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The ability of a male autistic savant (TR) to play two unfamiliar piano pieces after listening to a tape-recording was tested, closely following the procedures of Sloboda, Hermelin, and O'Connor (1985). Other components of TR's musical ability--pitch recognition, improvisation, and ability to provide harmonic accompaniment--were also examined. TR's musical precocity was examined in relation to his general level of intellectual functioning as indexed by a battery of standardized psychological tests of intelligence, memory, reading, visual organization, and creativity. His parents and two male siblings also completed tests of intelligence. Results from psychometric testing indicated that TR has idiosyncratic levels of cognitive functioning with difficulties in verbal reasoning but high levels of concentration and memory. His speed of information processing, as indicated by Inspection Time, and was better than average. TR demonstrated perfect pitch recognition and other family members also demonstrated excellent relative pitch. TR's ability to recall and perform structured music within both the diatonic and whole-tone systems was exceptional but dependent upon his familiarity with musical structure and was therefore organized and rule-driven. Furthermore, TR demonstrated competence in improvisation and composition, albeit restricted by his adherence to structural representations of familiar musical rules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine whether or not limited caregiver health literacy is associated with adherence to a daily multi-vitamin with iron regimen in infants.Methods: 110 caregiver/infant dyads were enrolled in a prospective study to assess the relationship between caregiver health literacy and adherence to a daily multi-vitamin with iron regimen for infants. Households were contacted biweekly over a 3-month period. Adherence was based upon caregiver report. High adherence, our primary outcome, was defined as the administration of the multi-vitamin with iron on 5-7 days over the past week.Results: As measured by the Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (S-TOFHLA), 18% of caregivers had limited health literacy skills. Caregivers with limited health literacy skills were more likely to have higher adherence than caregivers with adequate health literacy, after adjusting for a number of possible confounding variables (AOR=2.13; 95% 1.20-3.78).Conclusion: Caregivers with limited health literacy were twice as likely to report high adherence to a daily multi-vitamin with iron regimen in infants as caregivers with adequate health literacy in adjusted analysis.Practice Implications: Health literacy may exert a differential influence on adherence depending upon the complexity of the desired health behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: In this we study explored the relationship between food insecurity and compensatory maternal feeding practices that may be perceived as buffers against periodic food shortages among urban black families. METHODS: We interviewed a convenience sample of black mothers of children aged 2 to 13 years. Food-security status (predictor) was determined at the household level. Five maternal feeding practices (outcomes) were assessed. Two were based on Birch's Child Feeding Questionnaire (restricting access to certain foods and pressuring a child to eat), and 3 were derived from investigators' clinical experience (use of high-energy supplements, added sugar in beverages, and perceived appetite stimulants). Anthropometric data were collected from mothers and children. RESULTS: A total of 278 mother-child dyads were analyzed, and 28% of these mothers reported being food insecure. Use of Child Feeding Questionnaire feeding practices was defined as the top quartile of responses. Use of nutritional supplements, defined as 'at least 1 to 2 times monthly,' ranged from 13% to 25%. In logistic regression models adjusted for child age, weight status, and ethnicity and maternal weight status, mothers from food-insecure households were significantly more likely to use high-energy supplements and appetite stimulants. The odds of using the remaining compensatory feeding practices (adding sugars to beverages, pressuring a child to eat, and restricting access to certain foods) were elevated among food-insecure households but did not reach statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS: Household food insecurity was independently associated with 2 of the 5 maternal compensatory feeding practices studied, and such practices may alter the feeding environment. Longitudinal research is necessary to determine how the relationship between food security and compensatory maternal feeding practices may affect child weight trajectories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]