No abstract

One of the most important and basic problems in mentally retarded children which can form the basis of their behavior is impairment in social adjustment and performance. The purpose of the present work was to study the effect of 8 weeks aerobic training on the social adjustment in mentally retarded children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy. The statistical population included all mentally retarded children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy in District 1 of Tehran who were under the coverage of Exceptional Education Organization in 2013-2014 academic year. Among 38 mentally retarded children, 24 (with a mean age of 9±2 years) were randomly selected and divided into two groups: experimental and the control groups. To assess the social adjustment, Vineland Adjustment Behavior Scale (VABS) (1984) was used. Quasi-experimental method with pretest and posttest design and a control group was used for this research. The findings showed that 8 weeks aerobic exercises could increase the social adjustment in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy (P≤0.001). Finally, it can be concluded that aerobic exercises have a positive impact on the social adjustment in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy by increasing their communication with peers.

Background: Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) refers to a psychological disorder affecting multiple areas of an individual's life. This disorder is reported to be more prevalent among athletes in comparison with the general population. Objective: To the best of our knowledge, there has been no information about the distribution of ADHD among Iranian elite athletes. This study was then designed to investigate the distribution of childhood and adulthood ADHD among Iranian elite athletes. Methods: In this cross-sectional survey, a number of 180 elite athletes, over 18 years old, from various national team camps, were selected through random sampling. The short version of the Wender-Utah Rating Scale (WURS-K) and Adult Self-Rating Scale (ASRS) were used for measuring previous childhood and present adulthood ADHD, respectively. Results: Findings revealed that approximately a quarter of the Iranian elite athletes used to suffer from ADHD in their childhood, and 36% of them carried symptoms to their adulthood life. In addition, 9.5% of the participants only reported the symptoms in their adulthood. Conclusion:Athletes with different levels of previous Childhood and present Adulthood ADHD are able to successfully participate in elite sports. The level of Childhood ADHD can be mostly reduced due to participation in elite sports.