Objective: There is clinical heterogeneity among the autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The presence of dysmorphology (minor physical anomalies; MPAs) is one possible tool for defining a clinically relevant subset in ASD. This study employs an adaptation of Miles and Hillman's (2000) classifications by using photographs to identify a subgroup with…

Background: There is a noticeable publication gap in the speech-language pathology literature regarding the language abilities of children with common types of epilepsy. This paper reviews studies that suggest a high frequency of undetected language problems in this population, and it proposes the need for pragmatically based assessment of…

Aim: The aim of this study was to define the prevalence of and risk factors for behavioural disorders in children with epilepsy from a rural district of Tanzania by conducting a community-based case-control study. Method: One hundred and twelve children aged 6 to 14 years (55 males, 57 females; median age 12y) with active epilepsy (at least two…

Fixed momentary schedules of differential reinforcement of other behavior (FM DRO) generally have been ineffective as treatment for problem behavior. Because most early research on FM DRO included presentation of a signal at the end of the DRO interval, it is unclear whether the limited effects of FM DRO were due to (a) the momentary response…

Dichotic listening test (DL) is an important tool to disclose speech dominance in healthy subjects and in clinical cases. The aim of this study was to probe if focal epilepsy in children reveals a corresponding suppression of the ear reports contralateral to seizure onset site. Thus, 15 children and adolescents with clinically and…

Background: Various psychiatric and neurological disorders including epilepsy have been associated with language deficits. Pragmatic language deficits, however, have seldom been the focus of earlier studies in children with epilepsy. Moreover, it is unknown whether these pragmatic deficits are related to general intellectual functioning. Both…

Aim: We observed a dramatic response to the ketogenic diet in several patients with highly refractory epilepsy whose seizure frequency had recently worsened. This study aimed to identify whether this characteristic was a useful indication for the ketogenic diet. Method: From the 70 patients who received the ketogenic diet during a 3-year period at…

Traditionally early brain insult (EBI) has been considered to have better outcome than later injury, consistent with the notion that the young brain is flexible and able to reorganize. Recent research findings question this view, suggesting that EBI might lead to poorer outcome than brain insult at any other age. Exploring this early vulnerability…

The aim of this study was to evaluate the resting energy expenditure (REE) of children with intractable epilepsy (IE) compared with healthy children, and to determine factors that contribute to the pattern of REE. REE, growth status, and body composition were assessed in 25 prepubertal children with IE (15 males, 10 females; mean age 5y 5mo [SD 2y…

This study investigated sleep of children with autism and developmental regression and the possible relationship with epilepsy and epileptiform abnormalities. Participants were 104 children with autism (70 non-regressed, 34 regressed) and 162 typically developing children (TD). Results suggested that the regressed group had higher incidence of…

Earlier research has suggested a link between epileptiform activity in the electroencephalogram (EEG) and developmental speech-language disorder (DSLD). This study investigated the strength of this association by comparing the frequency of EEG abnormalities in 45 language-normal children (29 males, 16 females; mean age 6y 11mo, SD 1y 10mo, range…

There is considerable interest in the assessment of executive function (EF) in pediatric clinical populations but only a few well-standardized measures exist. We examined EF in 53 children aged 8 to 18 years with recent onset epilepsy (31 males, 22 females) and 50 control children (23 males, 27 females) using the Behavior Rating Inventory of…

The aim of this study was to characterize the distribution, timing, and risk factors for psychiatric comorbidity in children with recent onset epilepsy. Children aged 8 to 18 years with recent onset epilepsy (less than 1 year in duration) of idiopathic etiology (n=53) and a healthy comparison group (n=50) underwent a structured psychiatric…