This paper investigates the educational experiences of children and adolescents diagnosed with RYR1-related diseases, a spectrum of congenital myopathies affecting muscle function. Despite these conditions typically sparing cognitive abilities, they profoundly impact physical capabilities, presenting challenges in school environments such as…

Congenital heart disease is the most common birth defect globally, affecting both children and their families. Twenty-five percent of children experiencing a CHD birth defect are diagnosed with complex CHD (cCHD), signifying critical heart dysfunction requiring one or more open-heart surgeries during the first year of life. With medical advances,…

Families who care for a child with congenital dual sensory loss (DSL) have unique challenges. Children with congenital DSL often present at birth with life threatening medical issues and limited access to the sights and sounds of their environment. Parents raising a child with DSL must learn how to communicate with their child, take care of his or…

Pregnancy is relatively a distinct research area given the perception of positive lifestyles mothers follow during their pregnancy. While the assumption may have validity, complications do occur during pregnancy and childbirth. It is predicted that every 4.5 minutes an infant is born with a birth defect, and, on average, 1 in 33 infants are born…

Research on joint attention and language learning has focused primarily on cues requiring visual access. However, this narrow focus cannot account for the emergence of language among some congenitally blind children who develop language on the same developmental timescale as their sighted peers. Findings from this longitudinal, retrospective study…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not decreased articulation of speech played a role in the ability of an individual with Down syndrome or Fragile X syndrome to signal noncomprehension and whether the two groups differed in their levels of articulation of speech and noncomprehension signaling ability. The research was conducted…

Conducted from an educational sociologist's point of view, this study explores the relationship of mother's age to the development of her child. A documentary frequency technique was used to investigate four general questions: (1) Do children of younger mothers, ages 16 years and under, have health problems different from the health problems of…