Supporting first-grade writers who fail to learn: multiple single-case evaluation of a response to intervention approach

We report a multiple-baseline single-case study, based in the response to intervention framework, evaluating transcription-only and transcription-and-planning interventions for young, struggling writers. In a baseline phase, 8 classes of Spanish children at the start of their first year of primary (elementary) education completed short, probe writing tasks twice-weekly over the first 120 days of their school career. During this period, all students received researcher-developed classroom instruction in spelling, handwriting, and text-planning. Students then completed a battery of tests including measures of spelling, handwriting and composition quality. On the basis of writing probe tasks and test scores we identified 12 struggling writers for whose written composition performance was below the 15th percentile, relative to the full sample, whose spelling performance was below 25th percentile, and whose handwriting was poor. For the next 72 days, these students received twice-weekly, parent-delivered training in transcription skills (handwriting and spelling) or transcription skills plus text planning. Researcher-developed classroom instruction and regular probe tasks continued during this phase. All students, in both intervention conditions, showed improvement in handwriting quality relative to Phase 1. 10 students also showed improvement in composition quality, with 8 performing, post intervention, within normal range relative to peers. Our findings demonstrate the value of a response-to-intervention approach to identification and remediation for struggling writes in their first school year

Comparative Efficacy of Iranian and Foreign Methylphenidate in Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder

ABSTRACT: Introduction & Objective: Methylphenidate is one of the basic drugs in treating ADHD. According to many clinical studies, the foreign form of methylphenidate (ritalin) is more efficient than the Iranian form of the drug (stimidate). This study aimed to compare the efficacy of stimidate and Ritalin in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactive disorder. Materials & Methods: In this double blind, randomized clinical trial, 200 children with attention deficit hyperactive disorder who referred to Isfahan psychiatric clinics were studied. For 100 of these patients ritalin was prescribed while others received stimidate. After 4 weeks, changes in severity of symptoms were evaluated with parental form of Conner's questionnaire. Results: After 4 weeks of treatment, the mean decrease of Conner's number in Ritalin group was 19.63±13.5 and in Stimidate group was 3.29±7.2. Ritalin had effectiveness in treatment of 83.3 percent of the patients ( 6 reduction in Conner's number), but Stimidate was only effective in treating 37.5 percent of the patients. Conclusion: This study showed that foreign methylphenidate (ritalin) is more effective than the Iranian form of the medicine (stimidate)

Parental Interaction Patterns in Children with Adhd and Controls; a Comparative Study

Introduction: Communicational patterns of the parents can either positively or negatively influence children's personality. Parenting manner has long-term effects on behavior, function, expectations and eventually people's future personality. This study investigates parental interaction patterns in children with attention deficit- hyperactive disorder. Methods :In this study, 50 male children aged 7-12 years were selected in two groups including 1) 25 students with ADHD referring to psychiatry clinics in Isfahan according to the diagnostic scale of DSM- IV and 2) 25 healthy boys selected by random cluster multistage sampling from primary schools in five districts of Isfahan from Septamber 2005 until March 2005. Schaffer and Edgerton parental interaction questionnaire was filled for them. Results: In "Communication" interaction pattern, the mean score of healthy children was 15.08, while the mean score of ADHD children was 13.42. In "admission" interactional pattern; the mean of the first group was 14.76, while the second group was 11.76. In "control" interactional pattern, mean of group one was 13.28 and the second group was 11.76. In "aggression control" interactional pattern, the mean of group one was 13 and the second group was 14.68. In "lack of aggressive attachment" interactional pattern, mean of the first group was 13.36 and the second group was 16.67. The mean scores of parental interactional pattern in healthy children were all higher than ADHD children except for "aggression control" and "lack of aggressive attachment" interactional patterns. Conclusion: The more the parental "admission" interactional pattern score, the lower the signs of ADHD in children. The signs of severity are lower in cases with more positive parental "control" interactional patterns. If the scores of "lack of aggressive/ attachment" and "aggressive/ control" interactional patterns are higher, ADHD signs are more severe