News Release

Children diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have significantly lower concentrations of the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain compared with typically developing children.

Young children often have problems paying attention or concentrating, but when are these problems serious enough for parents and teachers to be concerned? According to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control, 1 in 11 school-aged children are diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), but research suggests that the warning signs often appear even before the demands of school begin. As many as 40 percent of children have significant problems with attention by age four, and ADHD is now the most common mental health disorder diagnosed in the preschool years.

Baltimore, MD -- Over the past year, Kennedy Krieger Institute has elected six new members to its Board of Directors. These members join more than 35 Baltimore-area community and business leaders who guide Kennedy Krieger in serving children with special needs. The new members are:

The recent article published in Science entitled "Restoring voluntary control of locomotion after paralyzing spinal cord injury" by van den Brand et al.¹ is a great basic scientific demonstration of the degree of plasticity and endogenous re-organization both above and below the injury level associated with recovery.

Baltimore, MD -- In a step towards improving rehabilitation for patients with walking impairments, researchers from the Kennedy Krieger Institute found that non-invasive stimulation of the cerebellum, an area of the brain known to be essential in adaptive learning, helped healthy individuals learn a new walking pattern more rapidly. The findings suggest that cerebellar transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) may be a valuable therapy tool to aid people relearning how to walk following a stroke or other brain injury.

BALTIMORE, MD -- A new prospective study of six-month-old infants at high genetic risk for autism identified weak head and neck control as a red flag for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and language and/or social developmental delays. Researchers at the Kennedy Krieger Institute concluded that a simple "pull-to-sit" task could be added to existing developmental screenings at pediatric well visits to improve early detection of developmental delays.

BALTIMORE, MD -- In honor of Autism Awareness Month, friends and families will join together, on bike and by foot, at Kennedy Krieger Institute's annual ROAR for Autism event Sunday, April 29 at Oregon Ridge Park in Cockeysville, Md. Kennedy Krieger Institute is one of the nation's leaders in autism research, and strives to improve the lives of children with autism through cutting edge research and care.

(Baltimore, MD) -- Once again, as part of a joint effort between Kennedy Krieger Institute and the City of Baltimore, Baltimore City Hall will be lit in blue for the entire month of April in recognition of Autism Awareness Month. On April 2^nd, World Autism Awareness Day, Baltimore City Hall will flip the switch to take part in Light It Up Blue and shine a bright spotlight on autism, a complex, life altering, developmental disorder affecting more than 1.5 million Americans.

Though autism is often not diagnosed until the age of three, some children begin to show signs of developmental delay before they turn a year old.

BALTIMORE, MD -- Today, the Interactive Autism Network (IAN), www.ianproject.org, the nation's largest online autism research initiative and a project of the Kennedy Krieger Institute, reports preliminary results of the first national survey to examine the impact of bullying on children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD).