A Survey of Toxoplasmosis Among Mentally Retarded Children

To determine what role, if any, toxoplasmosis plays in the mental retardation of children, sera from 345 mentally retarded children were tested for the presence of antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii. The serological tests employed were the complement-fixation, the Sabin-Feldman dye test and the immunofluorescence test. The donors were also skin-tested with toxoplasmin.Of 345 mentally retarded donors nine gave a positive skin reaction, 15 possessed complement-fixing antibodies, 21 had immunofluorescent antibodies and 45 had dye test antibodies to T. gondii.The incidence of antibodies to T. gondii in the mentally retarded group was approximately the same as in the normal control group of the same age, and less than in the group suspected of having toxoplasmosis. It is concluded that in the children in this study toxoplasmosis played little or no role as a predisposing factor in the occurrence of congenital mental deficiency.     

MLPA Subtelomere Analysis in Tunisian Mentally Retarded Patients

Subtelomeric rearrangements significantly contribute to idiopathic mental retardation and result in several mental retardation syndromes; however, most subtelomeric defects lack a characteristic phenotype. Thirty patients with unexplained mental retardation, a normal R banded karyotype at the 550 band, and no clinically recognizable syndrome were screened by Multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA). Four anomalies were identified: deletion 17q, duplications (4q), and associated duplications 15q and Xq. This duplication was found in two sisters of the proband. Anomalies were unidentified by the conventional technique. The prevalence of subtelomeric imbalances in our cohort of moderate to severe mental retardation is around 13% and is consistent with the literature. The sensitivity of the MLPA technique was characterized on cytogenetically verified positive and negative controls. MLPA is a fast, reliable, and relatively inexpensive technique to detect subtelomeric rearrangement in comparison with the fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) technique.     

The Mentally Retarded Infant — Is Placement Feasible?

A 1968 questionnaire about placement resources for mentally retarded infants that was sent to public agencies in all 58 California counties showed:• Resources for counseling, placement, and financial aid for out-of-home placement are not uniformly available to all groups within the population.• Financial help with out-of-home placement of a member of a family that is not medically indigent may be available in less than one-fourth of the counties of the state.• Knowledge of resources is often inadequate. A family could be referred inappropriately from one agency to another.     

Observations on Accommodation for the Mentally Retarded in the Province of Ontario

Mentally retarded subjects occupy 8629 beds, a supply rate of 138 beds per 100,000 population. At this rate, and without overcrowding, another 2500 beds will be required by 1972, if the present rate of population increase is maintained. England has a lower rate of supply, but nevertheless the demand for beds, judging by waiting lists and waiting time, is greater in Ontario. A number of factors determining demand, such as family size, public attitude, professional advice and economic factors, may differ in the two communities. Two important differences are the more adequate community service and the availability of short-term care in England, which may reduce demand for permanent care. Since policy in developing community services may influence demand for accommodation, planning should take account of this. Planning well ahead is particularly important for a rapidly expanding population.     

Psychological Characteristics of the Development of Written Language in Mentally Retarded School Children

The problem of the development of language in the mentally retarded child is one of the most important in special psychology and is of major theoretical and practical significance. How far we go in studying this problem will in large measure determine not only the structure of lessons in a native language in a remedial school but also how the process of instruction and education of backward children in general is organized.     

Behavioral Psychophysiological Intervention in a Mentally Retarded Epileptic Patient with Brain Lesion

Behavioral psychophysiological treatment entailing Slow Cortical Potential (SCP) biofeed-back training and behavioral self-control training was conducted with a 27-year-old male epileptic patient (seizures for 23 years) with Wechsler IQ 64 who underwent callosotomy. The patient had 12/week secondary generalized tonic-clonic seizures. The treatment, consisting of 43 SCP training sessions and 22 behavioral control sessions, yielded a highly significant reduction of seizure frequency to about 7.5/week; such a decrease had never been observed after administration of new anticonvulsant drugs, nor after the callosotomy. During SCP feedback training, the patient was able to produce highly-significant cortical differentiation of SCPs of about 4 µV. In addition, he developed several new behaviors indicating growing ability of self-perception and self-regulation. These findings suggest that a combination of SCP biofeedback with behavioral treatment of epilepsy can be used even in mentally retarded patients with organic brain disorders.     

130例智力低下儿童脆性X检测报告

本文采用脆性 X检测技术对130例先天性智力低下儿童进行了细胞遗传学研究,结果共发现27例具有染色体异常。其中t(5;15)及t(8;12),inv(9)两例核型,经鉴定为世界首报核型;检出5例脆性X综合征,检出率为3.77%,占异常核型的18.5%。 Abstract:The cytogenetic study was made on 130 mentally retarded children with the technique of Fra(X) detection.Among the 27 mentally retarded children with chromosomal abnormalities found in the study,the two karyotypes of t (5;15) and t (8;21),inv(9) were first reported in the literature.of the 130 mentally retarded cases,5 had fragile (X) syndrome (3.77%).The syndrome accounted for 18.5% in the abnormal karyotypes.     

Low Prevalence of Hepatitis B Infections Among Residents of an Institution for the Mentally Retarded in New Mexico

Residential institutions for the mentally retarded are considered high-risk settings for hepatitis B (HB) infection. Accordingly, HB vaccine is recommended for susceptible clients and selected staff of such facilities. However, a serologic screening program among 364 residents of Los Lunas Hospital and Training School (LLHTS) in New Mexico found only 11 residents to be anti-HBc positive (3%) and only one of these residents was also HBsAg-positive (0.3%). The unexpectedly low prevalence of HB infections at LLHTS probably reflects infrequent HB introductions into the institution. Using these serologic data, a vaccination program was instituted to prevent HB infection among LLHTS residents, thereby eliminating the need for mass screening and HB vaccination of LLHTS employees. Serologic screening among residents of other smaller institutions for the mentally retarded is recommended before design of HB prevention programs for clients and staff.     

Observations on Community School Facilities for the Mentally Retarded and Admissions to Institutions in Ontario, 1954-63

The relationship between community school facilities and first admissions of mentally retarded children to Ontario Institutions was investigated for the period 1954-1963. The number of educable (I.Q. 50-75) mentally retarded children aged 6-16 years in community schools rose consistently (92.1/100,000 population in 1954 to 190.1 in 1963), while first admissions of educable mentally retarded persons aged 5-19 years to Ontario Hospital Schools showed no consistent trend (2.0/100,000 in 1954 and 2.0 in 1963). The number of trainable (I.Q. 20-50) mentally retarded children aged 5-18 years in community retarded children''s schools rose steadily (10.9/100,000 population in 1954 to 42.8 in 1963), while first admissions in this category aged 5-19 years demonstrated no consistent trend (2.6/100,000 in 1954 and 2.2 in 1963).No indication was found that the age distribution of these first admissions had changed from 1954 to 1963. Any effect that increased school facilities might have had in reducing first admissions may have been nullified by the very large demand for a limited number of beds.     

The Importance of Intentionality in Accurate and Complete Text Recall; (Comparative Study of Mentally Retarded and Normal Schoolchildren)

Viewed from the perspective of their standpoint on the significance of intention for memory and recall, theories of memory in bourgeois psychology may be divided into two groups. One group completely disregards the role of intention in memory and recall. For example, it follows necessarily from Ebbinghaus's associationist theory that memory and recall take place independently of the intention of the subject and depend exclusively on the multiple repetition of what is contained in consciousness.