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To systematically review medical and familial conditions in autistic subjects (AU) as compared to other developmentally disabled controls (DD). Data was gathered prospectively for 102 AUs and 106 DDs who were comparable for age, sex, and nonverbal intelligence. Chi-square and t test analyses were used to evaluate the data collected for AUs and DDs. Demographic data for AUs and DDs was similar for age, sex, and nonverbal IQ scores. The only statistically significant demographic differences were higher educational levels in mothers of AUs and increased number of firstborn AUs. Family history data revealed a greater number of reported maternal learning disabilities for DDs and increased paternal mental retardation for AUs but no differences in familial medical or psychiatric disorders. No prenatal or perinatal risk factors were identified in the AU group although increased alcohol use during pregnancy and decreased gestational age was found in the DD group. Review of developmental and behavioral issues revealed delayed toileting, tantrums, strong food preferences, and preoccupations to be significantly increased in AUs as compared to DDs. No significant differences were noted between the two groups in health problems or doctor visits. However, AUs had significantly larger mean head size than DDs. This study confirmed several previously established findings in autism including 4 to 1 male prevalence, increased head size, strong food preferences, and lack of prenatal/perinatal findings specifically associated with autism. However, the data suggested no increased prevalence of health problems among AUs or their family members compared to DDs. Several biologic interventions and etiologic theories of autism have been based on the assumption of medical differences in this population, an assumption called into question by current data.

The dramatic increase in prevalence rates of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) over recent decades likely reflects the influence of multiple factors. In the current paper, it is argued ASDs can result from an interaction between genetic susceptibilities and environmental exposures. Specifically, we hypothesize that fetal or infantile exposure to methyl mercury containing pollution by individuals with biologically inhibited antioxidant functions contributes to development of autism. Correlational data reveal that ASD rates are higher in areas of greater pollution levels, and autistic individuals exhibit biological evidence of mercury toxicity. Further, oxidative stress and decreased antioxidant activities are manifested in individuals with ASDs, specifically autism. Taken together, available evidence supports a methyl mercury-induced oxidative stress model of the disorders for at least some sufferers. Consequently, legislative efforts should focus on preventing exposures to methyl mercury and other toxicants that can adversely impact neurodevelopment.

In this study, we explored age-related differences in smiling and related personality characteristics in individuals with Down syndrome. Participants were 65 children, adolescents, and young adults with intellectual disabilities aged 5–20 years (Down syndrome: 42, mixed etiologies: 23) and their parents. Both directly observable measures of social behavior (smiling frequency and duration) and parent report measures of child personality (subdomains of the Reiss profiles and Achenbach’s child behavior checklist) were examined. Significant interactions between group (Down syndrome versus mixed) and age were observed for smile frequency (decreased with age in Down syndrome), smile duration (decreased with age in Down syndrome), attention seeking (decreased with age in Down syndrome), and anxious/withdrawn (increased with age in Down syndrome). Relationships between smiling behavior and personality/psychopathology dimensions are also reported for both groups. Implications for developmental approaches to studying outcomes in specific genetic disorders are discussed.

The present experiment represents an attempt to learn from the comparison of dyslectic readers, prelingually deafened readers, and a control group of typically developing hearing readers, in four particular areas, about factors determining their reading skills.Twenty-three students with diagnosed dyslexia (mean grade level 9.7 [1.53]), 20 students with prelingual deafness (mean grade level 8.9 [1.33]), and a control of 41 typically developing hearing students (mean grade level 8.9 [1.43]) participated in the study.Four distinct areas were examined which included: (a) the rapid, repetitive execution of two simple, familiar motor actions; (b) the rapid, consecutive judgment of the identicalness of two digit stimuli; (c) the rapid, consecutive, perceptual processing of word pairs; and (d) the rapid, consecutive, conceptual processing of word pairs. Findings obtained from th comparison of the three participant groups in the four tested areas indicate that the reading difficulties of dyslectic readers and prelingually deafened readers have differentsources, neither of which are directly, causally related to a phonological processing deficit.

Beginning in infancy, before a diagnosis is made, children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) show significant impairments in the foundation for social-communication interactions including eye gaze in the contexts of both requesting and joint attention (JA). Addressing these early impairments as early as possible in toddlers who receive the diagnosis of ASD provides them with a foundational social-communication repertoire necessary for learning. In this study we examined the effects of a social-communication intervention involving prompting and reinforcement to teach gaze shift (GS; shifting gaze from an object to the interventionist’s eyes) in the context of responding to a request and initiating JA to four toddlers with ASD. Intervention lasted 3–9 weeks with all toddlers demonstrating GS to mastery across both contexts. Toddlers also showed generalization to a repertoire of social-communication behavior, including initiating requests and increases in smiling. Some improvements in symptoms of ASD and overall functioning were observed. Results suggest a promising brief intervention to address the earliest form of social communication that remains a part of successful social-communication interactions throughout life.

The purpose of this study was to administer clinical balance measures in community-dwelling adults with unilateral lower extremity (LE) amputations and determine optimal cut-off scores for identifying fallers. A cross-sectional study was conducted on a convenience sample of 40 independently ambulatory participants with unilateral LE amputations and a prosthetic device (20 fallers and 20 nonfallers) who were tested during a single session using: the Amputee Mobility Predictor with Prosthesis (AMP PRO), Functional Reach (FR), Single Limb Stance (SLS) and the Timed-Up-and-GO (TUG). There was a statistically significant difference on the AMP PRO (4.75 points.; 95% CI 1.10–8.40) for fallers (36.95 out of 47, SD 7.43) compared with nonfallers (41.70 out of 47, SD 3.13) and on the TUG (4.17 s., 95% CI 0.65–7.69) for fallers (14.84 s, SD 7.33) versus nonfallers (10.67 s, SD 2.64). The AMP PRO had a moderate Area Under the Curve (AUC) predictive value of 0.70 with an optimal cut-off score of 39.5 out of 47 total points (sensitivity 80%, specificity 60%) for identification of fallers. For the TUG, there was a moderate AUC value of 0.68 (sensitivity 70%, specificity 60%) when using a cut-off score of 10.03 s. There was a moderate to high correlation between the AMP PRO and TUG both between (r = −0.77) and within (r = −0.68) groups indicating that they measure similar constructs. Limitations included a heterogeneous sample and self-report of fall history. Both the AMP PRO and the TUG provide acceptable sensitivity and specificity for identifying fallers among community-dwelling adults with LE amputation.

Communication problems and tantrums are common in children with autism. It has long been postulated that lack of speech is a cause of these tantrums. The goal of our study is to determine if impaired speech is associated with tantrums in preschool children with autism. The relationship between language and tantrum frequency in 240 children with autism, 15 to 71 months of age was investigated. Children were administered standardized IQ and language tests, and mothers rated tantrum frequency and speech intelligibility on a 4-point scale on the Pediatric Behavior Scale. Verbal and nonverbal IQ, expressive and receptive language quotients and age equivalents, and speech intelligibility explained less than 3% of the variance in tantrum frequency. Children whose mental age was sufficient for verbal communication but who lacked speech did not have more tantrums than children with adequate speech. In fact, children with an expressive language age at or above 24 months had more tantrums than children whose speech skills were below 24 months. Our findings and those of others do not support the belief that preschool children with autism have tantrums because they cannot speak or because their speech is difficult to understand.

This study compared the use of delivering a single instruction (e.g., Who is it?) versus varied instructions (e.g., What’s their name? Who is this? What about this one?) when teaching three children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) novel expressive label targets via direct telehealth. The present investigation utilized an adapted alternating treatments design nested into a multiple probe design, to teach participants to expressively label pictures of cartoon characters using either a single instruction or varied instructions. The goal of this study was to evaluate the acquisition, effectiveness, and efficiency of the two different procedures for each participant. The results demonstrated that while students learned all targets in both conditions, skill acquisition rates were slightly higher for the majority of participants using varied instructions via telehealth.

Bệnh Tiểu Đường Typ 1 là một trong những bệnh lý phổ biến nhất ở trẻ em dưới 18 tuổi cũng như ở thanh niên. Các triệu chứng của bệnh này, bao gồm cả những trường hợp có và không có hạ đường huyết nặng, tạo ra mức đường huyết bất thường cùng với mức insulin bất thường. Các mức hóa học bất thường này đã được liên quan đến các khiếm khuyết thần kinh nhận thức về trí nhớ, sự chú ý, kỹ năng vận động, khả năng thị giác không gian và chức năng điều hành. Trong bài báo này, tài liệu có sẵn về những thay đổi trong hệ thần kinh trung ương liên quan đến tác động của bệnh tiểu đường phụ thuộc insulin đối với trẻ em ở độ tuổi đi học và thanh niên được xem xét. Các ảnh hưởng đến việc học cũng như nguyên nhân thần kinh sinh học của các khuyết tật chức năng điều hành được thảo luận.