Background: In order to better understand the underlying biological mechanism/s involved in autism, it is important to investigate the cognitive and behavioural phenotypes associated with idiopathic autism (autism without a known cause) and comorbid autism (autism associated with known genetic/biological disorders such as fragile X syndrome).…

The heart rate and eye-gaze avoidance of 50 boys and girls with fragile X syndrome were monitored and it was found that those with this condition has significantly higher heart rates, lower vagal tones, and lower heart rate variability estimates when compared to their sibling. Eye-gaze avoidance decreased slightly over the course of the 25-minute…

We examine the argumentative structure of Hwang et al.'s (2004) paper about human somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT, or "therapeutic cloning"), contrasted with four Journalistic Reported Versions (JRV) of it, and with students' summaries of one JRV. As the evaluation of evidence is one of the critical features of argumentation…

Down syndrome (DS) is the most common genetic cause of significant intellectual disability in the human population, occurring in roughly 1 in 700 live births. The ultimate cause of DS is trisomy of all or part of the set of genes located on chromosome 21. How this trisomy leads to the phenotype of DS is unclear. The completion of the DNA…

The genetic factor structure of a range of learning measures was explored in twin children, recruited in preschool and followed to Grade 2 ("N"?=?2,084). Measures of orthographic learning and word reading were included in the analyses to determine how these patterned with the learning processes. An exploratory factor analysis of the…

Due to its complex and microscopic nature, genetics is a difficult subject for many learners to conceptually grasp. Graphics, animation and video material can be extremely helpful to their understanding. A wealth of educational online content about genetics has been created over the past decade in the wake of the human genome being sequenced.…

Cellular processes that rely on knowledge of molecular behavior are difficult for students to comprehend. For example, thorough understanding of meiosis requires students to integrate several complex concepts related to chromosome structure and function. Using a grounded theory approach, we have unified classroom observations, assessment data, and…

"Gallup's Guide to Modern Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Lifestyle" is a set of 15 volumes addressing lesbian, gay, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGTQ) topics of concern to young LGTQ readers. Each volume is attractively produced, is well presented, and answers questions systematically avoided in most school curricula. It would be a valuable…

Children with genetic syndromes frequently have feeding problems and swallowing dysfunction as a result of the complex interactions between anatomical, medical, physiological, and behavioral factors. Feeding problems associated with genetic disorders may also cause feeding to be unpleasant, negative, or even painful because of choking, coughing,…

Autism has a unique history. The definition has broadened and changed over time, from an emotional disturbance with psychogenic origins to a neurodevelopmental disability with suspected environmental and genetic origins. Diagnosis occurs later than children born with obvious disabilities such as cerebral palsy or Down syndrome, but earlier than…

A 3-month intervention was conducted to enhance the sequential time perception and storytelling ability of young children with hearing loss. The children were trained to arrange pictorial episodes of temporal scripts and tell the stories they created. Participants (N = 34, aged 4-7 years) were divided into 2 groups based on whether their…

The aim of this exploratory study, which was informed by ethnographic principles, was to better understand the intergenerational transmission of historical trauma among urban American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) in culturally specific sobriety maintenance programs. The results of the study were organized into 3 overarching categories, which…

Evidence suggests that sensitivity to coherent motion (CM) is related to reading, but its role in the etiology of developmental dyslexia remains unclear. In this longitudinal study, CM sensitivity was measured in 31 children at family risk for dyslexia and 31 low-risk controls. Children, diagnosed with dyslexia in third grade (mean age = 8 years 3…

The behavioural phenotype of velocardiofacial syndrome (VCFS), one of the most common human multiple anomaly syndromes, includes developmental disabilities, frequently including intellectual disability (ID) and high risk of diagnosis of psychotic disorders including schizophrenia. VCFS may offer a model of the relationship between ID and risk of…

This study explored the impact of prior personal experience with grief on self-reported personal and professional development of graduate students in nursing, social work, counseling, pastoral care, and genetic counseling involved as cofacilitators in bereavement support groups, and of medical students observing interdisciplinary inpatient…