Longitudinal study of neuropsychological outcome in blind extremely-low-birthweight children

Beliefs about Physical Activity among Children who are Visually Impaired and their Parents

This survey of 25 visually impaired children aged 10–12 and their parents investigated the value the parents placed on their children's physical activity and the barriers to physical activity that the children faced. The results revealed that as vision loss increased, parents’ expectations for their children's ability to be physically active decreased, as did the children's views that physical activity is important or useful.

Stereotyped Movements among Children who are Visually Impaired

Does the severity of visual impairment affect the prevalence and severity of stereotyped movements? In this study, children who were blind or had low vision, half of whom had intellectual disabilities, were assessed. The results revealed that blindness and global delays were associated with more sensory processing dysfunction and more stereotyped movements.

Measures of Self-Perception, Level of Physical Activity, and Body Mass Index of Participants of Sports Education Camps for Youths with Visual Impairments

Introduction:

This study explored the relationship between first-time or repeat participation at a sports education camp and demographic variables of gender, age, race or ethnicity, measures of self-perception, body mass index (BMI), and physical activity in participants’ communities.

Methods:

The study was a secondary data analysis of interview and BMI data for youths with visual impairments (i.e., those who are blind or have low vision) who attended a sports education camp in one of 12 states in the years 1989, 1996, and 2000–2010.

Results:

The short-term intervention model of a sports education camp had a positive effect on participants’ perceptions of themselves. This result was more pronounced for boys and for youths with some usable vision. Involvement in a sports education camp did not tend to translate to increased involvement in sports in a student’s community. The mean BMI of first-time participants was consistent across gender, race or ethnicity, and vision category, and the BMI of first-time participants tended to be higher according to the age of the participant.

Discussion:

The findings revealed that the short-term intervention model of a sports education camp is highly effective in increasing self-perception for youngsters with vision impairments.

Implications for practitioners:

For youths with visual impairments who might be experiencing reduced social interaction, decreased self-perception or increased BMI involvement in a sports education camp is a short-term intervention that can positively impact these effects.

Physical Performance of Participants of Sports Education Camps for Children with Visual Impairments

Introduction:

Youths with visual impairments (i.e., those who are blind or have low vision) often demonstrate reduced involvement in sports and related negative effects. This study looked at data from sports education camps to see whether involvement in this short-term intervention positively affected the performance of component sports skills such as running, throwing, and catching.

Methods:

This study is a secondary analysis of interview and performance data taken at sports education camps in one of 12 U.S. states in the years 1989, 1996, and 2000–2010. Data included questions about students’ attitudes toward and involvement in physical activities and sports. Skill performance measured before and after each camp included standing long jump, overarm softball throw, underarm softball throw, and goalball throw.

Results:

First-time attendees at the sports education camps demonstrated significant improvement in overarm throw, underarm throw, and standing long jump. Boys had slightly greater increases in standing long jump and overarm throw, and girls had a larger increase in underarm throw. Participants who initially felt safe running improved more in overarm throw and those who initially felt unsafe running improved more in underarm throw and standing long jump. Girls and those who initially felt unsafe running had a significant increase in goalball throwing speed.

Discussion:

The sports education camp model of short-term intervention for basic sports skill instruction is highly effective in improving physical performance for students who are visually impaired.

Implications for practitioners:

Students with visual impairments who are demonstrating negative effects from not being active or involved in sports might positively benefit from involvement in a sports education camp.

Intracranial volume and dementia: some evidence in support of the cerebral reserve hypothesis

The brain reserve hypothesis has been posited as being one important mediating factor for developing dementia, especially Alzheimer's disease (AD). Evidence for this hypothesis is mixed though different methodologies have made these findings difficult to interpret. We examined imaging data from a large cohort (N=194) of mixed dementia patients and controls, 65years old and older from the Cache County, Utah Study of Memory and Aging for evidence of the brain reserve hypothesis using total intracranial volume (TICV) as a quantitative measure of pre-morbid brain size and a vicarious indicator of reserve. A broader spectrum of non-demented elderly control subjects from previous studies was also included for comparison (N=423). In addition, non-parametric Classification and Regression Tree (CART) analyses were performed to model group heterogeneity and identify any subgroups of patients where TICV might be an important predictor of dementia. Parametrically, no main effect was found for TICV when predicting a dementia diagnosis; however, the CART analysis did reveal important TICV subgroups, including a sex differential wherein ε4 APOE allele presence in males and low TICV predicted AD classification. TICV, APOE, and other potential mediator/moderator variables are discussed in the context of the brain reserve hypothesis.

The relationship between stereotyped movements and self-injurious behavior in children with developmental or sensory disabilities

We assessed whether the stereotyped movements (SM) that are a defining characteristic of autism are discriminable from those observed in other disorders, and whether stereotyped self-injurious movements, which are excluded as exemplars of SM in DSM-IV, differ from other SM in severity or in kind. We used the Stereotyped and Self-Injurious Movement Interview to assess self-injurious and other SM in children with autism (n=56), intellectual disability (n=29), vision impairment (n=50), or hearing impairment (n=51) and in typical children (n=30). Cross-tabulation of scores indicated that self-injurious behavior is rarely performed in the absence of other SM. Reliability analyses indicated that patterns of covariation among SM items differ across groups so that different item sets are necessary to reliably measure SM in each group. Analyses of variance indicated the autism group exceeded one or more other groups in the frequency of 15 SM, the vision impaired group exceeded others on 5 SM, and the hearing impaired group exceeded others on 1 SM. Discriminant function analysis of SM items indicated that although only 66% of participants were accurately classified, it was rare for a child with a different disorder to be misclassified as having autism or visual impairment. We concluded that self-injurious behavior is a more severe form of SM, and there is a distinctive pattern of SM, including self-injurious behavior, that characterizes children with autism.