developmental disability
April 1, 2009 -- (BRONX, NY) -- Scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have proposed a sweeping new theory of autism that suggests that the brains of people with autism are structurally normal but dysregulated, meaning symptoms of the disorder might be reversible.
Study was conducted with 274 adults with intellectual disabilities currently receiving funding from a state developmental disability agency
For many children, a trip to the doctor or dentist is a stressful experience. The sensory environment (i.e., the sounds, smells, and lights associated with the clinical setting) can cause a child's anxiety levels to rise.
A head-cooling device called CoolCap prevents brain damage in some oxygen-deprived newborn babies, providing the first evidence in humans that many birth-related neurological problems can be reversed, according to an international multi-center clinical trial. Using brain wave analysis at birth, researchers identified those babies who might benefit from treatment. In the group of infants with moderate to severe injury, the percentage of babies that experienced an unfavorable outcome (death or neuro-developmental disability) was significantly reduced from 66 percent to 48 percent by the cooling. In addition, there was a trend to a reduction in mortality in the cooled infants.
Researchers have traditionally thought that language learning in children with Down syndrome stopped during the teenage years. As a result, Down youth typically received no language instruction after puberty. But a new study suggests the opposite: that individuals with Down syndrome can benefit from language intervention programs during adolescence and beyond, precisely because it takes them longer to learn. Down syndrome is a developmental disability resulting from an extra copy of chromosome 21, and it affects about 5,000 newborns in the United States every year. Most children begin learning language skills, such as grammar and speaking, at rapid rates early in their lives. Children with Down syndrome, however, typically experience delays in language development, learning more slowly and at varying rates.
