Examining the Role of Language in Play Among Children With and Without Developmental Disabilities.

Purpose Play is a critical aspect of children's development, and researchers have long argued that symbolic deficits in play may be diagnostic of developmental disabilities. This study examined whether deficits in play emerge as a function of developmental disabilities and whether our perceptions of play are colored by differences in language and behavioral presentations. Method Ninety-three children participated in this study (typically developing [TD]; n = 23, developmental language disorders [DLD]; n = 24, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder [ADHD]; n = 26, and autism spectrum disorder [ASD]; n = 20). Children were videotaped engaging in free-play. Children's symbolic play (imagination, organization, elaboration, and comfort) was scored under conditions of both audible language and no audible language to assess diagnostic group differences in play and whether audible language impacted raters' perception of play. Results Significant differences in play were evident across diagnostic groups. The presence of language did not alter play ratings for the TD group, but differences were found among the other diagnostic groups. When language was audible, children with DLD and ASD (but not ADHD) were scored poorly on play compared to their TD peers. When language was not audible, children with DLD were perceived to play better than when language was audible. Conversely, children with ADHD showed organizational deficits when language was not available to support their play. Finally, children with ASD demonstrated poor play performance regardless of whether language was audible or not. Conclusions Language affects our understanding of play skills in some young children. Parents, researchers, and clinicians must be careful not to underestimate or overestimate play based on language presentation. Differential skills in language have the potential to unduly influence our perceptions of play for children with developmental disabilities.

Denying renal transplantation to an adolescent medical cannabis user: An ethical case study.

Medical cannabis is now legal in over half of the United States. As more patients adopt this unconventional therapy, it is inevitable that potential transplant recipients will disclose their cannabis use during transplant evaluation. Transplant teams are tasked with the decision to utilize a pressure resource, often with little guidance from international and national professional organizations. Many healthcare providers remain uniformed or misinformed about the risks of cannabis use and organ transplantation. In order to illustrate the multifaceted and complex evaluation of transplant patients using medical cannabis, this article presents the case of a 20-year-old woman recommended for renal transplant who was originally denied active listing due to her medical cannabis use. A review of the literature explores the perceived and actual risks of cannabis use in the immunocompromised patient. Furthermore, a discussion of the ethics of medical cannabis use and organ transplantation is included with recommendations for multidisciplinary transplant teams.

Social Risk Factors Impact Hospital Readmission and Outpatient Appointment Adherence for Children with Congenital Heart Disease.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relations of individual and cumulative social risk factors to hospitalization outcomes and adherence to outpatient cardiology appointments within the first 2 years of life for congenital heart disease survivors. STUDY DESIGN: Data were extracted for 219 patients who underwent infant cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass. Cumulative social risk was dichotomized into high social risk (≥2 risk factors; n = 103) versus low social risk (≤1 risk factor; n = 116). The risk of morbidity by procedure was assigned from 1 to 5 (Society of Thoracic Surgeons and European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery Morbidity Scores and Categories). Two-way ANOVAs examined the effects of social risk and morbidity risk on length of first surgical hospitalization, number of readmissions and readmission days, subsequent cardiac surgical interventions, and adherence to outpatient cardiology appointments. RESULTS: An interaction between social risk and morbidity risk was identified for number of readmission days, F(4, 209) = 3.07, P = .02, η2 = .06. Pairwise comparisons demonstrated that, among those patients with the lowest risk of morbidity by procedure (morbidity scores of 1 and 2), patients at high social risk had more readmission days than patients at low social risk (morbidity score 1: 16.63 ± 34.41 days vs 3.02 ± 7.13 days; morbidity score 2: 27.68 ± 52.11 days vs 2.20 ± 4.43 days). High social risk also predicted significantly worse adherence to cardiology appointments. CONCLUSIONS: Cumulative social risk impacts readmission days for patients with congenital heart disease with a low risk of morbidity by procedure. Social risk assessment can identify families who may benefit from social/behavioral interventions to optimize discharge readiness, congenital heart disease home management, and long-term outcomes.

Developmental screening in children with CHD: Ages and Stages Questionnaires.

OBJECTIVE: Standardised developmental screening tools are important for the evaluation and management of developmental disorders in children with CHD; however, psychometric properties and clinical utility of screening tools, such as the Ages & Stages Questionnaires, Third Edition (ASQ-3), have not been examined in the CHD population. We hypothesised that the ASQ-3 would be clinically useful for this population. Study design ASQ-3 developmental classifications for 163 children with CHD at 6, 12, 24, and/or 36 months of age were compared with those obtained from concurrent developmental testing with the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition. RESULTS: When ASQ-3 screening failure was defined as ⩾1 SD below the normative mean, specificity (⩾81.9%) and negative predictive value (⩾81.0%) were high across ASQ-3 areas. Sensitivity was high for gross motor skills (79.6%), increased with age for communication (35.7-100%), and generally decreased with age for problem solving (73.1-50.0%). When ASQ-3 screening failure was defined as ⩾2 SD below the normative mean, specificity (⩾93.6%) and positive predictive value (⩾74.5%) were generally high across ASQ-3 areas, but sensitivity was low (31.1%) to fair (62.8%). The ASQ-3 showed improved accuracy in predicting delays over clinical risk factors alone. CONCLUSIONS: The ASQ-3 appears to be a clinically useful tool for screening development in children with CHD, although its utility varied on the basis of developmental area and time point. Clinicians are encouraged to refer children scoring ⩾1 SD below the normative mean on any ASQ-3 area for formal developmental evaluation.