Allan S. Bloom

Behavioral correlates in the happy puppet syndrome: A characteristic profile?

Nine children with the ‘happy puppet’ syndrome are presented here and 19 previously reported cases are reviewed. A characteristic psychological profile is suggested by the childrens ‘unfocused’ activities and inconsistent responsiveness to their surroundings. Behavioral characteristics are atypical for mental age and do not appear to represent unusual seizure equivalents. Recognition of such non‐adaptive behavior may be of importance n selecting specific treatment and management techniques to modify the characteristics of this syndrome at an early age.

Methylphenidate-induced Delusional Disorder in A Child With Attention Deficit Disorder With Hyperactivity

ABSTRACT A 6-year-old child with an Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity developed a florid psychotic disturbance in conjunction with methylphenidate therapy. The childs presentation was highly unusual in that delusional thinking was a predominant feature. This case study is considered within the context of other reported instances of childrens psychotic reactions to stimulant-induced medications. It is suggested that there is a spectrum of stimulant-induced psychoses in children that parallels well-known signs of stimulant intoxication in general.

Cognition in Cerebral Gigantism: Are the Estimates of Mental Retardation Too High?

The psychological findings on 10 children with cerebral gigantism are reviewed. Infants with cerebral gigantism showed a consistent pattern of psychomotor delay. Preschool age children demonstrated signs of a primary language disorder, and school-age patients had learning disabilities. The incidence of mental retardation was significantly lower than previously reported in the literature. The possibility that some children with cerebral gigantism can be easily misdiagnosed as mentally retarded is discussed.

A Comparison of Wisc-R and Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale Classifications of Developmentally Disabled Children.

WISC-Rs and Stanford-Binets were administered to 50 children with developmental disabilities referred for comprehensive evaluations. Although the two IQs correlated highly and significantly, it was found that 54% of the children received different classifications using the two instruments. Thus, testers should be aware that different classifications of intellectual level may be derived for the same child depending upon which test is used.

WISC-R verbal-performance IQ discrepancies: A comparison of learning disabled children to the normative sample

Compared the WISC-R Verbal-Performance IQ discrepancies of learning-disabled children (N = 100) and of the normative sample. There were frequent occurrences of statistically significant discrepancies in both groups, as well as similar mean discrepancy scores and distributions of Verbal greater than Performance and Performance greater than Verbal patterns. It was concluded that without clinical evidence to suggest otherwise, it cannot be assumed automatically that childs discrepancy score, unless of extreme magnitude, is related to the learning disability itself. The importance to clinicians of making both normative and statistical interpretations of WISC-R discrepancy scores was stressed.

The assessment of developmentally disabled children with the WISC-R, binet and other tests

Administered the WISC-R, Revised Stanford-Binet, Bender, VMI, and WRAT to 50 children referred for a multidisciplinary evaluation of developmental disabilities. The correlations among the various WISC-R measures (Standard Scores and IQs) and Binet IQ were significant, with relatively strong relationships among the Binet IQ and those WISC-R subtests that require concentration, short-term auditory memory, visual-motor integration, and the acquisition of new learning. Data showed that the Binet MA correlated as well or better with the other tests than did the various scores from the WISC-R.

Variability in adaptive behavior in children with developmental delay.

Although diagnosticians have become increasingly sensitized to the importance of assessing adaptive behavior in persons with intellectual delay, few empirical data have been available with respect to the relationship between these two dimensions of development in referred clinical populations. Subjects in this study were 117 children aged 9 to 111 months who had significantly intellectual delay. All subjects were administered the Developmental Profile II (DPII), a parent-report measure of functional and adaptive skills. Seventy-nine percent of the children with mild intellectual delay obtained Self-Help age scores on the DPII and 74.2% Social Age scores that were within broad chronological age expectations. A surprising percentage of children with moderate and severe intellectual delays also obtained adaptive age scores at this level.

Implications of large WISC/WISC-R verbal-performance IQ discrepancies

Forty children with Verbal-Performance IQ discrepancies on the WISC/WISC-R were studied in regard to clinical findings on psychological, educational, speech-language, and medical evaluations. Significant delays in the development of verbal when compared to performance skills were observed frequently in this referred sample. The verbal deficits were mostly developmental in nature, rather than secondary to emotional or family background factors. These childrens developmental difficulties were frequently complex ones that benefitted from multidisciplinary assessment and treatment planning. It was emphasized that future research in regard to these intellectual patterns should be conducted within the confines of more neuropsychologically oriented approaches.

Mild intellectual deficits in a child with 49,XXXXY

Severe mental retardation usually is present in males with a 49,XXXXY karyotype, although occasionally, intellectual functioning has been reported to be in the mild range of mental retardation. One child was previously described to have normal development at 15 months, but had mental retardation at 41 months. We present a male with 49,XXXXY who had mild-cognitive and motor delays and age-appropriate adaptive skills at 59 months. Greatest deficits were in expressive verbalizations similar to other male sex chromosome abnormalities. Mosaicism could not be demonstrated in blood or skin specimens. Although most males with 49,XXXXY syndrome will have significant mental retardation, findings in our patient and other reports suggest that variability in intellectual functioning may occur, in some instances, and may justify guarded optimism in affected males demonstrating close to or age-appropriate developmental skills through early childhood.

A comparison of an ITPA estimated psycholinguistic quotient and WISC-R IQS for developmentally disabled children.

Compared an estimated Psycholinguistic Quotient, based on Cronkhite and Penners (1975) revised scoring procedure for the ITPA Psycholinguistic Age, to the WISC-R Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale IQs of developmentally disabled children. The Quotient entered into strong relationships with the WISC-R Verbal and Full Scale IQs. The diagnostic significance of these correlations was discussed. The data indicated that the estimated Psycholinguistic Quotient was a valid measure for screening intellectual status in this population.