Functional but Inefficient Kinesthetic Motor Imagery in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Whether action representation in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is deficient remains controversial, as previous studies of action observation or imitation report conflicting results. Here we investigated the characteristics of action representation in adolescents with ASD through motor imagery (MI) using a hand rotation and an object rotation task. Comparable with the typically-developing group, the individuals with ASD were able to spontaneously use kinesthetic MI to perform the hand rotation task, as manifested by the significant biomechanical effects. However, the ASD group performed significantly slower only in the hand rotation task, but not in the object rotation task. The findings suggest that the adolescents with ASD showed inefficient but functional kinesthetic MI, implicating that their action representation might be preserved.

Cognitive development at age 8 years in very low birth weight children in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: All children should have some developmental screening periodically throughout childhood, especially those who were born prematurely. There is limited information about the development of children with very low birth weight (VLBW; birth weight < 1500 g) beyond the preschool age in Taiwan. We evaluated intelligence quotient (IQ) and cognitive ability of prematurely born school-aged children in Taiwan. METHODS: This was a multicenter study of VLBW and full-term children born between 1995 and 1997 at four hospitals in northern Taiwan. We used the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, 3rd Edition (WISC-III), to assess these children. Demographic data were recorded including maternal and paternal age, education, birth weight, gestational age, and gender. RESULTS: A total of 189 children (130 with VLBW born prematurely and 59 born at full term) were recruited. There were significant differences in performance IQ (PIQ; 90.16 +/- 17.05 vs. 108.51 +/- 15.65, p < 0.001), verbal IQ (VIQ; 97.43 +/- 15.62 vs. 111.78 +/- 13.65, p < 0.001), full-scale IQ (FSIQ; 93.14 +/- 16.33 vs. 111.05 +/- 14.81, p < 0.001), verbal comprehension index score (VCIS; 98.06 +/- 15.53 vs. 112.47 +/- 13.74, p < 0.001), perceptional organization index score (POIS; 92.39 +/- 17.13 vs. 109.42 +/- 14.87, p < 0.001) and freedom from distractibility index score (FDIS; 98.34 +/- 17.71 vs. 110.53 +/- 10.94, p = 0.008). There was no correlation between perinatal outcomes and FSIQ. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that VLBW children have significantly lower PIQ, VIQ, FSIQ, VCIS, POIS and FDIS at primary school compared with full-term children.

Factors affecting the non-compliance for follow-up in very low birth weight children.

BACKGROUND: Long-term longitudinal follow up of very low birth weight (VLBW, birth weight < or =1500 g) infants is important. This study assessed the factors affecting non-compliance for follow-up at different ages in VLBW children. METHODS: The demographic data, morbidity and neurodevelopmental data of 321 VLBW infants were analyzed between those returned and not returned. RESULTS: The majority of the children who did not attend the follow-up clinic were caused by inaccessibility, and refusal by the parents. The non-compliant children had higher rate of multiple births, short paternal education years, mother being a housewife, and lower incidence of first child, emergent caesarian section and small for gestational age. They did not differ much from the children returned in the occurrence of neonatal diseases. No significant difference of the growth and neurodevelopmental status at the previous visit could be observed between children of the two groups. When data of different follow-up visits were compared, it was noted that the most common reason for not attending the follow-up visits was inaccessibility for the 6- and 12-month visits and refusal by the parents for other visits. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that variable(s) increasing the non-compliance were none for the 6-month visit, severe retinopathy of prematurity for the 12-month visit, short duration of paternal education for the 18-, 24- and 36-month visits and multiple births for the 36-month visit. CONCLUSIONS: These results showed that the reasons and the affecting variables for not attending the follow-up assessment were different for different age groups.

A social skills training program for preschool children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Many children with Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have difficulties in regulating their emotions and maintaining good peer relations. It is important for children with ADHD to receive interventions as early as possible so that their social and emotional development can be achieved. Some social skills training programs for school-ages children with ADHD in Taiwan have shown positive results. However, such programs have not been applied to preschool children with ADHD yet and its applicability needs to be explored. In this report, we describe the clinical experience of conducting social skills training with 8 boys with ADHD (aged 4 to 6 years) and their parents. Eight weekly training sessions were conducted. Each session included a joint parent-child social skills training group (1 hour) and a parent group (40 minutes). After the training, most parents (75%) reported improvements in their children's behaviors. Clinical implications and limitations of this study are discussed.