Researchers Reduce IQ Exam Length While Maintaining Accuracy

by Jennifer SwartvagherJuly 6, 2020

If your child has special needs they will need to take an IQ test every few years in order to maintain or modify services through your school district. For decades, the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children is the gold-standard test neuropsychologists use to determine the intellectual abilities of children with special needs. Unfortunately this test can take over two hours to administer and many children with special needs have a hard time participating in such a long test.

To solve this problem, researchers at the University of Missouri’s Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders identified measures in the test that appeared to be repetitive and succeeded in shortening the test by up to 20 minutes while still maintaining its accuracy in determining a child’s IQ.

“As neuropsychologists, we spend a considerable amount of time — usually a full day or a full afternoon at least — with patients to really get to know them, and that can be a lot for a child with a neurological disorder like autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD),” said John Lace, a doctoral student who is completing an internship in clinical neuropsychology in the MU School of Health Professions. “If we can efficiently maximize the information we get from our patients during this test without overburdening them, we can save time and money for both clinicians and patients, which reduces the overall health care burden on families with neurodevelopmental disabilities.”

Neuropsychologists use the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children test to not only assist in diagnosing individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders, but also to help inform decisions about treatment and educational plans.

“Our overall goal is to help people understand any cognitive or learning differences they may have, which can lead to treatment options such as behavioral therapy or interventions at school,” said Lace. “As neuropsychologists, our profession is at the crux of addressing these challenges both academically and practically to help clinicians streamline what they do and positively impact patient care.”

—Jennifer Swartvagher

Featured photo: Annie Spratt on Unsplash

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Permanent Daylight Savings & Later School Start Might Not Be As Good as they Sound

by Shahrzad WarkentinApril 23, 2019

Parents look forward to the bi-annual shifting of clocks about as much as they enjoy waking their sleepy kids for school in the morning. Lawmakers have proposed permanent Daylight Savings and later school start times as an effort to help kids get more sleep, but some experts believe the two do not go hand-in-hand.

Across the country lawmakers are considering moves to change the way we sleep by pushing for permanent Daylight Savings and delaying start times for school. The argument, for California State Assembly member Kansen Chu, is that the two changes work together to help provide more sleep for kids without losing hours in the day.

photo: Wokandapix via Pixabay

Experts, including the US Centers for Disease Control agree that school begins too early in the day and that pushing the start time could help teens get more, much-needed sleep. Adding permanent Daylight Savings ensures that there are still plenty of daylight hours left for after school activities even if school starts later, proponents argue.

Unfortunately Daylight Savings is linked to less sleep, not more, effectively cancelling out any additional sleep kids might gain from a later school start. According to new research published in the Journal of Health Economics, people who live in areas where the sun sets later go to bed later shortening the amount of time they spend sleeping an average of 19 minutes. The researchers also found these same subjects to be more sleep-deprived and in worse health overall.

So if this combo is not the answer to getting kids more rest, then what is? According to a recent study only five percent of teens follow the recommendations given for sleep, exercise and screen time. Following these guidelines properly could help everyone get the proper amount of rest without any new laws and changes.

—Shahrzad Warkentin

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Research Suggests The More Children A Mom Has, The Slower She Ages

by Red TricycleMay 13, 2016

Photo: Theresa Martell via Flickr

You might FEEL like you’re running yourself into an early grave, but new research from Simon Fraser University in BC suggests that moms that have multiple children have healthier DNA. The study conducted surveyed 75 women from two rural communities in Guatemala. Their telomere lengths were measured through cheek and saliva swabs taken twice 13 years apart. What the heck are telomeres, you may ask? Well, a telomere is a repeating DNA sequence (for example, TTAGGG) at the end of our chromosomes. As we age, and our cells divide, the ends of our telemeres shorten.

The research suggested that women who had multiple children showed a slower pace of telomere shortening, which increases longevity. The study leader Pablo Nepomnaschy, a health sciences professor from Simon Fraser, has a theory: “the slower pace of telomere shortening found in the study participants who have more children may be attributed to the dramatic increase in estrogen, a hormone produced during pregnancy. Estrogen functions as a potent antioxidant that protects cells against telomere shortening.”

Professor Nepomnaschy also suggests that a supportive environment, meaning encouragement and assistance from family members and friends, may contribute to the moms longevity. “Greater support leads to an increase in the amount of metabolic energy that can be allocated to tissue maintenance, thereby slowing down the process of aging.”

All that to say: go make more babies (apparently).

What do you think? Tell us in the comments!

Sensational Snickerdoodles

by Erin LemDecember 1, 2014

Snickerdoodles are a holiday classic and it doesn’t get much easier than this recipe. There are three main reasons why we love this version: you don’t need a mixer, you don’t have to refrigerate the dough, and the end result is absolutely delicious with a chewy, soft inside. Red Tricycle’s Editorial Director can attest to the awesomeness of this cookie — her mom has been making these every December since she can remember.

Ingredients:
1 cup shortening (we use ½ cup of shortening and ½ cup of butter)
1 ½ cups sugar
2 eggs
2 ¾ cups flour
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon

Method:
1. Heat oven to 400˚. Mix shortening/butter, sugar, and eggs thoroughly.

2. Measure flour by dipping method or by sifting. Blend flour, cream of tartar, soda, and salt; stir in. Shape dough in 1” balls.

3. Roll in mixture of 2 Tbsp. sugar and 2 tsp. cinnamon.

4. Place 2” apart on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 8 to 10 min. These cookies puff up at first, and then flatten out.

Makes 5 doz. cookies.

Do you have a favorite snickerdoodle recipe to share? Tell us in the Comments below.

photo in story courtesy of Erin Lem; featured photo courtesy of jimwinstead via flickr

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