Central nervous system prophylaxis. Studies showing impairment in verbal skills and academic achievement.

School attendance and school achievement were the parameters studied to assess the pediatric cancer patient's ability to learn and keep pace with their peers. Effects of CNS prophylaxis, as either intrathecal methotrexate (IT) alone or intrathecal methotrexate given in addition to cranial radiation (CRT), were studied in two groups. A third group of cancer patients who received no CNS prophylaxis, and two comparison groups, siblings and a matched sample of children, also participated in the study.

Psychological correlates of compliance.

A urinary assay (17 kgs/creatinine) was used to measure compliance in 31 acute lymphocytic leukemia patients under 15 years of age receiving oral prednisone. Demographic data and psychological test responses of patients and their parents were correlated with the urinary assays. Results indicated that while the rate of compliance was the same for boys and girls, the psychological correlates were very different.

Concurrent tracking of infant motor and speech development.

Several developing behaviors of a single infant are tracked via direct and continuous measurement through the period of acquisition and decay of these behaviors. Changes in frequency and duration are reported for four motor behaviors, and frequency changes for speech and nonspeech sounds. The relationship of changes in vocal behavior as motor skills are emerging is also explored.

Longitudinal observations of individual infant's vocalizations.

Twice a week observation of five infants' vocalizations during the first 30 weeks of life showed that hearing impaired infants displayed different language patterns than normally hearing infants. Developmental differences in vocal activity were observed by six weeks of age, suggesting that hearing impaired infants may differ from unimpaired infants earlier than has been believed.