Review of intellectual assessment measures for children who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Overview: Intellectual assessment of children who are deaf or hard of hearing presents unique challenges to the clinician charged with attempting to obtain an accurate representation of the child's skills. Selection of appropriate intellectual assessment instruments requires a working knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of the measure and what changes in standardized administration might be necessary to accommodate for the needs of children who are deaf or hard of hearing. In the case of some available instruments, there is limited guidance and objective research available examining the performance of children who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Stability of intellectual functioning during maintenance electroconvulsive therapy.

We describe the stability of neuropsychologic testing in a 16-year-old boy with cerebellar dysgenesis who received 61 acute and maintenance electroconvulsive therapy treatments for malignant catatonia. Measures of nonverbal intelligence and visual memory before treatment onset and after 61 electroconvulsive therapy treatments indicated no evidence of decline in intellectual functioning and acute or delayed memory. This case offers further support for the safety and efficacy of maintenance electroconvulsive therapy in both pediatric and developmentally disabled populations.