I found this study to be very interesting because self-injurious behavior intrigues me. Like the last blog study I posted, this one compared different effects of different groups. These groups were gentle teaching, task training, visual screening, and a control group. The groups effects were compared as to how well they reduced SIB. A baseline of SIB was obtained before the study began. Then treatments were implemented and the measure of SIB was measured after.
Results show that the visual screening helped reduce the SIB the best. Every other treatment really had no effect on the amount of SIB the person would show. Looking at this study and the study before this that was in my last blog, it seems to be pretty apparent that Gentle Teaching really doesn't seem to effect a person with a DD or an ID.
The most obvious limitation I saw in this study was the lack of participants. Like the last study, there were not enough people to show a relationship to the population.
I was originally interested in looking into gentle teaching, but with seeing that it really doesn't seem to have much of an impact on behavior in people with IDs and DDs, I think I would be more interested in looking into the visual screening therapy.
Can you find an article with a study that shows Gentle Teaching having a significant impact??? I know I had a hard time finding one lol.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Gentle Teaching Workshops
This study was a fairly new study at the time because gentle teaching was a newer therapy with people with DDs. The purpose of this study was to compare using gentle teaching with another behavioral modification approach, and a control group. This was a non-randomized control trial. The participants included 77 children with learning disabilities and behavior problems (as noted by their parents). 41 participants in the gentle teaching group, 36 in the behavioral mod. group, and 26 in the control group. There was a pre-test to measure the baseline for all participants, and after 12 months of the study there was a post test to see if any of the interventions helped. The interventions involved one day of workshops for each group with the therapy they were assigned to, and their parents were given a quick lesson on the teachings, so they could incorporate them in at home. The researchers analyzed the data between the pre and post test results (quantative) using t-tests. The results showed that there was no significant difference between the groups. When there was a slight difference, behavior modification was favored.
There were many limitations for this study, so you need to take these results with a grain of salt. Most important, there was not enough recruits in this study. The results don't represent the population which makes it hard to say if there is a real effect in the population. Also, who knows if the parents incorporated the teachings into the child's day?
I chose Gentle Teaching for the topic during this unit. Since we are learning about people with IDs and DDs I wanted to combine some of the different intervention methods used to help them.
Something to ponder....Why do you think that there was no significant difference between conditions?
I hope you enjoyed reading this summary as much as I enjoyed writing it!!
There were many limitations for this study, so you need to take these results with a grain of salt. Most important, there was not enough recruits in this study. The results don't represent the population which makes it hard to say if there is a real effect in the population. Also, who knows if the parents incorporated the teachings into the child's day?
I chose Gentle Teaching for the topic during this unit. Since we are learning about people with IDs and DDs I wanted to combine some of the different intervention methods used to help them.
Something to ponder....Why do you think that there was no significant difference between conditions?
I hope you enjoyed reading this summary as much as I enjoyed writing it!!
Friday, February 26, 2010
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
In this unit we're learning about the possible causes of DD's and ID's. I thought that this would be the perfect time to talk about a syndrome called Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). This is the result of women drinking a lot of alcohol while pregnant with a child. Sadly, the rate of women drinking while pregnant, is disturbingly high. Most are not certain what the threshold is for the most alcohol a female can drink while pregnant, but in my opinion, there is not reason to drink while pregnant.
I found a survey that was taken among professionals about what they thought was the prevalence of FAS, the beliefs and knowledge they had about FAS, and the level of preparedness to identify and treat FAS. The professionals (1,417) were APA members that were clinically active and had a doctoral level degree. Only 447 people responded (32%). The results were a bit disturbing.
67% of the respondents underestimated the prevalence of FAS. Only 85% of them said that women shouldn't drink at all during pregnancy. 11% said that they could occasionally drink, and the rest said that drinking would not harm the fetus. 81% of those that answered said that the worst consequence of FAS is the alcohol withdrawal that the baby has when born. The amount of clinicians that were unprepared to diagnose and treat this syndrome were scary! 39% said they were completely unprepared, 26% said somewhat unprepared, 26% said somewhat prepared, and only 4% said that they were completely prepared. That makes me nervous. Also, 11% said that they didn't believe the diagnosis would make a difference, and 8% said that they didn't have time to make a diagnosis!!! They don't have time?!!?
I guess there are some good numbers with the results, though. About 79% of respondents said that early diagnosis and watch of FAS may aid secondary prevention of disabilities. 90% noted the delayed development and low IQ's. 89% noted the birth defects and malformations, along with behavioral problems. 79% noted the withdrawal symptoms and long term emotional disorders.
This survey noted that although these psychologists have a general knowledge of FAS, they do not have the knowledge to diagnose and treat FAS. There is clear need for education, and I'm sure it is not just for FAS. I'm sure it is also the case when talking about other "less well known" DD's or ID's.
A problem with this survey, is the drop out rate. Less that one third of the people asked to respond actually responded. Perhaps the people who responded were "different" than the people who did not respond. That could effect the validity of this study.
What do you think is a good way to learn more detailed information about FAS? Do you think APA accredited psychologists are prepared to diagnose and treat other "less well known" DD's and ID's?
Citation
Wedding, D., Kohout, J., Mengel, M., et. al. (2007). Psychologists' Knowledge and Attitudes About Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, and Alcohol Use During Pregnancy.(208-213) doi:10.1037/0735-7028.38.2.208
I found a survey that was taken among professionals about what they thought was the prevalence of FAS, the beliefs and knowledge they had about FAS, and the level of preparedness to identify and treat FAS. The professionals (1,417) were APA members that were clinically active and had a doctoral level degree. Only 447 people responded (32%). The results were a bit disturbing.
67% of the respondents underestimated the prevalence of FAS. Only 85% of them said that women shouldn't drink at all during pregnancy. 11% said that they could occasionally drink, and the rest said that drinking would not harm the fetus. 81% of those that answered said that the worst consequence of FAS is the alcohol withdrawal that the baby has when born. The amount of clinicians that were unprepared to diagnose and treat this syndrome were scary! 39% said they were completely unprepared, 26% said somewhat unprepared, 26% said somewhat prepared, and only 4% said that they were completely prepared. That makes me nervous. Also, 11% said that they didn't believe the diagnosis would make a difference, and 8% said that they didn't have time to make a diagnosis!!! They don't have time?!!?
I guess there are some good numbers with the results, though. About 79% of respondents said that early diagnosis and watch of FAS may aid secondary prevention of disabilities. 90% noted the delayed development and low IQ's. 89% noted the birth defects and malformations, along with behavioral problems. 79% noted the withdrawal symptoms and long term emotional disorders.
This survey noted that although these psychologists have a general knowledge of FAS, they do not have the knowledge to diagnose and treat FAS. There is clear need for education, and I'm sure it is not just for FAS. I'm sure it is also the case when talking about other "less well known" DD's or ID's.
A problem with this survey, is the drop out rate. Less that one third of the people asked to respond actually responded. Perhaps the people who responded were "different" than the people who did not respond. That could effect the validity of this study.
What do you think is a good way to learn more detailed information about FAS? Do you think APA accredited psychologists are prepared to diagnose and treat other "less well known" DD's and ID's?
Citation
Wedding, D., Kohout, J., Mengel, M., et. al. (2007). Psychologists' Knowledge and Attitudes About Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, and Alcohol Use During Pregnancy.(208-213) doi:10.1037/0735-7028.38.2.208
Detail on Angelman Syndrome
I know that I was a little vague when I described the causes of Angelman Syndrome in my last blog. I want to fix that by giving you a more detailed description on the details of the etiology for this disorder.
More specifically, it is a genetic disorder that causes developmental delay and neurological problems. The physician Harry Angelman first found the syndrome in 1965, when he described several children in his studies as having "flat heads, jerky movements, protruding tongues, and bouts of laughter." Infants with this syndrome appear to be fairly normal at birth, but often have feeding problems in the first few months of their lives and exhibit noticeable developmental delays by the time they are 6-12 months old. Seizures often begin between 2 to 3 years of age. Speech impairment is pronounced, with little to no use of words at all. Individuals with this syndrome often display sleep disorders, small head size, hyperactivity, and movement and balance disorders that can cause severe problems in normal functioning. Angelman syndrome results from absence of a copy of the UBE3A gene inherited from the mother.
UBE3A gene is a gene that encodes a protein. This protein helps control cell growth and function, and keeps bad, damages, or unnecessary proteins out to help maintain the function of cells.
I found a few sentences on wikipedia that may explain it a bit better than I can
"
More specifically, it is a genetic disorder that causes developmental delay and neurological problems. The physician Harry Angelman first found the syndrome in 1965, when he described several children in his studies as having "flat heads, jerky movements, protruding tongues, and bouts of laughter." Infants with this syndrome appear to be fairly normal at birth, but often have feeding problems in the first few months of their lives and exhibit noticeable developmental delays by the time they are 6-12 months old. Seizures often begin between 2 to 3 years of age. Speech impairment is pronounced, with little to no use of words at all. Individuals with this syndrome often display sleep disorders, small head size, hyperactivity, and movement and balance disorders that can cause severe problems in normal functioning. Angelman syndrome results from absence of a copy of the UBE3A gene inherited from the mother.
UBE3A gene is a gene that encodes a protein. This protein helps control cell growth and function, and keeps bad, damages, or unnecessary proteins out to help maintain the function of cells.
I found a few sentences on wikipedia that may explain it a bit better than I can
"
Mutations within the UBE3A gene are responsible for some cases of Angelman syndrome. Most of these mutations result in an abnormally short, nonfunctional version of ubiquitin protein ligase E3A. Because the copy of the gene inherited from a person's father (the paternal copy) is normally inactive in the brain, a mutation in the remaining maternal copy prevents any of the enzyme from being produced in the brain. This loss of enzyme function likely causes the characteristic features of Angelman syndrome.
Abnormalities involving the region of chromosome 15 that contains the UBE3A gene also cause Angelman syndrome. These chromosomal changes include deletions, rearrangements (translocations) of genetic material, and other abnormalities. Like mutations within the gene, these chromosomal changes prevent any functional ubiquitin protein ligase E3A from being produced in the brain."
I hope this helps a bit more. Does this help clarify a bit more? If not, I would love some feedback.
As for treatment, there is not really any "fix" for Angelman Syndrome, but there are therapies and medicines that can be taken to help with the seizures.
Citations
UBE3A Gene. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UBE3A.
Office of Communications and Public Liaison. Angelman Syndrome Information Page.
Retrieved from: http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/angelman/angelman.htm
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Developing a Memory, Performance, and Imitation Measure.
This was a very interesting study to hear about. Even though I couldn't access the whole research report, I was lucky enough to read the abstract. This study was all about finding a measure for assessing memory, motor performance, and motor imitation.
What happened in this study by Jane Summers, was that in the memory task, 12 children with Angelman syndrome (all between the ages of 3 and 12) observed an adult demonstrate a series of "novel actions" on objects. Then the child was given a chance to imitate the behavior seen after multiple delays. These delays were; one hour, one day, one week, and one or two months.
Motor imitation and performance were also measured. The tests were not described in the abstract, but they did note that they were appropriate given that the children had Angelman syndrome (this DD is known for it's motor difficulties).
All of the data was recorded on paper, and videotaped for further review. It indicated that many Angelman children have real signs of having the ability of being taught good memory skills and motor skills. I need to find and read the whole article in order to tell if the experiment is reliable and valid. If there are any missing pieces to this study, then there will be no way that anyone in the future will be able to use Dr. Summers' measurement tool for Angelman patients. On the other hand, if this is a reliable and valid study, then Dr. Summers may have a way to measure the impact of different "therapeutic approaches" used with Angelman syndome children. She is going to have to conduct this study over hundreds of times in order to know if the results are consistent or not.
This article did not say how the children were selected, so I am not sure if random selection came into play. It did not say if the environment was kept the same for each participant and each test. There were a lot of things missing from this abstract, but we would hope that the environment was kept the same, and that there was random selection of the population.
We learned in class that the Developmental Model (1980-Present) says that people with DD's are capable of growth, learning, and development. Since I believe this is accurate, I think that there will be easier ways found to measure the teachings and therapies of children with Angelman syndrome. That is why I chose this article. They can be taught routine, and they can be taught memory and motor function, so I think that the more they try to teach children with this syndrome and other DD's, they will be able to function almost as well as people without the disability can.
Do you think that a person with a Developmental Disability can be taught to do things like a person without one can be taught? What do you think the best approach is, and why?
What happened in this study by Jane Summers, was that in the memory task, 12 children with Angelman syndrome (all between the ages of 3 and 12) observed an adult demonstrate a series of "novel actions" on objects. Then the child was given a chance to imitate the behavior seen after multiple delays. These delays were; one hour, one day, one week, and one or two months.
Motor imitation and performance were also measured. The tests were not described in the abstract, but they did note that they were appropriate given that the children had Angelman syndrome (this DD is known for it's motor difficulties).
All of the data was recorded on paper, and videotaped for further review. It indicated that many Angelman children have real signs of having the ability of being taught good memory skills and motor skills. I need to find and read the whole article in order to tell if the experiment is reliable and valid. If there are any missing pieces to this study, then there will be no way that anyone in the future will be able to use Dr. Summers' measurement tool for Angelman patients. On the other hand, if this is a reliable and valid study, then Dr. Summers may have a way to measure the impact of different "therapeutic approaches" used with Angelman syndome children. She is going to have to conduct this study over hundreds of times in order to know if the results are consistent or not.
This article did not say how the children were selected, so I am not sure if random selection came into play. It did not say if the environment was kept the same for each participant and each test. There were a lot of things missing from this abstract, but we would hope that the environment was kept the same, and that there was random selection of the population.
We learned in class that the Developmental Model (1980-Present) says that people with DD's are capable of growth, learning, and development. Since I believe this is accurate, I think that there will be easier ways found to measure the teachings and therapies of children with Angelman syndrome. That is why I chose this article. They can be taught routine, and they can be taught memory and motor function, so I think that the more they try to teach children with this syndrome and other DD's, they will be able to function almost as well as people without the disability can.
Do you think that a person with a Developmental Disability can be taught to do things like a person without one can be taught? What do you think the best approach is, and why?
Citations
Summers, J. (2009). Journal of Child Neurology.
Developing a Battery to Assess Memory, Motor Performance, and Motor Imitation in Children with Angelman Syndrome. (pg. 260) Retrieved from http://jcn.sagepub.com/cgi/content/
abstract/25/2/254
Developing a Battery to Assess Memory, Motor Performance, and Motor Imitation in Children with Angelman Syndrome. (pg. 260) Retrieved from http://jcn.sagepub.com/cgi/content/
abstract/25/2/254
Friday, February 12, 2010
Experiment: Self-Injurious/Aggressive Behavior in Angelman Syndrome.
This experiment is based on aggression and self-injurious behavior in children and adults with Angelman syndrome. I always was curious as to why people with DD's are more prone to this kind of behavior. This study included 17 individuals, and aggression was measured by physical activities only (pinching, pulling, grabbing, etc.). Experimenters would speak directly to the person for approximately 5 minutes along with keeping eye contact. Then for another 5 minutes, the experimenter would talk for 5 more minutes without talking directly to the person (no eye contact, possibly facing away from the person). Out of all of the Angelman syndrome participants, 11 of these people showed this aggressive and self-injurious behavior when they wanted more social attention. Which means that when the experimenter would talk "away" from the person, they would be more likely to engage in this self-injurious behavior, whereas when being talked "at", the person would be less likely to engage in this kind of behavior. I guess in this case the self-injurious behavior could be considered as a positive behavior to regain the social interaction with the experimenter. The conclusion is that for people with Angelman syndrome, it is less likely that they will act in self-injurious behavior and aggression as long as they are in direct contact with someone.
We will see later in the course that people with DD (especially people on the Autism Spectrum) often engage in self-injurious and aggressive behavior. Some have to wear helmets or wear soft gloves to keep them out of danger of hurting themselves. I believe if experiments are done like this (with more specifics) there could be a way of finding a way to deter the person from hurting themselves and possibly others. What ways can you think of to deter a person with DD from hurting themselves?
This article did not talk about the sampling technique used to collect the participants, nor did they say that they used a control group, therefore this cannot be a simple experiment. I wish they gave more information about the specifics, especially since I found this article in the Journal of Neurology. It seemed as though everyone was used in all aspects of the experiment, which would make this a within-subjects "experiment".
Williams, C., Franco, L. (2009). Journal of Child Neurology.
Experimental Functional Analysis of Self-Injurious and Aggressive Behavior in
Angelman Syndrome, pg. 261. Retrieved from http://jcn.sagepub.com/cgi/content/
abstract/25/2/254
We will see later in the course that people with DD (especially people on the Autism Spectrum) often engage in self-injurious and aggressive behavior. Some have to wear helmets or wear soft gloves to keep them out of danger of hurting themselves. I believe if experiments are done like this (with more specifics) there could be a way of finding a way to deter the person from hurting themselves and possibly others. What ways can you think of to deter a person with DD from hurting themselves?
This article did not talk about the sampling technique used to collect the participants, nor did they say that they used a control group, therefore this cannot be a simple experiment. I wish they gave more information about the specifics, especially since I found this article in the Journal of Neurology. It seemed as though everyone was used in all aspects of the experiment, which would make this a within-subjects "experiment".
Citations
Williams, C., Franco, L. (2009). Journal of Child Neurology.
Experimental Functional Analysis of Self-Injurious and Aggressive Behavior in
Angelman Syndrome, pg. 261. Retrieved from http://jcn.sagepub.com/cgi/content/
abstract/25/2/254
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Experiment: Analysis of Aggression in Angelman Children
Continuing my research on Angelman syndrome, I found an interesting article on aggression and children with this developmental disability. I hope you enjoy! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to reply :-)
Strachan, Shaw, Burrow, et.al, hypothesized that aggression would be weakened in children with Angelman syndrome when attention is put on those children. The study included 12 children with Angelman syndrome. 10 of these children's disability was caused by a deletion, and 2 of these children's disability was caused by an uniparental disomy. The experimenters measured the level of increase or decrease in aggression based on laughing, smiling, frowning, and physical initiation with the adult present. This was in response to manipulated levels of adult attention towards the child. The final results of the study were that aggression was found in a total of 10 of the 12 children. Only one child's behaviors coincided with the hypothesis. Three children showed higher levels of aggression when given more attention. The others. showed no difference when given more attention. The authors said as follows, "The pattern of increased aggression in the high social contact condition combined with evidence of positive affect during this condition suggests aggression may serve to both maintain and initiate social contact." Apparently this interpretation is consistent with much of the past research, which I will look into for my next blog post.
Strachan, Shaw, Burrow, et.al, hypothesized that aggression would be weakened in children with Angelman syndrome when attention is put on those children. The study included 12 children with Angelman syndrome. 10 of these children's disability was caused by a deletion, and 2 of these children's disability was caused by an uniparental disomy. The experimenters measured the level of increase or decrease in aggression based on laughing, smiling, frowning, and physical initiation with the adult present. This was in response to manipulated levels of adult attention towards the child. The final results of the study were that aggression was found in a total of 10 of the 12 children. Only one child's behaviors coincided with the hypothesis. Three children showed higher levels of aggression when given more attention. The others. showed no difference when given more attention. The authors said as follows, "The pattern of increased aggression in the high social contact condition combined with evidence of positive affect during this condition suggests aggression may serve to both maintain and initiate social contact." Apparently this interpretation is consistent with much of the past research, which I will look into for my next blog post.
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