Effects of a Text-Writing Fluency Intervention for Postsecondary Students with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
EXCEPTIONALITY
Authors: Rodgers, Derek B.; Datchuk, S. M.; Rila, A. L.
Abstract
Writing has implications for the academic, vocational, and social pursuits of students. Unfortunately, many students with disabilities - including those with intellectual and developmental disabilities - struggle with a foundational aspect of written expression: text writing within sentences and paragraphs. This study used a multiple-baseline across students' design to investigate the effects of a multicomponent intervention, explicit instruction with timed practice, on the fluent sentence text writing or sentence construction of four postsecondary students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. We tested effects on sentence text writing measures and application to paragraph text writing. Data were analyzed through visual analysis and Tau-U effect sizes. The results of the intervention suggest that the multicomponent intervention had mixed effects on the sentence text and paragraph text writing of students. How the study contributes to the broader writing literature is discussed and limitations are presented.
APOE4 is associated with cognitive and pathological heterogeneity in patients with Alzheimer's disease: a systematic review
ALZHEIMERS RESEARCH & THERAPY
Authors: Emrani, Sheina; Arain, Hirra A.; DeMarshall, Cassandra; Nuriel, Tal
Abstract
Possession of the epsilon 4 allele of apolipoprotein E (APOE) is the primary genetic risk factor for the sporadic form of Alzheimer's disease (AD). While researchers have extensively characterized the impact that APOE epsilon 4 (APOE4) has on the susceptibility of AD, far fewer studies have investigated the phenotypic differences of patients with AD who are APOE4 carriers vs. those who are non-carriers. In order to understand these differences, we performed a qualitative systematic literature review of the reported cognitive and pathological differences between APOE4-positive (APOE4+) vs. APOE4-negative (APOE4-) AD patients. The studies performed on this topic to date suggest that APOE4 is not only an important mediator of AD susceptibility, but that it likely confers specific phenotypic heterogeneity in AD presentation, as well. Specifically, APOE4+ AD patients appear to possess more tau accumulation and brain atrophy in the medial temporal lobe, resulting in greater memory impairment, compared to APOE4- AD patients. On the other hand, APOE4- AD patients appear to possess more tau accumulation and brain atrophy in the frontal and parietal lobes, resulting in greater impairment in executive function, visuospatial abilities, and language, compared to APOE4+ AD patients. Although more work is necessary to validate and interrogate these findings, these initial observations of pathological and cognitive heterogeneity between APOE4+ vs. APOE4- AD patients suggest that there is a fundamental divergence in AD manifestation related to APOE genotype, which may have important implications in regard to the therapeutic treatment of these two patient populations.
COA
Publication 
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