Reading, equivalence, and recombination of units: a replication with students with different learning histories. (1/283)

First graders, preschoolers, special education students, and adults received a reading program in which they learned to match printed to dictated words and to construct (copy) printed words. The students not only learned to match the training words but also learned to read them. In addition, most of the students learned to read new words that involved recombinations of the syllables of the training words. The results replicate and extend the generality of a prior analysis of a reading program based on stimulus equivalence and recombination of units.  (+info)

Academic career after treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. (2/283)

AIM: To evaluate academic career in long term survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), in comparison to their healthy siblings. PATIENTS: Ninety four children treated for ALL with cranial irradiation 18 or 25 Gy and intrathecal methotrexate as CNS prophylaxis. Median age at evaluation was 20 years; median follow up since diagnosis was 15 years at the time of the study. METHODS: Patients and their 134 siblings completed a questionnaire on school career. The percentage of referrals to special primary schools for learning disabled, and the final level of secondary education in patients and siblings were compared, using a six point classification. Within the patient group, the effect of possible risk factors (age at diagnosis, irradiation dose, and gender) was investigated. RESULTS: Significantly more patients than siblings were placed in special educational programmes. A significant difference was found for level of secondary education. No effect of gender or irradiation dose was found, but younger age at diagnosis was significantly related to both referrals and school levels. CONCLUSION: Treatment for childhood ALL with cranial irradiation and chemotherapy at a young age is clearly associated with poorer academic career.  (+info)

FRAXA and FRAXE: the results of a five year survey. (3/283)

We report the results of a five year survey of FRAXA and FRAXE mutations among boys aged 5 to 18 with special educational needs (SEN) related to learning disability. We tested their mothers using the X chromosome not transmitted to the son as a control chromosome, and the X chromosome inherited by the son to provide information on stability of transmission. We tested 3738 boys and 2968 mothers and found 20 FRAXA and one FRAXE full mutations among the boys and none among the mothers. This gives an estimated prevalence of full mutations in males of 1 in 5530 for FRAXA and 1 in 23 423 for FRAXE. We found an excess of intermediate and premutation alleles for both FRAXA and FRAXE. For FRAXA this was significant at the 0.001 level but the excess for FRAXE was significant only at the 0.03 level. We conclude that the excess of intermediate and premutation sized alleles for FRAXA may well be a contributing factor to the boys' mental impairment, while that for FRAXE may be a chance finding. We studied approximately 3000 transmissions from mother to son and found five instabilities of FRAXA in the common or intermediate range and three instabilities of FRAXE in the intermediate range. Thus instabilities in trinucleotide repeat size for FRAXA and FRAXE are rare, especially among alleles in the common size range.  (+info)

Teenagers with Down syndrome study algebra in High School. (4/283)

This paper deals with the adaptation of an algebra curriculum for two students with Down syndrome who were included in High School. Since the kindergarten, this boy and girl have been fully included in general education classes. This paper examines the rationale for this choice on an algebra program. The adaptation of this program was easy because all that was required was to shorten it and do some additional steps in teaching (a little bit more than in a remedial course). Also, visual prompts were provided to the students. The boy needed a calculator all the time. Both of the students learned to calculate algebraic expressions with parenthesis, with positive and negative numbers and even with powers. The boy was able to do algebraic sum of monomials. The girl performed expressions with fractions. They took written and oral tests at the same time as their classmates, but with different exercises or questions. The girl was able to do some mental arithmetic. Often she was more consistent and careful than her typical classmates. The boy had problems with the integration and he did not attend the school full time. The inclusion, even when it was not perfect, provided the motivation to teach and to learn. In both cases, the crucial point was the daily collaboration of the mathematics teacher with the special educator. Both of the students enjoyed the mathematics program, as many typical students do. Mathematics gave them the fulfilling emotion of succeeding!  (+info)

Getting in and staying there: children with Down syndrome in mainstream schools. (5/283)

The proportion of children with Down syndrome in mainstream schools, compared to special schools, has been increasing over the last decade; this is due both to more children going into mainstream schools at five or six and to more children staying in mainstream schools for increasing lengths of time, not uncommonly throughout their school careers. There are, however, wide variations between Local Education Authorities, which is attributed mainly to differing implementation of inclusion policies. Data is drawn together from a number of sources (both previously published and unpublished) which describe some of the processes which take place in making initial placements in mainstream schools, maintaining those placements and transferring out of mainstream schools. Commitment of staff to meeting children's special needs rather than matters relating to the curriculum seem to be of paramount importance both at home and abroad in successful mainstream placements.  (+info)

Assistance to States for the Education of Children with Disabilities. Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, Department of Education. Final regulations. (6/283)

The Secretary amends the regulations for the Assistance to States for the Education of Children with Disabilities program under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA; Part B). This amendment is needed to implement the statutory provision that for any fiscal year in which the appropriation for section 611 of the IDEA exceeds $4.1 billion, a local educational agency (LEA) may treat as local funds up to 20 percent of the amount it receives that exceeds the amount it received during the prior fiscal year. The amendment is intended to ensure effective implementation of the 20 percent rule by clarifying which funds under Part B of IDEA can be included in the 20 percent calculation, and, as a result, to reduce the potential for audit exceptions.  (+info)

Causes of severe visual impairment and blindness in children attending schools for the visually handicapped in the Czech Republic. (7/283)

AIMS: To describe the causes of severe visual impairment and blindness in children in schools for the visually handicapped in the Czech Republic in 1998. METHODS: Pupils attending all 10 primary schools for the visually handicapped were examined. A modified WHO/PBL eye examination record for children with blindness and low vision was used. RESULTS: 229 children (146 males and 83 females) aged 6-15 years were included in the study: 47 children had severe visual impairment (20.5%) (visual acuity in their better eye less than 6/60), and 159 were blind (69.5%) (visual acuity in their better eye less than 3/60). Anatomically, the most affected parts of the eye were the retina (124, 54.2%), optic nerve (35, 15.3%), whole globe (25, 10.9%), lens (20, 8.7%), and uvea (12, 5.2%). Aetiologically (timing of insult leading to visual loss), the major cause of visual impairment was retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) (96, 41.9 %), followed by abnormalities of unknown timing of insult (97, 42.4%), and hereditary disease (21, 9.2%). In 90 children (40%), additional disabilities were present: mental disability (36, 16%), physical handicap (16, 7%), and/or a combination of both (19, 8%). It was estimated that 127 children (56%) suffer from visual impairment caused by potentially preventable and/or treatable conditions (for example, ROP, cataract, glaucoma). CONCLUSIONS: Establishing a study group for comprehensive evaluation of causes of visual handicap in children in the Czech Republic, as well as for detailed analysis of present practice of screening for ROP was recommended.  (+info)

Assessment of impulsivity and the development of self-control in students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. (8/283)

We examined a combined approach of manipulating reinforcer dimensions and delay fading to promote the development of self-control with 3 students diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. First, we administered a brief computer-based assessment to determine the relative influence of reinforcer rate (R), reinforcer quality (Q), reinforcer immediacy (I), and effort (E) on the students' choices between concurrently presented math problems. During each session, one of these dimensions was placed in direct competition with another dimension (e.g., RvI involving math problem alternatives associated with high-rate delayed reinforcement vs. low-rate immediate reinforcement), with all possible pairs of dimensions presented across the six assessment conditions (RvQ, RvI, RvE, QvI, QvE, IvE). The assessment revealed that the choices of all 3 students were most influenced by immediacy of reinforcement, reflecting impulsivity. We then implemented a self-control training procedure in which reinforcer immediacy competed with another influential dimension (RvI or Qvl), and the delay associated with the higher rate or quality reinforcer alternative was progressively increased. The students allocated the majority of their time to the math problem alternatives yielding more frequent (high-rate) or preferred (high-quality) reinforcement despite delays of up to 24 hr. Subsequent readministration of portions of the assessment showed that self-control transferred across untrained dimensions of reinforcement.  (+info)