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ABSTRACT: This study investigated sleep of children with autism and developmental regression and the possible relationship with epilepsy and epileptiform abnormalities. Participants were 104 children with autism (70 non-regressed, 34 regressed) and 162 typically developing children (TD). Results suggested that the regressed group had higher incidence of circadian rhythm disorders than non-regressed children. The regressed group showed higher Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire Bedtime Resistance, Sleep Onset Delay, Sleep Duration and Night-Wakings scores. Epilepsy and frequent epileptiform EEG abnormalities were more frequent in regressed children. Past sleep disorders and a history of developmental regression were significantly associated with sleep disorders. This study is an initial step in better understanding sleep problems in regressed children with autism, further studies are necessary to better investigate these aspects.
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 06/2008; 38(10):1888-97. · 3.34 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: To analyze sleep in children with Asperger syndrome (AS) by means of standard sleep questionnaires, to evaluate sleep architecture and NREM sleep alterations by means of cyclic alternating pattern (CAP) and to correlate objective sleep parameters with cognitive behavioral measures.
Cross-sectional study involving validated sleep questionnaires, neuropsychological scales, and PSG recording.
Sleep medicine center.
Eight children with AS, 10 children with autism, and 12 healthy control children.
N/A.
Children with AS had a higher prevalence of problems of initiating sleep and daytime sleepiness. Sleep architecture parameters showed minor differences between the 3 groups. CAP parameters showed an increased percentage of A1 and a decreased percentage of A2 subtypes in subjects with AS vs. controls. All A subtype indexes (number per hour of NREM sleep) were decreased, mostly in sleep stage 2 but not in SWS. With respect to children with autism, subjects with AS showed increased CAP rate in SWS and A1 percentage. In subjects with AS, verbal IQ had a significant positive correlation with total CAP rate and CAP rate in SWS and with global and SWS A1 index. The percentage of A2 negatively correlated with full scale IQ, verbal and performance IQ. CBCL total score correlated positively with CAP rate and A1 index while externalizing score correlated negatively with A3%.
This study shows peculiar CAP modifications in children with AS and represents an attempt to correlate the quantification of sleep EEG oscillations with the degree of mental ability/disability.
Sleep 12/2007; 30(11):1577-85. · 5.05 Impact Factor
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Paola Bernabei
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ABSTRACT: The author traces the history of rehabilitation studies in Italy, that began following E. Séguin's pioneering work in France. The birth of the first "Asili-Scuola" is recalled, and it is stressed how the interest for rehabilitation of mentally retarded children parallelled development of child neuropsychiatry as a science in Italy. The recollection of historical data shows that the primary interest of rehabilitation in childhood has been and, in different forms, still is rehabilitation of subjects with mental retardation and with neurocognitive and neuropsychological disorders.
Medicina nei secoli 02/2006; 18(2):501-12.
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ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to examine adaptive behaviour profiles in children with autism and moderate to severe developmental delay. Previous research has found that children with autism present a characteristic pattern of adaptive behaviour, as measured by the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS) (deficit in the domain of socialization, relative deficit in the domain of communication and relative strength in the domain of daily living). In this study VABS were administered (as part of a comprehensive evaluation of abilities) to a sample of 50 children with moderate to severe developmental delay (23 children with autism and 27 chronological and developmental age matched non-autistic children). Contrary to initial predictions, the sample presented fairly homogeneous adaptive behaviour profiles. Results are discussed with respect to the effectiveness of adaptive behaviour profiles in the detection of autism and the importance of employing limited chronological and developmental age ranges in the study of autism in infancy.
Autism 10/2003; 7(3):269-87. · 2.27 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Aim of the study was (1) to evaluate sensorimotor development of children with autism in comparison with that of children with developmental delay, (2) to verify the possible unevenness of the developmental profiles through correlations amongst domains and between domains and chronological age. 46 children with autism were compared with 45 children with developmental delay. Mean chronological age was 3.7 yr. in children with autism and 3.6 yr. in children with mental retardation. Mean mental age was 1.3 yr. in children with autism and 1.1 yr. in children with developmental delay. Ordinal scales of Uzgiris-Hunt show that the two groups score significantly differently on the scales of Object Permanence, Means-Ends, Operational Causality, and Spatial Relations and that scores were higher for the children with autism. The comparison made between the developmental levels of each group indicate that the sensorimotor profile in children with developmental delay is fairly homogeneous, while it appears uneven in autistic children, for whom Object Permanence appears to be the most advanced skill, Verbal and Gestural Imitation and Schemes for Relating to Objects the lowest. The results are in keeping with the assumption that the pivotal defect of autism is a deficit in social interactive skills.
Perceptual and Motor Skills 07/2003; 96(3 Pt 2):1107-16. · 0.49 Impact Factor
