Behaviour and cognitive outcomes from middle ear disease. (1/552)

OBJECTIVES: To resolve controversies over associations between a history of middle ear disease and psychosocial or cognitive/educational outcomes. DESIGN: Multipurpose longitudinal birth cohort study. Original cohort comprised all UK births between 5 and 11 April 1970; data were available for approximately 12,000 children at 5 years old and 9000 children at 10 years old. METHODS: For 5 year old children, parent reported data were available on health, social, and behavioural factors, including data on two validated markers of middle ear disease. Cognitive tests were administered at 5 and 10 years of age, and behavioural problems rated at 10 years by the child's teacher. RESULTS: After adjustment for social background and maternal malaise, the developmental sequelae of middle ear disease remained significant even at 10 years. The largest effects were observed in behaviour problems and language test data at age 5, but effect sizes were modest overall. IMPLICATIONS: These results provide an epidemiological basis for policies that aim to minimise the sequelae of middle ear disease by awareness in parents and preschool teachers, early referral, and intervention for more serious or persistent cases.  (+info)

Clinical characteristics of children with mental retardation of unknown etiology in Korea. (2/552)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical characteristics of children with mental retardation (MR) of unknown etiology for early recognition and intervention. In this study, we defined children with MR of unknown etiology as those without clear etiologies for MR despite extensive evaluation and were not associated with pathological behavioral problems such as pervasive developmental disorders and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. The clinical characteristics of children with MR of unknown etiology were as follows. 1) MR of unknown etiology was 48.8% of all MR. 2) MR of unknown etiology was more common in males. 3) Delayed language development was a leading factor that made the parents of children with MR of unknown etiology seek help from physicians. However, most of the children with MR of unknown etiology showed a relatively uniform delay in several areas of development. 4) Most children with MR of unknown etiology were delayed walkers. 5) Most children with MR of unknown etiology were mild cases.  (+info)

Dopey's seizure. (3/552)

Angelman syndrome is a neurogenetic condition namely characterized by developmental delay, virtual absence of expressive verbal language, peculiar organization of movement, seizures and happy demeanor. This syndrome has been recognized since 1965, but it seems that Walt Disney presented an original depiction of it in his first full-length animated film, including myoclonic jerks and an apparently generalized tonic-clonic seizure.  (+info)

Second-order belief attribution in Williams syndrome: intact or impaired? (4/552)

Second-order mental state attribution in a group of children with Williams syndrome was investigated. The children were compared to age, IQ, and language-matched groups of children with Prader-Willi syndrome or nonspecific mental retardation. Participants were given two trials of a second-order reasoning task. No significant differences between the Williams syndrome and Prader-Willi or mentally retarded groups on any of the test questions were found. Results contrast with the view that individuals with Williams syndrome have an intact theory of mind and suggest that in their attributions of second-order mental states, children with Williams syndrome perform no better than do other groups of children with mental retardation.  (+info)

Language disorders: a 10-year research update review. (5/552)

OBJECTIVE: To review the past 10 years of research in child language or communication disorders, which are highly prevalent in the general population and comorbid with childhood psychiatric disorders. METHOD: A literature search of 3 major databases was conducted. The child language literature, describing the domains of language development--phonology, grammar, semantics, and pragmatics--is reviewed. RESULTS: Disorders of grammar, semantics, and pragmatics, but not phonology, overlap significantly with childhood psychiatric disorders. Receptive language disorders have emerged as high-risk indicators, often undiagnosed. Language disorders and delays are psychiatric risk factors and have implications for evaluation, therapy, and research. However, they are often undiagnosed in child mental health and community settings. The research has focused mostly on monolingual English-speaking children. CONCLUSION: Awareness of basic child language development, delay, and deviance is crucial for the practicing child and adolescent psychiatrist, who must diagnose and refer relevant cases for treatment and remediation. Future research needs to address the growing language diversity of our clinical populations.  (+info)

Evaluating the effects of functional communication training in the presence and absence of establishing operations. (6/552)

We conducted functional analyses of aberrant behavior with 4 children with developmental disabilities. We then implemented functional communication training (FCT) by using different mands across two contexts, one in which the establishing operation (EO) that was relevant to the function of aberrant behavior was present and one in which the EO that was relevant to the function of aberrant behavior was absent. The mand used in the EO-present context served the same function as aberrant behavior, and the mand used in the EO-absent context served a different function than the one identified via the functional analysis. In addition, a free-play (control) condition was conducted for all children. Increases in relevant manding were observed in the EO-present context for 3 of the 4 participants. Decreases in aberrant behavior were achieved by the end of the treatment analysis for all 4 participants. Irrelevant mands were rarely observed in the EO-absent context for 3 of the 4 participants. Evaluating the effectiveness of FCT across different contexts allowed a further analysis of manding when the establishing operations were present or absent. The contributions of this study to the understanding of functional equivalence are also discussed.  (+info)

Assessment of a response bias for aggression over functionally equivalent appropriate behavior. (7/552)

We evaluated the effects of a dense (fixed-ratio 1) schedule of reinforcement for an 11-year-old boy's mands for toys while aggression produced the same toys on various schedules chosen on the basis of a progressive-ratio probe. Based on the probe session data, we accurately predicted that aggression would be more probable than mands when the schedules were equal or slightly discrepant, but that mands would be more probable when the schedule discrepancy was large.  (+info)

The SPCH1 region on human 7q31: genomic characterization of the critical interval and localization of translocations associated with speech and language disorder. (8/552)

The KE family is a large three-generation pedigree in which half the members are affected with a severe speech and language disorder that is transmitted as an autosomal dominant monogenic trait. In previously published work, we localized the gene responsible (SPCH1) to a 5.6-cM region of 7q31 between D7S2459 and D7S643. In the present study, we have employed bioinformatic analyses to assemble a detailed BAC-/PAC-based sequence map of this interval, containing 152 sequence tagged sites (STSs), 20 known genes, and >7.75 Mb of completed genomic sequence. We screened the affected chromosome 7 from the KE family with 120 of these STSs (average spacing <100 kb), but we did not detect any evidence of a microdeletion. Novel polymorphic markers were generated from the sequence and were used to further localize critical recombination breakpoints in the KE family. This allowed refinement of the SPCH1 interval to a region between new markers 013A and 330B, containing approximately 6.1 Mb of completed sequence. In addition, we have studied two unrelated patients with a similar speech and language disorder, who have de novo translocations involving 7q31. Fluorescence in situ hybridization analyses with BACs/PACs from the sequence map localized the t(5;7)(q22;q31.2) breakpoint in the first patient (CS) to a single clone within the newly refined SPCH1 interval. This clone contains the CAGH44 gene, which encodes a brain-expressed protein containing a large polyglutamine stretch. However, we found that the t(2;7)(p23;q31.3) breakpoint in the second patient (BRD) resides within a BAC clone mapping >3.7 Mb distal to this, outside the current SPCH1 critical interval. Finally, we investigated the CAGH44 gene in affected individuals of the KE family, but we found no mutations in the currently known coding sequence. These studies represent further steps toward the isolation of the first gene to be implicated in the development of speech and language.  (+info)