Over the last decade a significant increase in the life expectancy of people with Down syndrome (DS) has been observed, which has caused a higher incidence of morbidity as they age. However, there is a lack of literature regarding morbidity and hospitalization of adults with DS. Analysis of 297 hospitalizations of 120 adults with DS aged 18-73…

Poor sleep is a common feature in autism even though patients themselves do not necessarily complain. The impact of poor sleep on daytime cognitive functioning in autism is not well-known and we therefore investigated whether sleep in autism correlates with daytime cognitive performance. A battery of non-verbal tasks was administered, in the…

Raven matrices are used for assessing fluid intelligence and the intellectual level of groups with low intelligence. Our study addresses qualitative analysis of information processing in Raven matrices performance among individuals with intellectual disability with that of their typically developed (TD) counterparts. Twenty-three adults with…

Although high anxiety is common in people with intellectual disabilities (ID) and the anxiolytic effects of exercise have been systematically recognised in clinical and non-clinical populations, research is scant concerning the role played by exercise on anxiety in people with ID. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a…

Children who are deaf are often delayed in reading comprehension. This delay could be due to problems in morphological processing during word reading. In this study, we investigated whether 6th grade deaf children and adults are delayed in comparison to their hearing peers in reading complex derivational words and compounds compared to…

The affective responses to another person's condition depend on the ability to reflect about another's thoughts and intentions. This is relevant also for high-functioning individuals with ASD who have considerable difficulties in reading the intentions of others. With the present study we introduce a novel paradigm to induce vicarious…

Research shows that depression and anxiety disorders are the most common psychiatric concern in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Mindfulness-based therapy (MBT) has been found effective in reducing anxiety and depression symptoms, however research in autism is limited. Therefore, we examined the effects of a modified MBT protocol (MBT-AS) in…

Dementia may be more common in older adults with intellectual disability (ID) than in the general population. The increased risk for Alzheimer's disease in people with Down syndrome (DS) is well established, but much less is known about dementia in adults with ID who do not have DS. We estimated incidence rates from a longitudinal study of…

Executive functions are a set of high cognitive abilities that control and regulate other functions and behaviors and are crucial for successful adaptation. Deficits in executive functions are frequently described in developmental disorders, which are characterized by disadaptive behavior. However, executive functions are not widely examined in…

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and Asperger's Syndrome (AS) share a heterogeneous cognitive profile. Studies assessing executive functions (EF) and social cognition in both groups have found preserved and impaired performances. These inconsistent findings would be partially explained by the cognitive variability reported in these…

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) increases the risk of cardiovascular events. Heart rate variability (HRV) represents autonomic functioning, and reduced HRV significantly increases cardiovascular mortality. The aims of the present paper are to assess the prevalence of MetS in adults with intellectual disabilities (ID), the difference in short-term HRV…

Older people with an intellectual disability (ID) have been shown to have similar to increased cardiovascular risks as compared to the general population. Peripheral arterial disease (PAD), atherosclerosis distal from the aortic bifurcation, is associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The prevalence of PAD has not been…

This study determined whether the cardiac autonomic function of adults with Down syndrome (DS) differs from that of nondisabled persons during submaximal dynamic exercise. Thirteen participants with DS and 12 nondisabled individuals performed maximal and submaximal treadmill tests with metabolic and heart rate (HR) measurements. Spectral analysis…

Persons with Down syndrome (DS) are at high risk for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, and there is compelling evidence of autonomic dysfunction in these individuals. The main purpose of this study was to determine whether a combined aerobic and resistance exercise intervention produces similar results in cardiac autonomic function between…

This study aimed to quantify and compare the gait pattern in Ehlers-Danlos (EDS) and Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) patients to provide data for developing evidence-based rehabilitation strategies. Twenty EDS and 19 PWS adult patients were evaluated with an optoelectronic system and force platforms for measuring kinematic and kinetic parameters…