Chracteristics and Development of Children with CHARGE Association/Syndrome

CHARGE association/syndrome refers to a group of congenital anomalies occurring together more often than chance. Parents of children with CHARGE were surveyed and asked to indicate whether their child had various features commonly found among individuals with CHARGE (e.g., vision or hearing impairment) and to complete an adaptive behavior scale for their child. One hundred parents completed surveys. Adaptive behavior scores revealed a broader and higher-reaching range of development for this population than previously reported, with about half achieving normal range scores. Correlation analyses revealed negative relationships between (a) degree of deaf-blindness, (b) age at walking, (c) degree of hearing impairment, and (d) medical involvement variables and the dependent variable, adaptive behavior. Age at walking had the strongest relationship to adaptive behavior scores. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.