The fatty acid compositions of erythrocyte and plasma polar lipids in children with autism, developmental delay or typically developing controls and the effect of fish oil intake

The erythrocyte and plasma fatty acid compositions of children with autism were compared in a case-control study with typically developing (TD) children and with children showing developmental delay (DD). Forty-five autism subjects were age-matched with TD controls and thirty-eight with DD controls. Fatty acid data were compared using paired t tests. In addition, blood fatty acids from treatment-naive autism subjects were compared with autism subjects who had consumed fish oil supplements by two-sample t tests. Relatively few differences were seen between erythrocyte fatty acids in autism and TD subjects although the former had an increased arachidonic acid (ARA):EPA ratio. This ratio was also increased in plasma samples from the same children. No changes in n-3 fatty acids or ARA:EPA ratio were seen when comparing autism with DD subjects but some SFA and MUFA were decreased in the DD subjects, most notably 24 : 0 and 24 : 1, which are essential components of axonal myelin sheaths. However, if multiple comparisons are taken into account, and a stricter level of significance applied, most of these values would not be significant. Autism subjects consuming fish oil showed reduced erythrocyte ARA, 22 : 4n-6, 22 : 5n-6 and total n-6 fatty acids and increased EPA, 22 : 5n-3, 22 : 6n-3 and total n-3 fatty acids along with reduced n-6:n-3 and ARA:EPA ratios. Collectively, the autism subjects did not have an underlying phospholipid disorder, based on erythrocyte fatty acid compositions, although the increased ARA:EPA ratio observed suggested that an imbalance of essential highly unsaturated fatty acids may be present in a cohort of autism subjects

The development of a systems analysis approach to small-scale educational evaluation

The adaptation and application of a systems analysis model devised for educational evaluation is discussed in the context of educational evaluation of a small specialist centre and the benefits of the adaptation explained. The ways in which the adapted model was used to gain a realistic picture of the centre are outlined and the potential usefulness of the framework discussed

Goal Attainment Scaling: A Technique for Evaluating Conductive Education

Conductive education ‐ how to evaluate it? Is it really impossible for scientists to design the definitive evaluation study? This is a question asked many times by both parents and professionals involved with conductive education. Understandably frustrated by years of controverSy over an approach which was first introduced into this country more than 30 years ago, many looked to the Birmingham project for the answer to the question: is conductive education a good way of educating children with cerebral palsy? Here was a project which had been planned by experts in the field, was funded by the government and was centred on an attempt to transplant conductive education as a complete system into the UK. However, as Bairstow and Cochrane pointed out recently in the BJSE, the teething problems associated with getting the Birmingham Institute running had a knock‐on effect on the evaluation itself and the results raised many more questions than they answered. Ideally, of course, the first Birmingham evaluation should have been viewed as a preparation for a second study which would begin after the first set of conductors had been fully trained and new children recruited. Since it is unlikely that a repeat of the Birmingham project will take place, what are the alternatives? In the papers that follow, two quite different approaches are represented. In the first MacKay and colleagues, from the Faculty of Education Sirathclyde University, describe the beginnings of another large project, based at the Scottish Centre for Children with Motor Impairments. In this project, organ transplant has not been considered. Instead, an attempt is being made to produce a Scottish version of conductive education by the process of grafting. As part of the evaluation project the group is experimenting with a measurement technique, Goal Attainment Scaling, which they describe in detail. In the second paper, Sigafoos etal., from the Fred and Eleanor Schonell Special Education Research Centre, University of Queensland, Australia, take another approach. Rejecting the notion that ‘the whole is more than the sum of the parts’ they assume the examination of component elements of conductive education is worthwhile and have done a small scale study of short term intervention programme. Although purists might argue that neither of these approaches will answer the question ‘Does conductive education work?’ surely the realists among us will concede that pursuit of the Holy Grail must sometimes give way to more practical projects