Book Description
Velo-cardio-facial syndrome is a relatively new syndrome--thegenetic test to determine its presence has only been available since 1994.There are currently no books available to address the educational needs ofthis population, yet virtually every child with velo-cardio-facial syndromeneeds special educational programming. This new book effectively blends thethoughtful research that has transpired within the past ten years withpractical and current educational strategies to help meet the needs ofchildren with VCFS and similar developmental disabilities.

To first address the scientific information that is needed to understandthe syndrome and the implications of current research, expert contributorspresent the results of studies involving brain abnormalities,language/learning profiles, and psychiatric/behavioral difficulties. Thesevaluable chapters are written in a reader-friendly manner to help parents,professionals, and teachers gain useful and necessary comprehension of theunique characteristics of the VCFS population.

The second part of the book is a practical guide to educating a child withVCFS from birth through adulthood. Divided into the various stages ofdevelopment from preschool to adulthood, it includes information regardingthe necessary tests special education teams should run, typicaldifficulties associated with learning, changes that occur with ability asthe child matures (drop in IQ scores and increased learning challenges), aswell as behavioral problems in the school setting. Each section includesdiscussions of the learning challenges and accomodations that can be usedat school and at home during that stage of maturity. The authors alsopresent meaningful advice on issues such as friendships, private vs. publicschool placement, job training, and other pertinent decisions that affectthe VCFS child's everyday life.

A pioneer of its kind, this book is an essential resource for teachers,parents, physicians, and therapists of children with velo-cardio-facialsyndrome. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Educating Children with VeloCardioFacial Syndrome
This book is amazing! It is a "must have" for parents, educators and physicians dealing with children who have been diagnosed with velocardiofacial syndrome. I wish that someone would have handed me this book when our son was diagnosed with 22Q11.2 (velocardiofacial syndrome). Educators especially can glean helpful information from it's pages to better understand the cognitive defecits presented by the syndrome. It is worth every penny of the price. Thank You Donna Cutler-Landsman for taking to time to compile such a comprehensive and concise book.
-Holle McRae

good book
First of its kind, very useful information.It gets 4 stars simply because of the price of $55.00 which I think is outrageous for a soft bound book of its kind

Excellent subject for parents of children with VCFS
What makes this book so special is that it deals exclusively with the educational needs of children with VCFS - from preschool forward throughout the educational system. It addresses complex topics in a straightforward, easily understandable way and is helpful to parents *and* educators.



The only reason I downgraded it to a 4 is the astronomical price. $55 is a LOT to pay for the 'privilege' of owning this book. Take at least $25 off the price and then this would be a 5 star rating.



I'd recommend visiting the VCFS Educational Foundation website for additional info: www.vcfsef.org

Great reference for parents as well as educators
I found the book to be very thorough and helpful. It first gives an overview of different areas affected by VCFS (22q) written by well-respected researchers and clinicians. The second half is the real gem, though. It has clear and readable information on how kids with VCFS typically learn, and then good recommendations on how to help them learn. The second half is divided into sections based on grade/age, but there are valuable nuggets in all of them, regardless of the age of the child you're trying to help.

For teachers, it is an invaluable tool in setting up accommodations to help kids with 22q learn more effectively. For parents, it provides a way to easily share information with schools - information that previously was either not available or scattered in various papers and books. The fact that the book is written and edited by respected professionals gives it more credence than just the word of a parent.
... Read more

Book Description
Velo-cardio-facial Syndrome (VCFS) is a genetic disorder caused by the deletion of part of chromosome 22. It occurs in approximately one in 4000 births and there are now more than 100 physical phenotypic features reported. VCFS affects every major system in the body and this is the first book to describe its full clinical impact. It has been authored by leading international VCFS clinicians/researchers. The focus is on clinical issues with chapters devoted to psychiatric disorders (with the sufferer showing very high levels of schizophrenia), neuroimaging, speech and language disorders, as well as cardiac, ENT, gastrointestinal, ophthalmic and urological manifestations. Molecular genetics, immunodeficiency and genetic counselling are also covered, and practical approaches to diagnosis and treatment described. As VCFS is seen as a paradigm for other microdeletion disorders, this book will not just appeal to clinicians seeing VCFS patients, but also to those with interests in other genetic disorders. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is a journal article from Neuropsychologia, published by Elsevier in 2005. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
Temporal perception abilities refer to timing mechanisms used in daily life, such as the ability to reproduce and judge time, previously associated with the basal ganglia and the cerebellum, respectively. In individuals affected by velo-cardio-facial (VCFS), both the basal ganglia and the cerebellum have been shown to be particularly vulnerable to abnormal brain development, though related temporal perception abilities have yet to be investigated. In this study, our goal was to characterize time perception and reproduction abilities in individuals with VCFS. Compared to controls, we hypothesized that individuals with VCFS would be less accurate and show more variability when reproducing a fixed-interval series of auditory beeps; furthermore, we predicted that they would show a higher perceptive acuity threshold when discriminating between subtle time differences. Forty-two subjects with VCFS and 35 matched controls participated in temporal perception evaluations. In the reproduction of time finger-tapping task, subjects were asked to press a button in cadence with a series of fixed interval beeps, and then to hold the same tempo when the beeps stopped. Overall, the VCFS group showed less accuracy and more variability in reproduction ability when compared to controls. In the second experiment, subjects were tested on auditory and visual time perception tasks. Subjects were presented with a fixed interval stimulus and a stimulus of varying duration, and were asked to determine the longer of the two. The VCFS group required a greater discrepancy between tones to accurately discriminate the two stimuli. The results point to an alteration in temporal perception associated with VCFS. Implications of altered temporal perception abilities and their relationship to the VCFS phenotype are discussed. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is a journal article from Neuropsychologia, published by Elsevier in 2007. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
Current neurocognitive theories of number processing [Dehaene, S., Piazza, M., Pinel, P., & Cohen, L. (2003). Three parietal circuits for number processing. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 20, 487-506] state that mathematical performance is made possible by two functionally and anatomically distinct subsystems of number processing: a verbal system located in the angular gyrus, which underlies the retrieval of arithmetic facts, and a quantity system located in the intraparietal sulcus, which subserves operations that involve semantic manipulations of quantity. According to this model, subtypes of math disability (MD) should be traceable to differential impairments in these subsystems. The present study investigated MD in children with velo-cardio-facial syndrome (VCFS) and aimed to verify which of these subsystems of number processing is impaired in these children. Eleven children with VCFS and 11 individually matched controls, selected from the same classes, completed a large battery of mathematical tests. Our data revealed that children with VCFS had preserved number reading abilities and preserved retrieval of arithmetic facts, both of which indicate that the verbal subsystem is not impaired in VCFS. By contrast, children with VCFS showed difficulties in number comparison, the execution of a calculation strategy and word problem solving, all of which involve the semantic manipulation of quantities. This provides evidence for a specific deficit in the quantity subsystem in children with VCFS, suggesting underlying abnormalities in the intraparietal sulcus. ... Read more

Product Description
"VCFS is the second most common genetic disorder after Down syndrome, affecting one in 2000 people. One in three VCFS adolescents will develop a psychosis of some kind, many degenerating into schizophrenia." - VCFS Educational Foundation.Dr Robert Shprintzen first diagnosed velo-cardio-facial syndrome, or VCFS, in 1978, but while one in 2000 people has it, VCFS remains relatively unknown. Most children born with the syndrome have heart and palate defects, distinctive facial appearance and learning difficultiesRaymond Tanner: "As one of the oldest people with the syndrome, I can express my experiences to other families who are only just becoming aware of the syndrome."54-year-old Raymond Tanner has always felt different. As a child, he looked unusual, had trouble speaking clearly and was a slow learner. Over the years, he's had countless operations to improve his appearance.For Raymond Tanner, diagnosis helped him re-evaluate his life, but it also brought a burden of guilt - both his sons were born with the syndrome. His first son died of heart problems when he was nine days old. His other son, Andrew, has ongoing health issues. - ABC Seven Thirty Report.Raymond Tanner has since achieved a university degree. He now hopes to help other families, through giving them a better understanding of VCFS, and encouragement in knowing that support is available and that there is hope for the future.This book is a compilation of stories from families from Australia, France, Israel, New Zealand, South Africa, the UK and the USA; and other important information. It also tells about Raymond Tanner's life story with VCFS (he was diagnosed with VCFS at age 43 and is now 54), the death of his son James 18 years ago with VCFS, and his second son who is 16 and his trials and tribulations in growing up with the Syndrome. ... Read more

Book Description
With an estimated human population prevalence of 1:2000,Velo-Cardio-Facial Syndrome (VCFS) is the second-most common multipleanomaly syndrome in humans and almost all children with the syndrome havespeech and language impairments that are generally recognized to becomplex and difficult to treat. To demonstrate and to provide clinicianswith expert guidance, the authors have produced a comprehensive two-volume set with a combination of text and video demonstrating the clinicalfeatures of Velo-Cardio-Facial Syndrome (VCFS); the communicationphenotype in VCFS; the natural history of speech and language in VCFS;diagnostic procedures necessary for assessing speech and languagedisorders in VCFS; the treatment of speech and language impairment inVCFS; and outcomes, demonstrated by video on an accompanying CD-ROM toVolume 2. ... Read more

Book Description
With an estimated human population prevalence of 1:2000,Velo-Cardio-Facial Syndrome (VCFS) is the second-most common multipleanomaly syndrome in humans and almost all children with the syndrome havespeech and language impairments that are generally recognized to becomplex and difficult to treat. However, the authors of this new bookcontend that treatment techniques are not at all complex and perceivedproblem arise from a basic lack of understanding, and lack of education in graduate courses. To demonstrate and to provide clinicians with expertguidance, they have produced here a comprehensive combination of text andvideo demonstrating the clinical features of Velo-Cardio-Facial Syndrome(VCFS); the communication phenotype in VCFS; the natural history of speech and language in VCFS; diagnostic procedures necessary for assessing speech and language disorders in VCFS; the treatment of speech and languageimpairment in VCFS; and outcomes, demonstrated by video on an accompanying CD-ROM. ... Read more