Discusses how child caregivers can work with child life specialists to provide appropriate support for children with special health needs in early childhood settings. Describes the impact of chronic illness and hospitalization on infants and toddlers, offers suggestions for helping infants/toddlers and their families cope, focuses on play as a way…

Examines both the methods and the reasons for ensuring that rural populations of elderly mentally retarded citizens receive modern psychiatric assistance and community support. Provides an overview of the models currently available for providing rural delivery of services to the elderly mentally retarded. (Author/TE)

This paper presents an overview of how fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is identified, a review of theories on how alcohol acts to produce FAS, and a summary of the impact of the early and long-term effects of FAS. Issues that are particularly pertinent to children with FAS and their caregivers are raised. (DB)

Twenty-one children (ages 6-15) with Tourette's syndrome completed an educational battery. Seventy-five percent had problems with spelling and writing, 50% had difficulty with calculations, and 25% had difficulty with word identification and reading comprehension. Visual-motor defects were common. (Author/DB)

Investigated the asthma knowledge and practices of 247 child-care workers in southwestern Sydney. Two hundred and twelve (86 percent) correctly identified a persistent cough as the predominant symptom of childhood asthma, with wheezing (98 percent) being the response chosen most often. Nearly 50 percent of workers had used a nebulizer and/or a…

Simulation training and a prompt hierarchy were found to facilitate acquisition of clean intermittent self-catheterization skills by a four-year-old male with myelomeningocele. The child was first taught to perform catheterization on a doll, then on himself. Skills were clustered into three tasks of diapering, cleansing, and catheterization.…

Program development for children with special health management needs calls for acquisition of intake information from the child's family and service professionals, a continuum of options for health services, an individualized family service plan or individualized education program, an emergency protocol, and consideration of legal issues. (JDD)

The psychometric characteristics of 12 adults with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) and a group without PWS but with other similar traits were compared. Results found cognitive, behavioral and educational traits often associated with PWS to be present in both groups, illustrating the importance of control/comparison groups in research establishing…

This article reviews studies evaluating neurocognitive changes following organ transplantation in pediatric end-stage renal and liver disease. Findings suggest possible neurocognitive benefits associated with organ transplantation. Recommendations are made for methodological improvements in future research. (DB)

This article focuses on the issues of reintegrating the chronically ill child into the school setting, the types of school problems encountered, the process of school reentry, (including a successful school reentry plan), and the implications for the school and the family of returning the chronically ill child to school. (DB)

Comparison of 23 Turner syndrome (TUS) women with 23 women with constitutional short stature (CSS) found significant group differences for Performance and Full Scale IQ, largely due to TUS women's deficits in spatial and mathematical ability. TUS individuals had significantly lower educational and occupational attainment than CSS controls but did…

Discusses the many factors that can cause a child to be misdiagnosed with hypertension, as well as the kinds of activities that are appropriate for a child who has hypertension. (JD)

This review of Prader-Willi Syndrome notes characteristics (mental retardation and excessive overeating). Educational interventions including weight management, cognitive and educational development, behavioral interventions, and transition to adulthood are discussed. (DB)

Recognizing possible seizure disorders, medication side-effects, behavioral and cognitive effects of seizures, and their treatments are important skills for school psychologists because they affect 500,000 United States school-aged children attending regular education. A knowledgeable school professional serves a critical role in integrating…

This article outlines historical, socio-cultural, and research information that attests to the fundamental relationship between touch and child development. It describes applications including touch therapies with very low-birthweight infants, with fragile premature infants, and with infants of depressed mothers. (Contains extensive references.)…