ABSTRACT
Toe walking has been associated with language disorders and autism. To better understand the association between persistent toe walking and sensory and motor variables in children with autism, the degree of toe walking was compared with an estimate of the severity of sensory integration dysfunction symptoms and the presence of residual components of the tonic labyrinthine in supine reflex pattern in 61 children younger than 37 months of age with newly diagnosed autism. There was no association between the presence of toe walking and sensory symptoms (P = .5298) or language age (P = .6142), but there was an association between toe walking and the presence of components of the tonic labyrinthine reflex (P = .04222). These preliminary results support the contribution of subtle motor deficits to the evolution of some behaviors associated with autism.
Subject(s)
Autistic Disorder/physiopathology , Gait , Movement Disorders/physiopathology , Walking , Autistic Disorder/complications , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Infant , Male , Movement Disorders/complications , Reflex , Severity of Illness Index , ToesABSTRACT
The hypothesis that the presence of macrocephaly might vary with the specific growth chart used was tested by using the Nellahus, CDC, and recent Rollins et al revision head circumference charts to plot the head circumferences of 253 children with neurodevelopmental disorders and with ages between 12 to 36 months; of these children, 59 had a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. The CDC and Rollins et al head circumference charts identified more cases of macrocephaly and fewer cases of microcephaly than did the older Nellhaus chart but did not significantly differ in their identification of macrocephaly in children with autism.
Subject(s)
Child Development Disorders, Pervasive/complications , Megalencephaly/complications , Microcephaly/complications , Cephalometry , Child Development Disorders, Pervasive/pathology , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Infant , Male , Megalencephaly/pathology , Microcephaly/pathology , Organ SizeSubject(s)
Brain Diseases/history , Brain Diseases/diagnosis , Child, Preschool , History, 20th Century , Humans , Infant , Infant, NewbornSubject(s)
Brain Injuries/diagnosis , Crying/physiology , Reaction Time , Brain Injuries/complications , Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , PediatricsSubject(s)
Child Development , Down Syndrome/physiopathology , Child, Preschool , Humans , Infant , Predictive Value of TestsABSTRACT
The records of 954 ambulatory children presenting for initial evaluation to a university developmental pediatrician were reviewed for the prevalence of persistent toe walking and associated tight heel cords. The incidence of persistent toe walking (20.1%) and tight heel cords (12.0%) were found to be higher in 324 children with an autistic spectrum disorder but lower (10.0%/3.0%) in 30 children with Asperger syndrome. These results confirm the previously reported high incidence of toe walking in children with autism and with language disorders and also raise the possibility of a secondary orthopedic deformity that can complicate long-term management of these patients.
Subject(s)
Autistic Disorder/complications , Movement Disorders/etiology , Toes , Walking/physiology , Chi-Square Distribution , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , MaleSubject(s)
Cerebral Palsy/classification , Algorithms , CD-ROM , Cerebral Palsy/epidemiology , Child, Preschool , Comorbidity , Humans , Neurologic Examination , PrevalenceSubject(s)
Celiac Disease/diagnosis , Paraparesis/etiology , Celiac Disease/complications , Female , Humans , InfantABSTRACT
Health and social outcomes in children who have cerebral palsy (CP) depend on several factors, including the severity of the CP, medical interventions, and the child's environment. One of the hallmarks of cerebral palsy is its variability. Several formal methods of classifying persons with CP, such as the Gross Motor Function Classification System, have been developed to standardize that variability. Children and adults with CP must contend with increased mortality as well as many secondary conditions that can affect activities and participation in society. Predicting outcomes for children with CP, establishing realistic goals, and determining the best interventions to improve functioning are facilitated by applying research results to individual decisions. Many more such studies are needed--especially those performed with large representative samples. In addition, the childhood factors that affect outcomes in adults with CP still need to be elucidated.
Subject(s)
Cerebral Palsy , Child Welfare , Health Status , Quality of Life , Activities of Daily Living , Adult , Cerebral Palsy/classification , Cerebral Palsy/epidemiology , Cerebral Palsy/psychology , Cerebral Palsy/therapy , Child , Child Development , Disabled Children/psychology , Evidence-Based Medicine , Humans , Intellectual Disability/etiology , Morbidity , Mortality , Predictive Value of Tests , Prognosis , Psychology, Child , Quality Assurance, Health Care , Risk Factors , Severity of Illness Index , Social Environment , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
The Capute Scales is a 100-item developmental assessment tool to quantitatively measure expressive and receptive language and nonverbal problem-solving skills in infants from birth to 3 years of age. The present multisite study standardized the instrument on a population of 1055 typically developing children balanced for age, sex, and race and generated normative tables to document the instrument's utility. There were no significant performance differences by race or sex. The achieved age levels for individual test items and for total scores were accurately predicted by the age levels assigned to the test items. The conversion of age levels to standard scores was found to be unnecessary because the developmental quotients derived from age ratios did not differ significantly from the derived scores.
