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For thousands of children around Australia with intellectual and other disabilities, the process of eating can be traumatic, posing challenges that veer from uncomfortable to life threatening.
Sibling profiles, including sibling status (only-child or sibling) and sibling characteristics (sibling size, birth order, and sex), can impact on lived experiences and social interactions, and operate as protective or risk factors for a wide range of health and well-being indicators and outcomes. Using population-based data linkage to disability-specific databases, sibling profiles were compared between families of children with and without neurodevelopmental conditions.
Dissociative disorders in children and young adolescents are under-recognised and under-treated. Current diagnostic criteria rely on downward extensions of adult models and do not adequately consider developmental differences in younger populations. This reliance risks overlooking symptom patterns that may be unique in childhood, thereby perpetuating diagnostic gaps and delayed treatment.
Septo-optic dysplasia (SOD) is a congenital disorder affecting 1 in 10,000 births, defined by the presence of at least two of a clinical triad, consisting of optic nerve hypoplasia, midline brain defects and pituitary hormone deficiency. Children with SOD may have vision impairment, hormonal deficiencies, developmental disorders, or epilepsy, but the clinical picture is highly variable. The complexity of SOD, its interplay with family factors, and the need for multiple specialty commitments can make the diagnosis period a challenging time for families.
The Rett Syndrome Behaviour Questionnaire (RSBQ) describes behavioural and emotional features. This study investigated total RSBQ score trajectories and their clustering, and for trajectory groups, relationships with genotype and mobility, weight-for-age z scores, and seizure frequency.
In children with Rett syndrome, this study aimed to (1) describe gross motor skill trajectories; and (2) analyse the influences of genetic variant and comorbidities. This was a prospective longitudinal study conducted at the Danish National Center for Rett Syndrome 2008 to 2022. The Rett Syndrome Gross Motor Scale (RSGMS) was administered, and clinical data collected at each visit.
Clinical utility of home polysomnography in children with neuromuscular disorders is limited by lack of evidence that sleep-disordered breathing can be reliably identified and inability to diagnose hypoventilation because carbon dioxide is not measured.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a neurodevelopmental condition characterised by social and communication differences, is complex and aetiologically heterogeneous. Untargeted metabolomics is emerging as a tool in screening for biochemical abnormalities. This research was conducted using the Australian Autism Biobank resource and involved analysis of plasma metabolites to characterise metabolite differences between autistic children and controls.
To explore how those with a physical illness in childhood are managing in relationships across childhood to young adulthood.
Intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are varied in their nature and presentation. Barriers to oral healthcare are reported in studies of general populations with IDD but these may not reflect the barriers experienced by individuals with rare disorders such as Rett syndrome.