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Query: UMLS:C0025362 (mental retardation)
 15,878 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

As a developmental disorder, autism presents as a combination of unusually delayed maturational stages constrained by neuropathology that also produces many atypical behaviors. This process was labeled atypical ontogeny. To understand the development of autistic symptoms, it is necessary to consider each behavior in the context of what is normal for the child's nonverbal mental age and then the extent to which the behavior is delayed or atypical, given factors such as degree of delay, function, and frequency of expression. Many symptoms of autism are not unique to autism, and many reflect at least in part the underlying degree of mental retardation present in a large proportion of autistic individuals. Given this, it is important to rate autistic symptoms in the context of the child's mental development in areas of intelligence not specifically affected by the autism (i.e., nonverbal intelligence) in order to be sure that the symptom is characteristic of autism and not just reflective of the degree of mental retardation. In order to do this, the clinician must have a good understanding of the normal milestones in development in each of the areas in which autistic children develop symptoms. Developmental examples of both normal and atypical milestones, as well as a reliable indicator of nonverbal level of development, would help a user of the DSM-IV criteria for autistic disorder make more accurate decisions in reaching a diagnosis. The DSM-III-R criteria for autistic disorder have many other problems, such as lack of certain kinds of reliability and validity, poor specificity, and redundancy. Discussion of these problems is beyond the scope of this article but is presented elsewhere. What have been presented here are recommendations for revising DSM-III-R diagnostic criteria for autistic disorder insofar as there are implications for putting developmental psychopathology into a developmental context.
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PMID:Toward DSM-IV: a developmental approach to autistic disorder. 204 32

From a population-based series of children with Infantile Hydrocephalus (IH) 69 patients (mean age 11.7 years) were examined with respect to the occurrence of autistic symptoms. Autistic symptomatology was evaluated according to a modified short Swedish version of the so-called Autism Behavior Checklist. Sixteen of the 69 IH children (23%) reached a score which was considered indicative of autistic symptoms (AS) in the child. This group was compared with the remaining 53 IH children without autistic symptoms (non AS). Significant differences were found between these two groups with respect to aetiological and clinical data. In the AS group 44% were born preterm as compared to 9% in the non AS group. CT scan showed major abnormalities in 64% of the AS children while this was present in 28% in the non AS group. The occurrence of major neuroimpairments--epilepsy, mental retardation and cerebral palsy--was 50%, 88% and 50% in the AS group as compared to 9%, 23% and 19% respectively in the non AS group. It was concluded that the more severe the brain damage in children with IH the more likely that autistic symptomatology would ensue. This implies that specific neuropsychiatric services to these families are required.
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PMID:Autistic symptoms in children with infantile hydrocephalus. 205 95

This study assessed the impact of choice making on the serious problem behaviors of 3 students with severe autism and/or mental retardation. In the context of within-subject reversal designs, the results showed consistently reduced levels of problem behaviors (e.g., aggression) when the students were given opportunities to make choices among instructional tasks and reinforcers. Additional data showed no systematic differences in the rate of correct responding between the two conditions. The results are discussed in relation to the continuing search for effective, nonintrusive solutions to the occurrence of serious problem behavior.
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PMID:Effects of choice making on the serious problem behaviors of students with severe handicaps. 207 40

Fra (X) or Martin-Bell syndrome is the most common X-linked mental retardation with an incidence of 1/1000-2000 newborns. Chromatid break, double chromatid break or total loss of distal part of X chromosome (which occurs most often inside the C positive band q 27.3) is demonstrated in most male hemizygotes as mental retardation and specific phenotypic features. Fra (X) syndrome is proved in the cultured lymphocytes or fibroblasts with special cytogenetic methods. The prenatal diagnosis is possible by examining of amniotic fluid or the lymphocytes from the umbilical cord. We report two families with fra (X) syndrome. In the first one, 6 year- and 9-month-old boy with mental retardation and characteristic phenotypic features has been recognized as the carrier of fra (X) syndrome and after that his 4-year-old brother with similar symptoms. In the second family, there is a severe mentally retarded 3-year-old boy with fra (X) syndrome who besides typical phenotipic changes also exhibits symptoms of autism. The percentage of the cells with fra (X) chromosome in our patients (30%, 28%, 18%) is not correlated with the degree of their mental retardation. The mothers of our patients are the heterozygous carriers of the syndrome (3% and 1.5% fra (X) chromosome).
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PMID:[The fragile X (Martin-Bell) syndrome]. 209 75

Based on recent studies of neuroimmune networks, the lymphocyte binding of serotonin neurotransmitter was studied in patients with Alzheimer's disease, idiopathic mental retardation, and autism. The specific binding to lymphocytes of [3H]serotonin, at a single concentration of 100 nM, was significantly reduced in Alzheimer's disease patients as compared to aged controls (group mean of 3.667 +/- 2.301 v 7.506 +/- 1.717 picomoles; p = 0.001), and in children with idiopathic mental retardation as compared to healthy children (group mean of 3.694 +/- 1.627 v 5.792 +/- 1.902 picomoles; p = 0.003). However, autistic children did not differ significantly from the healthy children (group mean of 5.287 +/- 1.987 v 5.792 +/- 1.902 picomoles; p = 0.475). Reduced lymphocyte binding of serotonin may be an indication of breakdown of an unknown neuroimmune pathway relevant to the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease and idiopathic mental retardation.
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PMID:Binding of [3H]serotonin to lymphocytes in patients with neuropsychiatric disorders. 209 81

The prevalence, causal origin of and impairments associated with severe mental retardation (SMR) were investigated among all school-age children (six to 13 years) living in the city of Bologna, Italy. 90 children (57 boys, 33 girls) with IQs less than or equal to 50 were identified. The prevalence of SMR was 4.2 per 1000 for males, 2.5 per 1000 for females and 3.4 per 1000 for both sexes. Causal origin was prenatal for 33.3 per cent, perinatal for 14.4 per cent, combined pre- and perinatal for 5.6 per cent and postnatal for 13.3 per cent. Another 12.3 per cent of the children with IQs less than or equal to 50 had autism or childhood psychosis, while there was no evident cause of mental retardation for the remaining 21.1 per cent. 50 per cent had at least one associated physical or neurological impairment other than mental retardation, with epilepsy and cerebral palsy predominating.
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PMID:An epidemiological study on severe mental retardation among schoolchildren in Bologna, Italy. 225 87

Autism and mental retardation are concepts of a different level. The combination of these concepts in the mentally retarded autistic child requires a specific therapeutic environment. This therapeutic environment must take full account of both the child's limited cognitive potentials and the specific needs and limitations on the basis of autism. Such an integrated approach of the mentally retarded autistic child becomes possible when all the symptoms and behaviours of the children are organized in one coherent frame of reference organized according to the main axes of child development (biological, physical, cognitive and socio-emotional). The consequences of these partly dissimilar, divergent needs and limitations of mentally retarded autistic children for the planning of a therapeutic environment are discussed. Special attention is paid to the combined effect of mental retardation and autism on the cognitive development axes.
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PMID:Autism and mental retardation: the planning of a therapeutic environment. 226 56

The aim of this study was to identify specific social behaviors that differentiate autistic preschoolers from other children at comparable developmental levels. A parent report measure, the Preschool Social Behavior Checklist (PSBC), was developed for this purpose. The PSBC consists of 22 items representing social milestones usually achieved within the first 4 to 5 years of life. Results obtained from a sample of 20 parents of children with autism and 14 parents of children with mental retardation revealed group differences in specific aspects of imaginative play, peer play, and imitation skills. The importance of examining the specific manifestations of social deficits and implications for the diagnosis of autism are discussed.
J Autism Dev Disord 1990 Dec
PMID:Parental report of social behaviors in autistic preschoolers. 227 71

A cytogenetic survey of 67 individuals previously identified as having mental retardation and autistic behaviors revealed 1 person (1.5%) with the fragile X chromosome (fra[X]) and 3 (4.5%) with autosome abnormalities. This low prevalence of fra(X) indicates that most persons with fra(X) in this mental retardation center did not have autistic behaviors severe enough to be identified as a secondary psychiatric diagnosis. The presence of other chromosomal abnormalities is consistent with the known causal heterogeneity of autism in mental retardation populations.
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PMID:Cytogenetic survey for autistic fragile X carriers in a mental retardation center. 229 26

This report describes differences in motoric and instrumental activity of daily living skills (MADLs and IADLs) between 1,442 people with autism and 24,048 people with mental retardation, using data from an adaptive behavior measure. Comparisons were made using groups defined by age (5-12, 13-21, and 21-35 years) and intellectual level. Diagnoses of record were confirmed through group analyses of rates of problem behaviors consistent with autism and comparison to an independent data base. Findings suggest that at ages 5-12 the skills of children with autism are more developed than those of children with mental retardation matched by age and intellectual level. However, in the older groups these differences diminish, and with increasing age (21-35 years) more developed instrumental skills are observed for people with mental retardation.
J Autism Dev Disord 1990 Jun
PMID:Differences in adaptive functioning among people with autism or mental retardation. 234 20


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