Background: Developmental language disorder (DLD) is common in children, but little is known about its association with quality of life (QoL) in middle childhood. QoL is a complex construct, aligning with an individual's sense of well-being and is related to functional limitations associated with DLD. Biopsychosocial models of disability account…

This study examined similarities and differences between mothers of preschool children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and mothers of preschool children with typical development (TD) in their perceptions of four mealtime outcomes: nutritional intake, stress, time, and assistance given. One group of 24 mothers of children with ASD and one…

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) and Smith-Magenis syndrome (SMS) are associated with a number of specific topographies of problem behavior. Very few studies have examined the function served by problem behavior in these groups. Using the Questions About Behavioral Function scale Matson and Vollmer (User's guide: questions about behavioral function…

Children with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome exhibit high rates of social-behavioral problems, particularly in the internalizing domain, indicating an area in need of intervention. The current investigation was designed to obtain information regarding parent and teacher ratings of the social-emotional behavior of children with 22q11DS. Using the Child…

The study examined the effectiveness of Group Triple P, a Level 4 variant of the Triple P multilevel system of parenting support, with Chinese parents who had a preschool aged child with a developmental disability, using randomized controlled trial design. Participants (Intervention group: 42; Waitlist Control group: 39) completed measures on…

Specific developmental disorders of speech, language, and motor function in children are associated with a wide range of mental health problems. We examined whether preschool-age psychiatric patients with specific developmental disorders and those without differed in the severity of emotional and behavior problems. In addition, we examined whether…

Perception of affordances research in children with developmental disabilities has only examined well practiced skills. Ten toddlers with Down syndrome and 10 with typical development walked across a GAITRite mat, with and without an obstacle. We coded the toddlers' behaviors after 1 and 3 months of walking experience when they encountered the…

Sleep problems have often been reported in children with intellectual disabilities (ID). How anomalies in 24-h sleep patterns relate to behaviour difficulties in children with different types of ID remains to be elucidated. The purpose of this study was to assess 24-h sleep and behaviour patterns in children with a variety disorders including…

Studies on the distinction between Autistic Disorder (AD) and Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) have been inconclusive. This study examined the validity of PDD-NOS by comparing it to AD and other developmental disorders (DD) on parent-reported behavior problems. Fifty-four children with PDD-NOS were individually…

Comparisons of Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) scores from 31 societies (Rescorla et al. "Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders" 15:13-142 2007) supported the instrument's multicultural robustness, but none of these societies was in South America. The present study tested the multicultural robustness of the 2001 CBCL using data…

The use of weighted vests for children with autism spectrum disorders and developmental disabilities is a common practice as part of sensory integration therapy programs. The purpose of the current investigation was to extend the research on the use of weighted vests for children with autism and developmental delays in a methodologically rigorous…

Researchers and clinicians are recognizing that a subgroup of children with Down syndrome (DS) also present with clinically significant impairments in social-communication and restricted patterns of behavior, such as those that characterize autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Efforts to better describe the behavioral presentation of children with…

The "Down syndrome advantage" is the popular conception that children with Down syndrome are easier to rear than children with other developmental disabilities. We assessed whether mothers of children with developmental disabilities would demonstrate a consistent Down syndrome advantage as their children aged from 12 to 18 years. Results did not…

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…

Restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRBs) on the Autism Diagnostic Interview- Revised (ADI-R: Lord, Rutter, & Le Couteur (1994) were examined in 165 children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), 49 children with non-spectrum developmental disorders (DD), and 65 children with typical development (TD) at approximately 2 years of age. A factor…