To analyze speech and linguistic features in children with articulation disorder characterized by consonant and vowel phonological errors.
Between February 2007 and June 2015, 117 children who showed articulation disorder were selected for the study. Based on comprehensive speech and language assessments, the subjects were classified into articulation dysfunction (AD), or AD overlapping with language delay. Detailed information of articulation, including percentage of consonants correct (PCC) and normal percentage of variable consonants derived from the Assessment of Phonology and Articulation for Children test, were compared between the two groups.
Totally, 55 children were diagnosed as AD and 62 as AD with language delay. Mean PCC was not significantly different between the two groups. In both groups, the acquisition order of consonants followed the universal developmental sequence. However, differences were observed in the nasal & plosive consonants abnormality between the two groups. When adjusted to their delayed language level in AD with language delay group, 53% of children had appropriate articulation function for their expressive language level.
Speech and linguistic characteristics in children with articulation disorder were variable. Therefore, comprehensive assessment is required in children with inaccurate pronunciation, and a proper treatment plan based on the results of assessment should be followed.
To investigate motor and cognitive developmental profiles and to evaluate the correlation between two developmental areas and assess the influencing factors of the developmental process in children with Down syndrome (DS).
Seventy-eight children with DS participated in this study. The medical history was taken and motoric milestone achievements recorded. The Korean Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (K-WPPSI) and Bayley Scales of Infant Development-II (BSID-II) were administered. Subjects were divided into severe motor delay group (severe group) and typical motor delay group (typical group).
Children with DS follow the same sequence of motor development and generally displayed double times of acquisition of developmental milestones compared with healthy children. Furthermore, having surgery for associated complications showed negative influence to the motor development. Almost of all children with DS showed moderate degree of intellectual disability and motor and cognitive development do not seem to correlate one another.
Surgery of associated complications can be negatively related to motor development. However, early motor development did not have any significant effects on the achievement of later cognitive functioning.
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To investigate the usefulness of MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories-Korean (M-B CDI-K) short form as a screening test in children with language developmental delay.
From April 2010 to May 2012, a total of 87 patients visited the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation of National Health Insurance Service Ilsan Hospital with the complaint of language developmental delay and were enrolled in this study. All patients took M-B CDI-K short form and Sequenced Language Scale for Infants (SELSI) or Preschool Receptive-Expressive Language Scale (PRES) according to their age.
The study group consisted of 58 male patients and 29 female patients and the mean age was 25.9 months. The diagnosis are global developmental delay in 26 patients, selective language impairment in 31 patients, articulation disorder in 7 patients, cerebral palsy in 8 patients, autism spectrum disorder in 4 patients, motor developmental delay in 4 patients, and others in 7 patients. Seventy-one patients are diagnosed with language developmental delay in SELSI or PRES and of them showed 69 patients a high risk in the M-B CDI-K short form. Sixteen patients are normal in SELSI or PRES and of them showed 14 patients non-high risk in the M-B CDI-K short form. The M-B CDI-K short form has 97.2% sensitivity, 87.5% specificity, a positive predictive value of 0.97, and a negative predictive value of 0.88.
The M-B CDI-K short form has a high sensitivity and specificity so it is considered as an useful screening tool in children with language developmental delay. Additional researches targeting normal children will be continued to supply the specificity of the M-B CDI-K short form.
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Supernumerary phantom limb (SPL) resulting from spinal cord lesions are very rare, with only sporadic and brief descriptions in the literature. Furthermore, the reported cases of SPL typically occurred in neurologically incomplete spinal cord patients. Here, we report a rare case of SPL with phantom limb pain that occurred after traumatic spinal cord injury in a neurologically complete patient. After a traffic accident, a 43-year-old man suffered a complete spinal cord injury with a C6 neurologic level of injury. SPL and associated phantom limb pain occurred 6 days after trauma onset. The patient felt the presence of an additional pair of legs that originated at the hip joints and extended medially, at equal lengths to the paralyzed legs. The intensity of SPL and associated phantom limb pain subsequently decreased after visual-tactile stimulation treatment, in which the patient visually identified the paralyzed limbs and then gently tapped them with a wooden stick. This improvement continued over the 2 months of inpatient treatment at our hospital and the presence of the SPLs was reduced to 20% of the real paralyzed legs. This is the first comprehensive report on SPLs of the lower extremities after neurologically complete spinal cord injury.
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