Christine O’Farrelly and Jane Iles post their debut blog about a cutting-edge RCT of video-feedback given to parents for infants at risk of autism. The study makes use of the ViPP technique (Video-feedback Intervention to Promote Positive Parenting) and concludes that this is a promising intervention.
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Intensive interaction is an accepted approach to working with people with learning disabilities and/or autism, but how much do we know about its effectiveness?
Here, Katherine Runswick Cole looks at a review of literature that addresses this question.
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Mindfulness is increasingly recognised as an effective way to reduce stress and improve well-being
Here Kate van Dooren looks at a randomised controlled trial of a mindfulness based stress reduction programme with mothers of children with autism and other developmental delays to look at its impact on levels of distress over time.
[read the full story...]Stress associated with being the parent of a child with learning disabilities is well documented. Mencap’s Breaking Point campaign has highlighted this very clearly. Their survey of families found more than 9 out of 10 family carers reported high levels of stress with over half of family carers either having given up, or considering giving [read the full story…]
It is not clear exactly what the prevalence of autism is amongst the population of adults with learning disabilities. Estimates vary amongst published studies and a recent review carried out by the team at Improving Health and Lives looked at a range of studies that attempted to estimate the prevalence of autism among community-based or [read the full story…]
The level of intellectual functioning for individuals with autism spectrum disorders is extremely variable, but estimates suggest that up to half of all those with an autism spectrum disorder also have an intellectual disability. Whilst neurodevelopmental disorders affect children worldwide, it is thought that these might be more prevalent in lower- and middle-income countries compared [read the full story…]
With the background of 11% of total United States government spending for disability support in 2006, the authors from Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School highlight the financial and social imperatives to improve services for people with learning disabilities. They remind us that most of the current focus on research has been on environmental [read the full story…]
In-vitro fertilisation (IVF) is used to help people who experience difficulties in conceiving (see NICE’s guideline for information eligibility). It involves fertilising an egg with sperm in the laboratory, before reimplanting the fertilised egg into the woman’s womb to develop as normal. In cases of male infertility, the sperm can be injected directly in to [read the full story…]
It has long been established that psychiatric disorders have a genetic component. In the early days of genetic research, twin and family studies were used to estimate heritability (the proportion of variance explained by genetic factors). The Psychiatric Genetics Consortium has recently published a paper in Nature Genetics to assess the heritability and co-inheritability (relationship between [read the full story…]
Self-injurious behaviour (SIB) usually directly results in physical harm to an individual. Examples include hand biting, head slapping, picking at skin, gouging or striking the body or eating inedible material. Some researchers have begun to include stereotypy or repetitive movements in a definition of self-injurious behaviour, even if they do not result on tissue damage.. [read the full story…]
