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Down Syndrome NSW
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Tuesday 16 August 2016

Research news and commentary #9 for 2016

Perceptions of Crime and Safety focus groups
NSW CID e-news, July 2016
City of Sydney in partnership with University of Sydney, Institute of Criminology are undertaking research to gauge community views and perceptions on crime and safety issues and are looking for volunteer participants, including people with disability. Their aim is to collect data from a broad demographic who live, work or study in the City of Sydney LGA. Click here for more information.

A research participation opportunity from researchers at the University of Newcastle:
Do you have a child with a developmental disability? 
Researchers at the University of Newcastle would like to invite you to complete a survey exploring your experience of being a parent of a child with a developmental disability. In particular, we are interested in how cultural factors may or may not affect your experience. We are also particularly interested in the positive and the negative experiences that you may have had and how this has affected you in your day-to-day life. 
If you are interested in participating, click on this link. It will take you to our website where you can read more about the study before deciding if you would like to complete it or not. On the webpage you can also find a link to the survey.

The profile of social functioning in children with Down syndrome
KB Næss et al, Disability Rehabilitation, July 2016,  21:1-12. [Epub ahead of print]
Background: Practitioners and researchers have asserted for decades that social functioning is a strength in children with Down syndrome (DS). Nevertheless, some studies have concluded that children with DS may be at greater risk of impaired social functioning compared to typically developing controls. This cross-sectional study explores the profile of social functioning (social capabilities and social problems) in six-year-old children with DS, compares it with that of typically developing children and reveals possible differences in predictors between groups ...

Conclusion: Interventions for children with DS should strongly focus on integrating vocabulary skills and social functioning starting at an early age. Implications for Rehabilitation Children with Down syndrome need help and support in social functioning. Systematic training to optimize social capabilities and to prevent social problems should be prioritized. Structured and explicit learning of words important for social interaction with peers and for conflict solutions should be emphasized. Integrated interventions focusing on social functioning and vocabulary should begin in preschool to prepare children for participation in mainstream education.
  • The abstract is free online, access to the full text of the article requires purchase.

Family caring of older adults with intellectual disability and coping according to loci of responsibility
Teresa Iacono et al, Research in Developmental Disabilities, Volume 57, October 2016, pp 170–180
Background: A complex interplay of factors is evident in the response of family caring for older adults with intellectual disability (ID). The aim of this study was to explore the interaction of these factors ...

Conclusion: The loci of responsibility provide a means to understand carers’ appraisal of their role and the degree of control they have over it, and may account for varied coping strategies adopted.
  • The abstract is free online, access to the full text of the article requires purchase.

Outcome of adenotonsillectomy in children with Down syndrome and obstructive sleep apnoea
Mieke Maris et al, Archives of Childhood Diseases, 2 August 2016
Objective: To evaluate the outcome of adenotonsillectomy (AT) in a cohort of children with Down syndrome (DS) and obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) ...
Conclusions: AT results in a significant improvement of OSA in children with DS without a change in sleep efficiency or sleep stage distribution. Severe OSA was associated with a larger reduction of OSA severity. Almost half of the children had persistent OSA, which was not correlated to age, gender or BMI z-score.
  • The abstract is free online, access to the full text of the article requires purchase.

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