Sleep has long been considered as a passive phenomenon, but it is now clear that it is a period of intense brain activity involving higher cortical functions. Overall, sleep affects every aspect of a child's development, particularly higher cognitive functions. Sleep concerns are ranked as the fifth leading concern of parents. Close to one third of all children suffer from sleep disorders, the ...

The purpose of this study is to provide a microanalysis of differences in adaptive functioning seen between well-matched groups of school-aged children with autism and those diagnosed as having Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified, all of whom functioned in the mild to moderate range of intellectual impairment. Findings indicate that the major area of difference between chil...

Rett syndrome, one of the leading causes of mental retardation and developmental regression in girls, is the first pervasive developmental disorder with a known genetic cause. The majority of cases of sporadic Rett syndrome are caused by mutations in the gene encoding methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MeCP2). MeCP2 binds methylated DNA and likely regulates gene expression and chromatin structure. G...

Maternal mental disorders are known risk factors for child mistreatment. However, little is known about the involvement of maternal developmental disorder traits. The aim of this study was to examine maternal traits related to Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and their possible association with child mistreatment. Maternal PDD and ADHD ...

Recent studies suggested a link between type 1 diabetes mellitus and pervasive developmental disorder. Moreover, permanent neonatal diabetes mellitus due to pancreatic agenesis can be associated with neurological deficit involving cerebellar functions, but no association with pervasive developmental disorder has been described so far. Clinical and neuropsychological evaluation of a child with p...

This paper investigates the efficiency of several acoustic features in classifying pervasive developmental disorders, pervasive developmental disorders not-otherwise specified, dysphasia, and a group of control patients. One of the main characteristics of these disorders is the misuse and misrecognition of prosody in daily conversations. To capture this behaviour pitch, energy, and formants are...

This study compares the effects of relationship-focused early intervention on toddlers and preschool-age children who were classified as having either pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs) (N = 20) or developmental disabilities (DDs) (N = 30). The intervention was conducted over a 1-year period through weekly individual parent-child sessions. It focused on helping parents use responsive teac...