Pervasive Developmental Disorders are characterized by “severe and pervasive impairment in several areas of development” (Tsai, 1998). In the 1994 edition of the Diagnostic Statistic Manuel version IV, three new categories were introduced under Pervasive Developmental Disorders. These include: Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, Asperger's Disorder, and Rett's Syndrome (Volkmar, 2005). All these disorders occur in early childhood and are often not noticed by a parent or primary caregiver until it is noticed that the child is not achieving normal developmental milestones. Childhood Disintegrative Disorder is a severe condition in which a child will develop normally until age 3 or 4, then rapidly lose already learned skills such as communication skills, motor ability, nonverbal behaviors, and social skills over the course of a few months (Zieve, 2012). Theodore Heller originally described the condition and reported his findings in 1908. It has been only recently that the disorder has been recognized as a clinical condition and was included into the DSM-IV in its 1994 release (Westphal, 2014). CDD is an uncommon condition. Since Heller's original description in 1908, there have been approximately 100 reported cases in literature (Volkmar, 2005). In case by case studies, the prevalence has shown to have about an equal sex ratio, although more recent studies have shown that CDD is slightly more common in males (Barber National Institute, 2013). Symptoms of Childhood Disintegrative Disorder consist of: a lack or delay of spoken language, loss of social skills, loss of bowel and bladder control, overall loss of communication skills, both verbal and nonverbal, loss of motor skills, inability to begin or maintain a conversation, and p... ... middle of paper ... ...ew of Rett Syndrome. Journal of Neuropathology & Experimental Neurology, 56(8), Retrieved from http://journals.lww.com/jneuropath/Citation/1997/08000/Review_of_Rett_Syndrome.1.aspx. Einspieler, C. (2005). Is the early development of girls with rett disorder really normal?. Pediatric Research, 57, Retrieved from http://www.nature.com/pr/journal/v57/n5-1/full/pr2005113a.html. Marchetto, M. et al. (2010). A model for neural development and treatment of rett syndrome using human induced pluripotent stem cells. Science Direct Journals, 143(4), Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867410011864 Tropea, D. et al.. (2008). Partial reversal of rett syndrome-like symptoms in mecp2 mutant mice. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106(6), Retrieved from http://www.pnas.org/content/106/6/2029.full
Case History: T.C. is a 13 year old, 2 month old girl in the seventh grade. T.C. lives with her parents and she is the oldest of three children. T.C.’s prenatal and birth history was unremarkable. T.C. was normal developing until 18 months old. By 18 months old it was apparent that T.C. was delayed in speech. In addition, she walked on her toes, did not make eye contact with others, had a terrible fear of loud sounds, cried frequently, and was a poor sleeper. She was evaluated before her second birthday and was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome or related pervasion developmental disorders and has profound difficulty with social interaction. She has received speech therapy, with an emphasis on social skills training, intense therapeutic therapy, and occupational therapy. T.C. is in a regular seventh grade classroom with an aide to assist her throughout her day.
Ben doesn’t have any interest in interacting with any of his family members, it is noted, “In fact, he completely ignores his sister.” (Perry & Condillac, 2003) He doesn’t use facial expressions or gestures such as pointing out his train to his sister, to communicate with others. Ben rarely looks at people even when they are trying to talk to him or when they try to get his attention and he rarely smiles. The third category is comprised of deficits in developing, maintaining and understanding relationships which includes difficulty adjusting one’s behaviour to social context, lack of interest in peers, and difficulties in making friends or sharing in imaginative play. Ben’s big sister tries to play with him but he rebuffs any of her attempts, or others, he ignores those around him, preferring to play by himself. Ben doesn’t pretend to make his train crash or go on train tracks nor does he make train sounds or use his imagination as to where the train is going or what it is
The cause of AS is still very much unknown.Children with Asperger syndrome start to show signs as early as one to two years old; however a diagnosis is rarely given until later, usually around the ages of th...
Albert Einstein, Bela Bartok, Alan Turing, Bill Gates, Thomas Jefferson and I. Is this a list of Geniuses? People who have changed history?
Typical deficits include lack of eye contact, dysregulation, and habits / patterns. During communication, Jelly can hold a conversation but lacks eye contact. She may hold eye contact for no more than three seconds at a time. Jelly’s dysregulation occurs during classwork and homework. Her emotions in performing certain tasks, such as writing, confuses her because of how far she needs to copy from the board and not recognizing the letters. Another emotion dysregulation occurrs during art class. Jelly needs to color in her sea creatures but cannot because other children were doing other activities that she wanted to. She was not able to understand that she needed to first complete her activity before moving on to the next. A habit, and can be described as an unusual attachment, is smell. Every time she opens a marker to color, she has to smell it. ...
It was a pleasure to see Daniel (age 4 years, 2 months) in clinic on January 9, 2014 as part of his ongoing developmental assessment. Developmental testing was performed to assess his social communication, behavior and interactions, and to identify any restrictive interests or repetitive behaviors. A physical examination and some brief cognitive measures were also obtained. Daniel’s father accompanied him to this visit.
There are over a large portion of a million individuals in the UK with an autism spectrum disorder, which is around 1 in 100. Individuals with Aspergers syndrome originate from all nationalities, societies, social foundations and religions. However, this condition appears to be more common in male than females
There is no known single cause of autism. Researchers are investigating a number of possible theories including genetics, heredity, medical problems, problems during pregnancy or delivery, as well as environmental influences. It is widely accepted that it is caused by abnormalities in the brain structure or function. There is evidence from neuropathological studies that autism has its origins in abnormal brain development early in prenatal life which continues postnatally, showing acceleration in brain growth measured by head circumference (Zwaigenbaum, L., Bryson, S., Rogers, T., Roberts, W., Brian, J., & Szatmari, P., 2005). The disorder also seems to have a genetic basis, although researchers have yet to find the specific genes that link to the onset of autism. There could be a cluster of genes that have somehow interfered with normal brain development and function. Studies show that twins of children with autism were more likely to be autistic themselves than the regular population, demonstrating there is a heredity lin...
any child who fails to pay attention or seems overly active might be deemed as suffering from
Many people across the world are unfamiliar with disorders associated with autism. Some people do not even know what autism actually is. Asperger’s Syndrome is one perplexing disorder, of countless, that needs to be acknowledged. Although it is one of the more well-known disorders, an understanding of Asperger’s is far from common knowledge. There is an abundance of misconceptions and people unaware of what Asperger Syndrome actually is. Being uncertain about the characteristics of a person with Asperger’s allows people to go through life not understanding the disorder itself and people who have it.
...n between the ages 1-5 showed some initial gains in cognitive and language functioning, which includes but not limited to communication, self-care, imitation, and play skills, and were placed in regular classroom settings. Although many strives have been made, some results suggest significant racial and ethnic disparities in the identification of children with ASD. There have been studies comparing behavioral approaches to general electric approached have found them to be lacking, but some of the programs were community based. When it comes to making treatment plans, some think that specific behavioral profiles may be useful in identifying which children are likely to respond to a particular treatment. While positive results have been made towards treatment, there are no ASD treatments that currently meet criteria for well-established empirical supported treatment.
These children often show signs of emotional distress and immature behavior at a very young age. These symptoms might affect thei...
However, the most clear and abundant effect of childhood trauma appeared to be behavioral problems. This was also the issue that often got covered up the most with “he/she is just a bad kid.” Like what was mentioned before, no kid is a bad kid. However, because the behavioral problems are what normally catches everybody’s eyes its normally what is caught first. Then you have the learning and emotional problems. Many people will often say that the child is slow or that they are sensitive, but many times there is so much more to the problem. There is a much larger problem lying in the background that often causes all the rest of the problems and it is not something that can just be brushed away with words like “lazy, slow, and sensitive.” The main problem must be directed head on that way we can potentially stop these negative effects and labeling that come from childhood
Neglect has an extensive impact on children. A summary of literature in this area, Horwath (2007) stated that neglect could have a damaging affect on all of the developmental needs of a chid, including physical, socio-emotional, cognitive and behavioural development. Recent research has focused on the way in which neglect affects the developing brain, and subsequently influences all areas of development. This provides evidenc...
During development, a child develops in a couple differnet ways. Physically, emotionally, and cognitively are the three that come to mind. When a child has developmental delays, there are many things that can be happening preventing the child from developing. Sometimes muscles aren't moved as often as they should be and become immobile. When a child picks up an instrument for the first time, he is not naturally coordinated to play that instrument. Children with that lack in motor skills can exercise, especially their hands, without even knowing it. There are...