Symptoms of Pediatric Feeding Disorders Among Individuals with 3q29 Deletion Syndrome: A Case-Control Study.

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to evaluate symptoms of pediatric feeding disorder in a sample of individuals with 3q29 deletion syndrome (3q29Del). Previous research has found that individuals with 3q29Del may experience elevated feeding concerns in early childhood; however, the specificity of these feeding concerns is not well understood. METHODS: We compared individuals with 3q29Del (N = 83) with controls (N = 59) using an 11-item survey that assessed commonly reported symptoms associated with pediatric feeding disorders. An exploratory analysis also examined individuals with 3q29Del with and without a comorbid global developmental delay (GDD) or an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis. RESULTS: Caregivers of 3q29Del cases reported higher incidences of feeding concerns on 10 of the 11 items included in the survey. This included statistically significant differences in food refusal behaviors, rejection of 1 or more food groups, and a history of failure to thrive. Parents of children with comorbid GDD were more likely to report concerns regarding food selectivity and problem behaviors during mealtime. CONCLUSION: The results suggest individuals with 3q29Del experience increased symptoms of pediatric feeding disorder that may require targeted evaluation and intervention for optimal outcomes. Future research should include a more thorough multidisciplinary evaluation to further elucidate symptom severity and optimal treatment strategies.

An Evaluation of Two Tact-Training Procedures on Acquired Tacts and Tacting During Play.

A common practice in tact training is to include a supplemental verbal stimulus (e.g., "What is it?") in addition to the presentation of a nonverbal discriminative stimulus. Previous literature has suggested that this supplemental verbal stimulus can impede acquisition and generalization relative to the presentation of the object alone, as it may establish faulty stimulus control or decrease spontaneous tacting. Research has yet to compare these 2 training methods on the generalization of learned tacts to more naturalistic, play-based environments. The present study evaluated the use of "What is it?" compared to the presentation of only the nonverbal discriminative stimulus on tact acquisition among 3 children with autism spectrum disorder and the extent to which these training procedures led to tacting in a play-based setting following discrete-trial training. Overall, participants learned to tact stimuli under both conditions, and all participants demonstrated generalization of tacts in a play-based setting. Recommendations for the development and evaluation of naturalistic posttraining assessment are discussed.