Rett syndrome affects girls and is characterized by progressive motor disablement, loss of acquired skills, seizures and autism. Scoliosis is also a commonly seen as a complication and this study set out to describe its prevalence, classify spinal deformity, and evaluate associations between disability and scoliosis. 29 patients took part in the study, ages ranging [read the full story…]
This study set out to look at associations between psychiatric disorders in people with learning disabilities and challenging behaviours. The study used a large sample and controlled for sex, age, autism and degree of learning disability. The researchers used data from 47% of all people with learning disabilities who were known to and receiving services [read the full story…]
This long-term follow-up study set out to better characterise the features and correlates of epilepsy in individuals with autism. The authors point out that few long term follow up studies have been reported. 151 individuals with a diagnosis of autism in childhood were followed up at 21+ years of age. They were screened for history [read the full story…]
This study set out to investigate whether the triad of impairments and severe challenging behaviour had an impact on the lifestyle of adults living in staff-supported community housing using data collected on 427 adults living in 146 staffed houses. The authors found that after controlling for adaptive behaviour, there were no significant differences between those with [read the full story…]
This systematic review of prevalence rates of chronic health conditions in children with intellectual disability found 2,994 relevant studies published between 1996 to 2008. 31 studies were included that the authors felt had sufficient methodological quality. They found that the 6 most prevalent chronic health conditions were: Epilepsy (22.0/100), Cerebral palsy (19.8/100), Anxiety disorder (17.1/100), [read the full story…]
This study reports an online survey that set out to find out more about autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in later life. The survey consisted of an online questionnaire (biographical information, general health, quality of life, score on Autism Quotient [AQ] measure) of adults in their forties, resident in the UK, diagnosed with ASD or who [read the full story…]
