Developing and validating the Communication Function Classification System for individuals with cerebral palsy

‘Behavioural comorbidity in Tanzanian children with epilepsy: a community-based case–control study’ by Kathryn Burton, Jane Rogathe, Ewan Hunter, Matthew Burton, Mark Swai, Jim Todd, Brian Neville, Richard Walker, Charles Newton. The aim and emphasis of this study was to define the prevalence of and risk factors for behavioural disorders in children with epilepsy from a rural district of Tanzania by conducting a community-based case–control study. Editor in Chief of Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, Dr Peter Baxter, speaks to one of the co-authors, Professor Charles Newton (Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, North Tyneside General Hospital, North Shields, UK) and to Professor David Dunn (Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA), who has written a commentary with Rachel Yoder on this paper: ‘Challenge of neurological and psychosocial problems in developing countries’. Read the paper: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-8749.2011.04109.x/abstract Read the commentary: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-8749.2011.04121.x/abstract

The term ‘stereotypies’ encompasses a diverse range of movements, behaviours, and/or vocalizations that are repetitive, lack clear function, and sometimes appear to have a negative impact upon an individual’s life. This review aims to describe motor stereotypies. This study reviewed the current literature on the nature, aetiology, and treatment of motor stereotypies. This review features in the November 2011 issue of Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology: ‘Neurodevelopmental movement disorders – an update on childhood motor stereotypies’ by Sinéad Barry, Gillian Baird, Karine Lascelles, Penny Bunton, Tammy Hedderly. Pediatric Neurologist and Leader of the TANDeM Clinic, Evelina Children’s Hospital, London and Professor Mark Mahone, Child Neuropsychologist and Director of the Neuropsychology in Kennedy Kreeger Institute in Baltimore Editor in Chief Dr Peter Baxter, speaks to one of the authors of the review, Tammy Hederly (Pediatric Neurologist and Leader of the TANDeM Clinic, Evelina Children’s Hospital, London) and guest speaker Professor Mark Mahone (Child Neuropsychologist and Director of the Neuropsychology in Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, USA). Read the paper: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-8749.2011.04058.x/abstract

The aim of this systematic review was to examine the evidence for the predictive validity of Prechtl’s Method on the Qualitative Assessment of General Movements (GMsA) with respect to neurodevelopmental outcomes. This paper: ‘Predictive validity of Prechtl’s Method on the Qualitative Assessment of General Movements: a systematic review of the evidence’ authored by Vasiliki Darsaklis, Laurie M Snider, Annette Majnemer, Barbara Mazer, published in the October issue of Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, is discussed by Dr Peter Baxter, Editor in Chief of the journal, and two of the authors, Vasiliki Darsaklis (Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation of Greater Montreal (CRIR), School of Physical and Occupational Therapy, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada) and Laurie M Snider (School of Physical and Occupational Therapy, McGill University, and CRIR, Montreal Children’s Hospital, Montreal, QC, Canada). Read the paper: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-8749.2011.04017.x/abstract

A first episode of central nervous system (CNS) demyelination may represent heterogeneous entities such as acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, clinically isolated syndrome, neuromyelitis optica (NMO), or multiple sclerosis. As new immune therapies become available, it is increasingly important to make an early diagnosis. In this podcast, Editor in Chief of Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, Dr Peter Baxter, talks to Professor Russell Dale (Clinical School, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Sydney) about the paper he co-authored in the September issue of the journal: 'Cerebrospinal fluid B-cell expansion in longitudinally extensive transverse myelitis associated with neuromyelitis optica immunoglobulin G' by Russell C Dale, Esther Tantsis, Vera Merheb, Fabienne Brilot. Read the paper:http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-8749.2011.03975.x/abstract

The purpose of this study was to create and validate the Communication Function Classification System (CFCS) for children with cerebral palsy (CP), for use by a wide variety of individuals who are interested in CP. In this August podcast, Dr Peter Baxter speaks to Professor Mary Jo Cooley Heidecker (Assistant Professor, Department of Speech–Language Pathology, University of Central Arkansas, Conway, AR, USA) and Professor Peter Rosenabum (Professor of Paediatrics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada), who were co-authors of the paper ‘Developing and validating the Communication Function Classification System for individuals with cerebral palsy’ by Mary Jo Cooley Hidecker, Nigel Paneth, Peter L Rosenbaum, Raymond D Kent, Janet Lillie, John B Eulenberg, Ken Chester, Jr, Brenda Johnson, Lauren Michalsen, Morgan Evatt, Kara Taylor. Read the paper: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-8749.2011.03996.x/abstract Read the commentary: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-8749.2011.04035.x/abstract

The discussants are Dr Peter Baxter, Editor of Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, Dr Steven Bachrach, the author of the article, and Dr Jay Shapiro. Dr Bachrach is co-director of the cerebral palsy program at the Department of Pediatrics, Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children and Nemours Children’s Clinic, Wilmington and also part of the pediatric faculty of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. Dr Shapiro is the director of the Osteogenesis Imperfecta Program at Kennedy Krieger Institute and also a Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland. Related article: Decreased fracture incidence after 1 year of pamidronate treatment in children with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy STEVEN J BACHRACH, HEIDI H KECSKEMETHY, H THEODORE HARCKE, JOBAYER HOSSAIN PDF: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-8749.2010.03676.x/pdf

In this July podcast, Dr Peter Baxter, Editor in Chief of Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology discusses two papers: ‘Focus on function: a cluster, randomized controlled trial comparing child- versus context-focused intervention for young children with cerebral palsy’ by Mary C Law, Johanna Darrah, Nancy Pollock, Brenda Wilson, Dianne J Russell, Stephen D Walter, Peter Rosenbaum, Barb Galuppi, and ‘Context therapy: a new intervention approach for children with cerebral palsy’ by Johanna Darrah, Mary C Law, Nancy Pollock, Brenda Wilson, Dianne J Russell, Stephen D Walter, Peter Rosenbaum, Barb Galuppi. Dr Peter Baxter talks to Mary Law (School of Rehabilitation Science and CanChild Centre for Childhood Disability Research, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada) and Eva Brogen Carlberg (Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden) who wrote a commentary in the July issue of Developmental Medicin3 & Child Neurology entitled: ‘Instead of certainty we have search …’. Read the papers: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-8749.2011.03962.x/abstract http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-8749.2011.03959.x/abstract Read the commentary: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-8749.2011.03979.x/abstract

Reliable measurement of disease progression and the effect of therapeutic interventions in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) require clinically meaningful and scientifically sound rating scales. Therefore, we need robust evidence to support such tools. In this June 2011 podcast, Editor in Chief Dr Peter Baxter talks to Anna Mayhew (Institute of Human Genetics, International Centre for Life, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK) and Mike Horton (Psychometric Laboratory for Health Sciences, Leeds, UK) about the following article: ‘Moving towards meaningful measurement: Rasch analysis of the North Star Ambulatory Assessment in Duchenne muscular dystrophy’ by Anna Mayhew, Stefan Cano, Elaine Scott, Michelle Eagle, Kate Bushby, Francesco Muntoni, On Behalf Of The North Star Clinical Network For Paediatric Neuromuscular Disease. Read the paper here: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-8749.2011.03939.x/abstract

Welcome to the May 2011 edition of the Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology podcast series. In this podcast, Dr Peter Baxter, Editor in Chief of the Journal, looks at the article ‘Spectrum of neurodevelopmental disabilities in children with cerebellar malformations’ by Marie-Eve Bolduc, Adré J Du Plessis, Nancy Sullivan, Omar S Khwaja, Xun Zhang, Katherine Barnes, Richard L Robertson, Catherine Limperopoulos, and the accompanying commentary, also in the May 2011 issue: ‘Cognitive functions in children with cerebellar malformations’ by Dr Andrea Poretti. Dr Peter Baxter talks to Professor Catherine Limperopoulos (Division of Diagnostic Imaging and Radiology, Children’s National MedicalCenter, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA), one of the authors of the article and Dr Andrea Poretti (Division of Pediatric Radiology, Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA). Read the paper here: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-8749.2011.03929.x/abstract Read the commentary here: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-8749.2011.03925.x/abstract

In this podcast, Editor in Chief of Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, Dr Peter Baxter, looks at the following paper published in the March 2011 issue of the journal: ‘Perinatal, maternal, and fetal characteristics of children diagnosed with attention-deficit–hyperactivity disorder: results from a population-based study utilizing the Swedish Medical Birth Register’ by Peik Gustafsson (Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Clinical Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden ) and Karin Källén (The Tornblad Institute of Reproductive Epidemiology, Clinical Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden). This paper is discussed by Dr Peter Baxter, Peik Gustafsson, and Professor Bernard Dan, Department of Neurology, Hôpital Universitaire des Enfants Reine Fabiola, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium. Read the paper here: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-8749.2010.03820.x/abstract