Suresh; Sambamoorthi, Usha; St Peter, Claire

2014-10-01

This cross-sectional study examined perceived access to services, quality of care, and family impact reported by caregivers of children aged 3-17 years with autism spectrum disorders, as compared to caregivers of children with other developmental disabilities and other mental health conditions. The 2009-2010 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs was utilized to examine the association between child's special needs condition and three outcomes (N = 18,136): access to services (difficulty using services, difficulty getting referrals, lack of source of care, and inadequate insurance coverage), quality of care (lack of care coordination, lack of shared decision making, and no routine screening), and family impact (financial, employment, and time-related burden). Multivariate logistic regressions were performed to compare caregivers of children with autism spectrum disorders to caregivers of children with developmental disabilities (cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, developmental delay, or intellectual disability), mental health conditions (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, behavioral/conduct problems, or depression), or both developmental disabilities and mental health conditions. Caregivers of children with autism spectrum disorders were significantly more likely to report difficulty using services, lack of source of care, inadequate insurance coverage, lack of shared decision making and care coordination, and adverse family impact as compared to caregivers of children with developmental disabilities, mental health conditions, or both. © The Author(s) 2013.

Mutational Analysis of Cell Types in Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC)

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-01-01

disorder resulting from mutations in the TSC1 or TSC2 genes that is associated with epilepsy, cognitive disability, and autism . TSC1/TSC2 gene mutations...cognitive disability, and autism . TSC1/TSC2 gene mutations lead to developmental alterations in brain structure known as tubers in over 80% of TSC...TSC (Sparagana and Roach, 2000). Comorbid neuropsychological disorders such as autism , mental retardation (MR), pervasive developmental disorder

The Usefulness of the Revised Psychoeducational Profile for the Assessment of Preschool Children with Pervasive Developmental Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Portoghese, Claudia; Buttiglione, Maura; Pavone, Francesca; Lozito, Vito; De Giacomo, Andrea; Martinelli, Domenico; Margari, Lucia

2009-01-01

Data from the Psychoeducational Profile-Revised (PEP-R) were analysed in a sample of 46 children, aged from 1.7 to 5.11 years, of whom 21 had autistic disorder (AD) and 25 had pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS). Analysis with a t-test for independent samples revealed a significant difference (p less than 0.05)…

Smooth pursuit eye movement (SPEM) in patients with multiple complex developmental disorder (MCDD), a subtype of the pervasive developmental disorder.

PubMed

Lahuis, Bertine E; Van Engeland, Herman; Cahn, Wiepke; Caspers, Esther; Van der Geest, Jos N; Van der Gaag, Rutger Jan; Kemner, Chantal

2009-01-01

Multiple complex developmental disorder (MCDD) is a well-defined and validated behavioural subtype of pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) and is thought to be associated with a higher risk of developing a schizophrenic spectrum disorder. The question was addressed whether patients with MCDD show the same psychophysiological abnormalities as seen in patients with schizophrenia. Smooth pursuit eye movement (pursuit gain and saccadic parameters) was measured in children with either MCDD (n=18) or autism (n=18), and in age- and IQ-matched controls (n=36), as well as in a group of adult patients with schizophrenia (n=14) and a group of adult controls (n=17). We found the expected effect of lower velocity gain and increased number of saccades in schizophrenic patients. Children with MCDD also showed a lower velocity gain compared to controls children. In contrast, velocity gain was similar in autistic subjects and controls. No differences for velocity gain were found in a direct comparison between MCDD and autism. Saccadic parameters were not significantly different from controls in either MCDD or autistic subjects. Children with MCDD, like schizophrenic adults, show a reduced velocity gain, which could indicate that schizophrenia spectrum disorders and MCDD share (at least to some degree) a common neurobiological background.

Developmental emergence of fear/threat learning: neurobiology, associations and timing

PubMed Central

Tallot, L.; Doyère, V.; Sullivan, R. M.

2016-01-01

Pavlovian fear or threat conditioning, where a neutral stimulus takes on aversive properties through pairing with an aversive stimulus, has been an important tool for exploring the neurobiology of learning. In the past decades, this neurobehavioral approach has been expanded to include the developing infant. Indeed, protracted postnatal brain development permits the exploration of how incorporating the amygdala, prefrontal cortex and hippocampus into this learning system impacts the acquisition and expression of aversive conditioning. Here, we review the developmental trajectory of these key brain areas involved in aversive conditioning and relate it to pups’ transition to independence through weaning. Overall, the data suggests that adult-like features of threat learning emerge as the relevant brain areas become incorporated into this learning. Specifically, the developmental emergence of the amygdala permits cue learning and the emergence of the hippocampus permits context learning. We also describe unique features of learning in early life that block threat learning and enhance interaction with the mother or exploration of the environment. Finally, we describe the development of a sense of time within this learning and its involvement in creating associations. Together these data suggest that the development of threat learning is a useful tool for dissecting adult-like functioning of brain circuits, as well as providing unique insights into ecologically relevant developmental changes. PMID:26534899

Project-Based Learning Communities in Developmental Education: A Case Study of Lessons Learned

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Butler, Alison; Christofili, Monica

2014-01-01

This case study tracks the application of project-based learning (PBL) during four separate college terms at Portland Community College in Portland, Oregon. Each term follows a different learning community of first-term college students enrolled in a program of developmental education (DE), reading, writing, math, and college survival and success…

Dissociation between the Procedural Learning of Letter Names and Motor Sequences in Developmental Dyslexia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gabay, Yafit; Schiff, Rachel; Vakil, Eli

2012-01-01

Motor sequence learning has been studied extensively in Developmental dyslexia (DD). The purpose of the present research was to examine procedural learning of letter names and motor sequences in individuals with DD and control groups. Both groups completed the Serial Search Task which enabled the assessment of learning of letter names and motor…

Indiana Developmental School Counseling Idea Book.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Indiana State Dept. of Education, Indianapolis.

This book is intended to present guidance curriculum activities which address students' needs in the areas of learning to live, learning to learn, and learning to work. The activities are divided into four developmental levels: K-5, grades 6-8, grades 9-12, and K-12. At the bottom of each entry the name of the contributing school counselor, school…

[Circadian rhythm disruption and human development].

PubMed

Kohyama, Jun

2013-12-01

Ontogenetic developments of rest-activity, sleep-wakefulness, temperature and several hormone rhythms in humans were reviewed. The reported effects of environment on these alterations were also summarized. Then, disorders or conditions which often encounter during early stage of life and reveal circadian rhythm disruptions were described. These disorders or conditions included severe brain damage, visual disturbance, developmental disorders(autistic spectrum disorder and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder), Rett syndrome, Angelman syndrome, Smith-Magenis syndrome, epilepsy, Yonaki, and inadequate sleep hygiene. Finally, it was emphasized that we should pay special attention on the development of youngsters who showed sleep disturbance during early stage of life with special reference to the later occurrence of developmental disorders.

Autism spectrum disorder - Asperger syndrome

MedlinePlus

... part of the larger developmental disorder category of autism spectrum disorder . ... American Psychiatric Association. Autism spectrum disorder. ... VA: American Psychiatric Publishing: 2013;50-59. Raviola GJ, ...

Deep Learning and Developmental Learning: Emergence of Fine-to-Coarse Conceptual Categories at Layers of Deep Belief Network.

PubMed

Sadeghi, Zahra

2016-09-01

In this paper, I investigate conceptual categories derived from developmental processing in a deep neural network. The similarity matrices of deep representation at each layer of neural network are computed and compared with their raw representation. While the clusters generated by raw representation stand at the basic level of abstraction, conceptual categories obtained from deep representation shows a bottom-up transition procedure. Results demonstrate a developmental course of learning from specific to general level of abstraction through learned layers of representations in a deep belief network. © The Author(s) 2016.

Health-related quality of life, developmental milestones, and self-esteem in young adults with bleeding disorders.

PubMed

Limperg, P F; Haverman, L; Maurice-Stam, H; Coppens, M; Valk, C; Kruip, M J H A; Eikenboom, J; Peters, M; Grootenhuis, M A

2018-01-01

The treatment of bleeding disorders improved in the last decades. However, the effect of growing up with bleeding disorders on developmental, emotional, and social aspects is understudied. Therefore, this study assesses HRQOL, developmental milestones, and self-esteem in Dutch young adults (YA) with bleeding disorders compared to peers. Ninety-five YA (18-30 years) with bleeding disorders (78 men; mean 24.7 years, SD 3.5) and 17 women (mean 25.1 years, SD 3.8) participated and completed the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory Young Adult version, the Course of Life Questionnaire, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Differences between patients with bleeding disorders and their peers, and between hemophilia severity groups, were tested using Mann-Whitney U tests. YA men with bleeding disorders report a slightly lower HRQOL on the total scale, physical functioning, and school/work functioning in comparison to healthy peers (small effect sizes). YA men with severe hemophilia report more problems on the physical functioning scale than non-severe hemophilia. YA men with bleeding disorders achieved more psychosexual developmental milestones than peers, but show a delay in 'paid jobs, during middle and/or high school.' A somewhat lower self-esteem was found in YA men with bleeding disorders in comparison to peers (small effect size). For YA women with bleeding disorders, no differences were found on any of the outcomes in comparison to peers. This study demonstrates some impairments in HRQOL and self-esteem in YA men with bleeding disorders. By monitoring HRQOL, problems can be identified early, especially with regard to their physical and professional/school functioning.

Neurodevelopmental behavioral and cognitive disorders.

PubMed

Jeste, Shafali Spurling

2015-06-01

Neurodevelopmental disorders are a group of heterogeneous conditions characterized by a delay or disturbance in the acquisition of skills in a variety of developmental domains, including motor, social, language, and cognition. This article reviews the most commonly diagnosed neurodevelopmental disorders, which include attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, global developmental delay, and intellectual disability and also provides updates on diagnosis, neurobiology, treatment, and issues surrounding the transition to adulthood. Although symptoms emerge at discrete points in childhood, these disorders result from abnormal brain maturation that likely precedes clinical impairment. As a result, research has focused on the identification of predictive biological and behavioral markers, with the ultimate goal of initiating treatments that may either alter developmental trajectories or lessen clinical severity. Advances in the methods used to identify genetic variants, from chromosomal microarray analysis to whole exome sequencing, have facilitated the characterization of many genetic mutations and syndromes that share common pathways to abnormal circuit formation and brain development. Not only do genetic discoveries enrich our understanding of mechanisms underlying atypical development, but they also allow us to identify more homogeneous subgroups within this spectrum of conditions. Impairments do continue into adulthood, with challenges in the transition to adulthood including the management of comorbidities and the provision of educational and vocational supports. Advances in our understanding of the neurobiology and developmental trajectories of these disorders will pave the way for tremendous advances in treatment. Mechanism-based therapies for genetic syndromes are being studied with the goal of expanding targeted treatments to nonsyndromic forms of neurodevelopmental disorders.

Asperger syndrome: how does it relate to non-verbal learning disability?

PubMed

Ryburn, B; Anderson, V; Wales, R

2009-03-01

The syndrome of non-verbal learning disabilities (NLD) is associated with prominent non-verbal deficits such as reduced perceptual and spatial abilities, against a background of relatively intact verbal abilities. Asperger syndrome is one of the several developmental disorders for which Byron Rourke has claimed that almost all the signs and symptoms of NLD are present. This study investigated the claim utilizing a battery of neuropsychological tests that were found to be sensitive to NLD in the original learning disordered populations used to describe the syndrome. Children aged between 8 and 14 were recruited to form two groups: (1) children with Asperger syndrome (N=14) and (2) normal healthy schoolchildren (N=20). By contrast to the main principle outlined in the NLD model, children with Asperger syndrome did not display a relative difficulty with spatial- or problem-solving tasks; indeed, they displayed significantly higher performance on some non-verbal tasks in comparison with verbal tasks. It was only in relation to their high levels of psychosocial and interpersonal difficulties, which are also predicted on the basis of their psychiatric diagnosis, that the children with Asperger syndrome were clearly consistent with the NLD model in this study. These results raise questions about the relevance of the syndrome of NLD for children with Asperger syndrome.