A survey of parent satisfaction with pediatric neuropsychological evaluations.

Satisfaction with pediatric neuropsychological evaluations was surveyed by asking parents or guardians of children who completed pediatric neuropsychological evaluations at a large children's hospital over a 2-year period to complete a 30-item rating scale. The scale included items drawn from published measures of consumer satisfaction, and incorporated a well-validated measure of general satisfaction. A total of 338 surveys were distributed, with 117 completed, for a return rate of 35%.

Long-term executive function deficits in children with traumatic brain injuries: assessment using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF).

Long-term deficits in executive functions following childhood traumatic brain injuries (TBI) were examined using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF). Parents completed the BRIEF approximately 5 years postinjury as part of a prospective study of children injured between the ages of 6 and 12. The children were between 10 and 19 years of age at the time of the assessment, and included 33 with severe TBI, 31 with moderate TBI, and 34 with orthopedic injuries.

Do children with myelomeningocele and hydrocephalus display nonverbal learning disabilities? An empirical approach to classification.

As a group, children with myelomeningocele (MM) and early-onset hydrocephalus demonstrate many of the features of the syndrome of nonverbal learning disabilities (NLD). However, the frequency with which individual children display a pattern of neuropsychological functioning consistent with the NLD syndrome is unknown. We addressed this question by comparing the prevalence of NLD in 32 children with MM and shunted hydrocephalus to that in a group of 27 healthy siblings.

Motor adaptation in children with myelomeningocele: comparison to children with ADHD and healthy siblings.

Myelomeningocele is a common developmental malformation of the central nervous system that usually results in motor deficits. Previous studies of myelomeningocele have not examined motor adaptation, which involves changes in the control of movements that occur as a result of repeated task exposure but do not depend on conscious recall of the exposure. We studied motor adaptation in 17 children with myelomeningocele and shunted hydrocephalus, 19 children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and 20 healthy siblings.