Archive for developmental medicine
COVID-19 and IEPs: Education for children with special needs
When Massachusetts shut down its public schools to prevent the spread of COVID-19, educators faced a huge challenge. With little time to prepare, school districts had to redesign classroom lesson plans for close to a million students. The interrupted school year has been especially hard on kids with individualized education programs (IEPs). An IEP is ... Read More about COVID-19 and IEPs: Education for children with special needs
CRUSH: Developing a sexual education program for young adults on the autism spectrum
For many young adults on the autism spectrum, developing and maintaining positive intimate relationships can be challenging. But collaboration between Boston Children’s Hospital and UMass Boston hopes to provide some on-point guidance through a new initiative¾the Competence in Romance and Sexual Health (CRUSH) program, aimed at developing a new sex education curriculum for young adults ... Read More about CRUSH: Developing a sexual education program for young adults on the autism spectrum
Common questions about ADHD treatments
If your child is diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), you may have questions about which treatments will work best. When considering an intervention for your child, we recommend that you ask your clinician if there are any research studies that back it up. Evidence-based interventions are treatments that have been studied using standardized ... Read More about Common questions about ADHD treatments
New treatment guidelines for complex ADHD
Approximately 7.5 percent of children and adolescents in the U.S. have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and about two-thirds of them have one or more co-existing conditions such as learning disorders or mental health problems. Treatment for these more complex forms of ADHD has focused largely on medical interventions. But now, a new clinical guideline ... Read More about New treatment guidelines for complex ADHD
Babies’ EEG patterns predict whether they will develop autism
Signs of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) typically start to become apparent only in a child’s second year of life or later, but earlier identification could allow children to receive interventions as babies, when they have greater brain plasticity and thus may receive more benefit. A new study in Nature Communications finds that periodic EEGs in ... Read More about Babies’ EEG patterns predict whether they will develop autism
Developmental milestone checklists don’t always agree, finds study
Developmental milestones, such as sitting unsupported or babbling, are a cornerstone for tracking a child’s development and spotting potential delays. Yet fewer than half of pediatricians actually use formal developmental assessments. Hoping to make the process easier, Carol Wilkinson, MD, PhD, in the Boston Children’s Hospital Division of Developmental Medicine, set out to incorporate a ... Read More about Developmental milestone checklists don’t always agree, finds study
Pupil dilation and heart rate, analyzed by AI, may offer early autism diagnosis
Autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders often aren’t diagnosed until a child is a few years of age, when behavioral interventions and speech/occupational therapy become less effective. But new research this week in PNAS suggests that two simple, quantifiable measures — spontaneous fluctuations in pupil dilation or heart rate — could enable much earlier diagnosis of ... Read More about Pupil dilation and heart rate, analyzed by AI, may offer early autism diagnosis
Panel urges new genetic test for neurodevelopmental disorders
An international group of doctors and scientists, led by Boston Children’s Hospital, is urging the medical community to embrace — and health insurers to pay for — a new genetic technology as a first-line test for autism and other disorders affecting the development of the brain and nervous system. In a paper published last week ... Read More about Panel urges new genetic test for neurodevelopmental disorders
New genetic test yields answer after family’s 10-year search
Kate Cole knew her daughter Lilly was different almost from the moment of birth. She was “a floppy baby,” lacking the strength and muscle tone her older sister had. She had trouble eating and was slow to gain weight. When she started on solid food, she often choked on it. She never really crawled and ... Read More about New genetic test yields answer after family’s 10-year search