Child Developmental Milestone

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STXBP1-related disorders are among the most common genetic epilepsies and neurodevelopmental disorders. However, the longitudinal epilepsy course and developmental endpoints have not yet been described in detail, which is a critical prerequisite for clinical trial readiness. Here, we assessed 1,281 cumulative patient-years of seizure and developmental histories in 162 individuals withSTXBP1-related disorders and established a natural history framework.STXBP1-related disorders are characterized by a dynamic pattern of seizures in the first year of life and high variability in neurodevelopmental trajectories in early childhood. Epilepsy onset differed across seizure types, with 90% cumulative onset for infantile spasms by 6 months and focal-onset seizures by 27 months of life. Epilepsy histories diverged between variant subgroups in the first 2 years of life, when individuals with protein-truncating variants and deletions inSTXBP1(n=39) were more likely to have infantile spasms betwee...

All authors critically revised the manuscript, gave final approval, and agreed to be accountable for all aspects. MJCH and JS also contributed to design, analysis, interpretation, and drafted manuscript. PA also contributed to analysis and interpretation. NTH also contributed to design, analysis and interpretation. ND also contributed to design, acquisition and interpretation. EH also contributed to design, acquisition, analysis, and interpretation. MW also contributed to interpretation. RK and PR also contributed to analysis and interpretation. ML and NP also contributed to conception, design, acquisition, analysis, and interpretation. SVB and SD also contributed to acquisition and interpretation.

Although infancy is the most rapid period of postnatal growth and development, factors associated with variation in infant traits are not well understood. OBJECTIVE To synthesize the large twin study literature partitioning phenotypic variance in psychological traits and developmental milestones in infancy into estimates of heritability and shared and nonshared environment.

Background The purpose of this study was to investigate if infants’ age at attaining motor developmental milestones is associated with the big five personality traits 50 years later. Methods Mothers of 8395 infants from the Copenhagen Perinatal Cohort recorded a total of 12 motor developmental milestones during the first year of their infant’s life. Information on at least one milestone was available for 1307 singletons with adult follow-up scores on the NEO-Five-Factor Inventory. The mean age at personality testing was 50.1 years. Results Slower attainment of motor milestones was associated with increased neuroticism and lower conscientiousness in midlife. All 12 motor developmental milestones explained a total of 2.4% of the variance in neuroticism, while they explained 3.2% of the variance in conscientiousness. These results remained significant after adjustment for the included family and perinatal covariates, as well as adult intelligence. Discussion The personality trait of ne...

None Rolls Bottom shuffles Crawls Walks with KAFO's / AFO's Walks with crutches / frame Independent walking Comment………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… LBC = Limited by contracture *WHO separate scoring at end of RHS Test Instruction 2 1 0 L B C Comments RHS Score SITTING 1* Sitting Using plinth / floor. (Back / feet unsupported) Can you sit on the plinth/chair without using your hands for support for a count of 3?

The development of pragmatic skills does not often receive attention by professionals who are recommending or undertaking assessment of deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) children, yet social communication is vital for linguistic, social, emotional, and academic development. We acknowledge the challenges that DHH children have with pragmatic skills, advocate for monitoring of pragmatic development for all DHH children by medical professionals, and provide direction for assessment of pragmatic skills in young DHH children, particularly for clinicians and teachers who are tasked with that work. Pragmatic assessment is challenging because it must involve observations of the child in interaction with a communication partner, either directly during a specific interaction or through the reflections of a familiar adult. In this article, we recommend two complementary assessment procedures for young DHH children who use spoken language. Assessment 1 recommends that a parent or caregiver complet...

Efficacy of Virtual Education Program to evaluate the Knowledge of Young Mothers in Developmental Milestones. -A survey in Delhi/NCR. Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of virtual education program to assess knowledge of young mothers in identifying developmental milestones. Design: A Cross section study was performed on young mothers via online mode of (pre-posttest). Outcome measures: Google form. Population: Young mothers within since the VEP was administered online. The study proved that videobased teaching program had an effect in improving the knowledge of young mothers on DM.

The Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and Placement Program (VB-MAPP) is an assessment tool used with individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and other language delays (Sundberg 2008). The milestones assessment section of the VB-MAPP is used to determine an individual's current skill level. The results of the milestones assessment can be used to identify instructional goals and objectives. The current study examined the effects of behavioral skills training (BST) on the administration of the milestones assessment by two educational professionals. The BST intervention resulted in immediate increases in performance for both participants.

Background: Most research examining birth history (i.e. related birth complications) and developmental milestone achievement follow outcomes for infants at-risk with very specific birth weight categories and gestational age classifications. The purpose of this study was to examine how birth weight relates to infants' birth histories and developmental milestone achievement when they fall into a variety of birth weight and gestational age categories. Methods: In the current study, we examined birth histories and onset ages for developmental milestones by analyzing a convenience sample of anonymous existing data from 663 developmental histories completed by parents at the time of an initial evaluation at a pediatric outpatient occupational therapy clinic. Infants fell into 3 birth weight categories; low birth weight (LBW), normal birth weight (NBW), and high birth weight (HBW) and 3 gestational age classifications considered with birth weight; small for gestational age (SGA), appropriate for gestational age (AGA), and large for gestational age (LGA). Results: NBW, AGA, and SGA infants with related birth complications had lower birth weights than infants without birth complications. Larger birth weights were associated with earlier ages for independent sitting for HBW infants, earlier ages for eating solids for NBW infants, and earlier walking onsets for LBW and NBW infants. Higher birth weights were also linked with rolling at a younger age for LGA infants, earlier walking and speaking words for AGA infants, and sooner independent sitting for SGA and AGA infants. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that birth weight and gestational age categories provide unique insights into infants' birth history and developmental milestone achievement.

Early diagnosis is appropriate and important for developmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder. In many less developed countries, unfortunately, diagnosis of this disorder is delayed. The aim of the present study is to determine whether this disorder can be screened using simple strategies such as comparison of the age of acquisition of motor skills. For this purpose, 124 children with autism were chosen to enter the study, and their parents were asked to retrospectively specify the age of achieving milestones of sitting without support, standing alone and walking alone. Information obtained from the parents was compared with World Health Organization standards. Results indicate that participants (male and female) have significantly delayed age of acquisition of all three skills. Based on this result, it can be suggested that existing standards, as a simple means with low cost and easy availability, can be used for early screening of the disease at a younger age so that treatment can be provided more quickly.

Background: Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and moderate to severe intellectual disability (ID) face many challenges. There is little evidence-based research into educational settings for children with ID and ASD and in France. Little is known about how this unserved population could benefit from intervention and education. This study assessed the feasibility and efficacy of a new intervention model using an individualized educational approach. Methods: We conducted a randomized, single-blind controlled trial to assess a novel intervention: the "Developmental and Sequenced One-to-One Intervention (DS1-EI)". In DS1-EI, trained teachers worked one-to-one with each child in a small classroom setting, offering 10 h per week of the intervention. The focus was on encouraging spontaneous communication, promoting skills through play with peers, supporting positive interactions, and developmental and sequenced learning. We enrolled 5-to 9-year-old children with ASD and ID across 11 French child care institutions for children with co-occurring ASD and ID. Participants were matched in dyads by developmental quotient and randomized to the treatment-as-usual (TAU) group or the DS1-EI group. Independent raters blindly assessed the primary variables: The Childhood Autism Rating scale (CARS) and the Psychoeducational Profile, third edition (PEP-3). The secondary variables included the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale II (VABS-II) and the Clinical Global Assessment Scale (CGAS). Here we perform interim analyses at 24 months.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by difficulties in social communication, but also great heterogeneity. To offer individualized medicine approaches, we need to better target interventions by stratifying autistic people into subgroups with different biological profiles and/or prognoses. We sought to validate neural responses to faces as a potential stratification factor in ASD by measuring neural (electroencephalography) responses to faces (critical in social interaction) in N = 436 children and adults with and without ASD. The speed of early-stage face processing (N170 latency) was on average slower in ASD than in age-matched controls. In addition, N170 latency was associated with responses to faces in the fusiform gyrus, measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging, and polygenic scores for ASD. Within the ASD group, N170 latency predicted change in adaptive socialization skills over an 18-month follow-up period; data-driven clustering identified a subgroup with slower brain responses and poor social prognosis. Use of a distributional data-driven cutoff was associated with predicted improvements of power in simulated clinical trials targeting social functioning. Together, the data provide converging evidence for the utility of the N170 as a stratification factor to identify biologically and prognostically defined subgroups in ASD.

Autism is not a disease. There is no blood test, neuroimaging, or electroencephalography (EEG) test for making or confirming this diagnosis. Autism is a behaviorally-defined syndrome that denotes atypical development of the immature brain and becomes manifest in late infancy, in toddlers, or young preschoolers. To the experienced clinician, classic autism is an obvious diagnosis. But experience and expertise are not measurable and therefore do not suffice when it comes to enrolling children in research studies or convincing a school district to provide expensive specialized educational services, especially to a child who has not yet celebrated his (or her) third birthday.

Early diagnosis is appropriate and important for developmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder. In many less developed countries, unfortunately, diagnosis of this disorder is delayed. The aim of the present study is to determine whether this disorder can be screened using simple strategies such as comparison of the age of acquisition of motor skills. For this purpose, 124 children with autism were chosen to enter the study, and their parents were asked to retrospectively specify the age of achieving milestones of sitting without support, standing alone and walking alone. Information obtained from the parents was compared with World Health Organization standards. Results indicate that participants (male and female) have significantly delayed age of acquisition of all three skills. Based on this result, it can be suggested that existing standards, as a simple means with low cost and easy availability, can be used for early screening of the disease at a younger age so that t...

Background: Early intervention for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in France is heterogeneous and poorly evaluated to date. Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) is a developmental and behavioral model of intervention for toddlers with ASD which has already shown very interesting outcomes on the development of children with ASD in various studies with different settings. However, it is not possible with the current research to agree on the best setting. Thus, we implemented an ESDM program according to our context where children are often pre-schooling early from 30 months old. This therapy was applied by a multidisciplinary team working in close collaboration with parents and other partners. Subjects and methods: A prospective observational study including 19 toddlers with ASD was conducted. We evaluated improvement on the cognitive level of toddlers with ASD receiving therapist-delivered ESDM intervention for 12 hours per week. Results: Significant improvements in verbal and nonverbal cognitive skills at the Mullen Scale of Early Learning were obtained after 10 months of intervention in our sample. The largest improvement was in receptive language development quotient with a mean improvement of 19.6 points. We also observed promising outcomes in daily adaptive behavior, with a slight improvement in communication at the Vineland Adaptive Behavioral Scale. These outcomes, when compared to the conclusions of previous studies, are leading us to the need for a therapy duration beyond 10 months. Conclusions: Our outcomes were very encouraging even with low cognitive and nonverbal children. These outcomes may be confirmed in a multicenter randomized controlled trial that is ongoing.

There is a critical need for validated screening tools for autism spectrum disorder in very young children so families can access tailored intervention services as early as possible. Few screeners exist for children between the recommended screening ages of 18–24 months. This study examined the utility of a new autism-specific parent-report screening tool, the Early Screening for Autism and Communication Disorders for children 12–36 months. Field-testing was conducted from five sites with 471 children screened for communication delays in primary care or referred for familial risk or concern for autism spectrum disorder. The Early Screening for Autism and Communication Disorders was evaluated in three age groups: 12–17, 18–23, and 24–36 months. A best-estimate diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, developmental delay, or typical development was made. Receiver operating characteristic curves were examined for all 46 items and the 30 items that best discriminated autism spectrum disor...

Background: There is a critical need for validated screening tools for autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in very young children so that families can access intensive, appropriate intervention services as early as possible. The American Academy of Pediatrics (Johnson & Meyer, 2007) recommended that all children be screened for ASD at 18 and 24 months. However, there are no well-validated screening tools for this age range. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the utility of a new autism-specific parent report screening tool, the Early Screening for Autism and Communication Disorders (ESAC) to screen for ASD in children between 12 and 36 months of age.Methods: The research edition of the ESAC included 47 recognition format or closed-choice items based on research on early red flags of children with ASD from 12-36 months. It included items from all three DSM IV domains on both the absence of typical milestones and the presence of atypical behaviors. Field-testing for the ...

Language regression (LR) is a consistent and reproducible phenomenon that is reported by~25% of parents who have children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, there is controversy regarding the etiological and clinical significance of this phenomenon. Here, we examined data from a cohort of 218 children with ASD from the Negev Autism Center in Israel. We identified 36 children with ASD who were reported to exhibit clear LR by their parent on three independent occasions and compared them to 104 children whose parents did not report any concern of regression (NR). We compared a variety of key developmental characteristics across these two groups. We found that the age at which children with ASD in the LR group achieve key developmental milestones of crawling, walking, and use of first words is significantly younger than the age of children in the NR group, and comparable to the age of typically developing children. In contrast, no differences were observed in physical growth characteristics such as head circumference, weight, or height between the groups. Furthermore, almost all children with LR were born close to full term (>35 weeks) and none had a history of hypotonia. Notably, despite their apparently typical early development, children with LR were diagnosed with more severe symptoms of ASD than children with NR. These results strengthen the motivation to continue and study LR among children with ASD and suggest that early detection and intervention studies of ASD may benefit from stratifying children into LR and NR groups.

Mentoring has become a focus at many universities and comes as no surprise since recent research has indicated that mentoring is linked to academic success and even well-being later in life (Supiano, 2018b, para. 5). In order to further identify the reasons why or how mentoring helps young adults, the goal of the study was to explore the role that mentoring plays in the development of young adults' feelings of becoming an adult. Specifically, the topic of the study is the exploration of developmental milestones of young women and how they use mentoring to assist them in navigating adult tasks. The purpose of the study was to determine to what extent young women rely on mentors to help them complete tasks that help them to feel more like adults. By using a qualitative survey model, participants were afforded the opportunity to express their views and feelings in their own words and to their own satisfaction without the influence of the researcher. The invited participants were all college students at a private Christian university located in Dallas, Texas. The university selected has recently implemented a Quality Enhancement Program that was focused on mentoring, has subsequently established a Center for Mentoring, and completed a pilot study of a mentoring program on campus. Analysis of the survey answers revealed key themes in the development of adulthood in young women through mentoring.

Acquiring useful language by age 5 has been identified as a strong predictor of positive outcomes in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). This study examined the relationship between age of language acquisition and later functioning in children with ASD (n = 119). First word acquisition at a range of ages was probed for its relationship to cognitive ability and adaptive behaviors at 52 months. Results indicated that although producing first words predicted better outcome at every age examined, producing first words by 24 months was a par- ticularly strong predictor of better outcomes. This finding suggests that the historic criterion for positive prognosis (i.e., ‘‘useful language by age 5’’) can be updated to a more specific criterion with an earlier developmental time point.

This short paper aims to provide a systematic review of learning theories in an attempt to better understand how pre-school children acquire the skills necessary to interact with modern technology such as smart phones and tablets.
In earlier work the author sought to document a child’s developmental milestones in technology use and compare them to Piaget’s stages of development.  Piaget’s concept of schema; that babies construct checklists for every aspect of the world (MacLeod, 2009) can be used to explain the phenomenon of a child trying to use a magazine in the same way as a touch-screen tablet.
“They apply the schema to each new situation, (assimilation), realize the schema does not quite fit, (accommodation) and then adapt the checklist to create a new schema, (equilibration). Children construct an understanding of the world around them, then experience discrepancies between what they already know and what they discover in their environment.” (MacLeod, 2009)
So in the case of our media-confused baby, the schema for a tablet is fixed in her mind, she then encounters a magazine and attempts to use it in the same way as she would a tablet.  When the sideswipe fails to move the picture she must create a new checklist for the new object.
The explanation is simplistic and assumes that the child has never previously encountered a document with static text or pictures.  It also neglects any aspect of social learning or of mimicking what her parents are doing.
This paper will view the phenomenon of children swiping a static image through the different paradigms of Behaviourism, Cognitivism, Neuroscience, Humanism and Social Constructivism.  There will be a theory by theory analysis culminating in a discussion of how best to describe the learning.

This is a short paper documenting observations on a child’s first experiences interacting with smart technology and mobile devices.  Piaget’s cognitive learning theory is used as a way to explain the observations and the developmental milestones in technology are charted in relation to both clinical developmental standards and Piaget’s developmental phases.  It is hoped that continued research in this area will pave the way for developers to create age appropriate and educational apps.