Advancing knowledge of human development, developmental disabilities, and neurodegenerative diseases.
We have seen a profound increase in lifespan for individuals with Down syndrome (DS) in the past few decades leading to a large and somewhat understudied population of middle- and older aged adults with DS. One health condition consistently seen in clinic-based DS samples is dementia (including Alzheimer’s disease).
Not so many years ago, people with Down syndrome rarely survived to middle age. Many died young due to heart problems associated with the congenital condition. Today, advances in treatment have allowed them to live longer, healthier lives.
Waisman Center investigator Sigan Hartley, PhD, has been honored with a Romnes Faculty Fellowship. Romnes awards recognize exceptional faculty members who have earned tenure within the last six years. The awards are supported by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) and are named for the late H.I. Romnes, former chairman of the board of AT&T …
Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) report elevated parenting stress. The current study examined bidirectional effects between parenting stress and three domains of child functioning (ASD symptoms, internalizing behavior problems, and externalizing behavior problems) across four time points in 188 families of children with ASD (originally aged 5 to 12 yrs).
About once every year and a half, Erin Harvey takes time off of her job as a teacher’s aide and along with her mom, Nancy, makes a two and a half hour drive from her home in central Illinois to the University of Wisconsin–Madison Waisman Center to “embark on an afternoon of adventure.” At the …
We compared the couple conflict of parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to a comparison group of parents of children without disabilities using self-reported and observational measures.
Like all parents, couples who have a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) share the ups and downs of parenting. A new study by Waisman Center researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison looks at the daily experiences of these parents to provide a more detailed picture of the strengths and vulnerabilities of couples raising a …
Title: Family Context and Parenting Experiences in Autism Legend: Family context (having multiple children with special needs [Fig 1], household income [Fig 2], and parent level of broader autism phenotype [BAP; Fig 3] moderated spillover of a challenging parenting day on next-day couple experiences in parents of children with autism across a 14-day daily diary. Citation: …
Brad Christian, PhD, Waisman investigator and associate professor of medical physics and psychiatry, is part of a new National Institutes of Health initiative to identify biomarkers and track the progression of Alzheimer’s in people with Down syndrome.
Title: Support Needs of Fathers and Mothers of Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder Legend: Left, top image: The most support needs most frequently rated as both important and unmet for both mothers and fathers. Mothers’ non-overlapping top important, unmet support needs were child-focused (financial support for treatments, information about programs and services, and …
