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Other Investigator Projects
A Double-Blind Placebo Controlled Study of Atomoxetine Hydrochloride for the Treatment of ADHD in Children and Adolescents With ADHD and Comorbid Dyslexia
The Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities is one of 12 sites in this multi-site study. This study will evaluate the effect of atomoxetine in treating ADHD symptoms in children and adolescents, aged 10-16 years, with ADHD and comorbid reading disability (dyslexia). The Primary Outcome Measures are to assess the efficacy of atomoxetine in treating children and adolescents with ADHD and comorbid dyslexia.The Secondary Outcome Measures are: to assess effect of atomoxetine on basic reading skills, working memory, social, emotional, cognitive, educational, and affiliative functioning, inattentive symptoms, &andself concept, and to assess the safety and tolerability of atomoxetine in treating children and adolescent with ADHD and comorbid dyslexia. Atomoxetine will be administered at 1.0 to 1.4 mg/kg/day given orally once daily in the morning. All eligible patients who complete the double-blind study period will have the option of participating in a 16-week open-label extension period in which patients will be treated with atomoxetine. Placebo will be packaged in the same way as experimental drug to enforce double-blind study design.
Attention, Memory, and Executive Functions in Written Language Expression in Elementary School Children
The primary purpose of this project is to establish a stronger scientific foundation for educational practice within the writing domain by utilizing recent advances in cognitive science and neuroscience as they apply to the development of writing and writing problems in elementary school children.
CIDD Autism Research Program
The CIDD Autism Research Program currently includes 19 investigators with externally-funded research projects in areas ranging from studies of service delivery to neuroimaging to mouse models of autistic-like behaviors and behavioral and pharamcologic treatment. The CIDD is home to one of 4 NIH funded Autism Centers of Excellence (ACE) Networks.
CIDD Research Themes
Investigators in the CIDD conduct studies in the following thematic areas: Neuroscience, Basic Behavioral Studies, Neurodevelopmental Syndromes, and Risks/Outcomes/Interventions.
Frontal Function in Adolescent Cannabis Use Disorders
The Frontal Function in Adolescent Cannabis Use Disorders research project is a 5 Year cross sectional investigation with 1 year prospective follow-up to further understanding of the neurobiological consequences of adolescent onset cannabis use disorder. The effects of marijuana on the adolescent brain and on cognitive development will be comprehensively evaluated.
Fronto-Limbic Brain of Bipolar Children and Adolescents
This is a combined in vivo/ neuroimaging and clinical intervention trial in adolescents who have Bipolar Disorder. The relationships between FLB abnormalities, BD symptoms, and response to a mood stabilizing medication (valproate) will be examined.
FSN Research and Evaluation
The Family Support Network (FSN) is committed to evaluating the programmatic activities of the organization and the benefits of these activities to the community. The Family Support Network utilizes a variety of methods to evaluate and assist program development, implementation, and adaptation. FSN also participates in local and state committees working to improve process and outcome evaluation efforts across North Carolina.
Prader-Willi Foundation Research Project
Children with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) exhibit wide variation in their behavior and educational profiles. This has made the assessment process and determination of effective teaching strategies difficult for many educators. This study attempts to remedy this problem through the development of teacher and parent rating forms that would provide specific, detailed information on individual children's neurodevelopmental profiles. These forms can then be directly linked to intervention strategies developed specifically for that profile of strengths and needs.
Pragmatic Skills of Young Males and Females with Fragile X Syndrome
This study compares the developmental trajectories of pragmatic skills, the use of language in social contexts, among girls and boys with fragile X syndrome (FXS), Down syndrome (DS), and typical development (TD) and boys with autism spectrum disorder only (ASD-O) to determine whether individual differences in conversational discourse and narrative skills relate to FXS specifically or to either mental retardation (MR) or autism in general.
School Competence of African American High School Youth
This study examines how selected youth, peer, family, and school factors serve as risk and protective factors for African American youth’s school competence during the transition to high school.
Speech of Young Males with Fragile X Syndrome
The specific objectives of this study are to: a) compare the development of phonological, prosodic, and segmental factors in the speech of males with FXS, males with Down Syndrome (DS), and typical development (TD) males; b) identify the phonological, prosodic, and segmental factors affecting the speech intelligibility in conversational speech of males with Fragile X Syndrome (FXS) and determine if similar patterns of association are observed among males with DS and TD males; and c) to identify the motor speech/FMRP, cognitive/linguistic, and communicative contextual factors associated with speech intelligibility in conversational speech among males with FXS.
The National CADDRE Study: Child Development and Autism
The Centers for Autism and Developmental Disabilities Research and Epidemiology were established in 2001 to investigate causes and correlates of autism. Now the focus is to conduct a multi-site collaborative epidemiologic study to investigate risk and causal factors for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) and phenotypic subgroups of ASDs using a population-based case-cohort study design. Six sites (California, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Colorado, and Georgia) will collaborate to enroll 2,700 children and their families over the 5-year study period.
UNC Autism Research Registry
In partnership with UNC’s Neurodevelopmental Disorders Research Center, TEACCH has developed a UNC Autism Research Registry that currently has more than 4,300 TEACCH families enrolled in it. This registry, begun in 2002, has helped hundreds of researchers throughout the US find research subjects for new ventures in autism research.
Writing Skills Development Project
The Writing Skills Development Project at the Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities is a four-year study of the development of written expression in elementary school students. This study will examine how children learn to write, how writing is different for children who have learning problems, what factors affect a child’s ability to learn to write, and what strategies may help to improve writing skills. Findings from this study should contribute to the development of evidence-based instruction in written language, help to increase the understanding of the cognitive bases of written language, and address the relatively higher prevalence of writing difficulties in the classroom setting by targeting early risk factors and early treatment.
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