scholarly journals Specialist assessment clinic for pervasive developmental disorders

1998 ◽  
Vol 22 (11) ◽  
pp. 706-708 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niall Falls

Aims and methodThe Joint Committee on Higher Psychiatric Training lists the ability to carry out a thorough clinical assessment including physical and mental state examination, as one of the essential core skills in child and adolescent psychiatry. Experience of the assessment of comparatively rare disorders may depend upon the organisation of regional services, as well as good working relationships between teams willing to involve the trainee.ResultsThis paper describes a six-month attachment to the first multi-disciplinary Specialist Assessment Clinic for Pervasive Developmental Disorders to be created in Northern Ireland. Assessments are multi-dimensional and multi-professional. Attachment to this specialist clinic has become a valuable resource, with demand exceeding availability of places.Clinical implicationsThe pervasive developmental disorders are characterised by onset before 36 months, qualitative impairments in social interaction and communication (both verbal and non-verbal), and a pattern of repetitive or stereotyped activities or interests (DSM-IV). Diagnostic criteria for these disorders have broadened since the introduction of DSM-IV and ICD–10. For example, both have now agreed the validity of Asperger's syndrome, featuring difficulties in social interaction, restricted and repetitive areas of interest, without clinically significant impairment of intelligence or language development.

Author(s):  
Fred R. Volkmar ◽  
Ami Klin

The pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs) are characterized by patterns of deviance and delay in social-communicative development in the first years of life, which are associated with restricted patterns of interest or behaviour. The prototypic PDD is childhood autism; other conditions included in the PDD class in ICD-10 include Rett's syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, Asperger's syndrome, and atypical autism. Except for one additional category in ICD-10 (hyperkinetic stereotyped movement disorder), the disorders included in ICD-10 and DSM-IV are essentially identical. In this chapter each of these conditions will be reviewed in terms of their clinical features, definition, epidemiology, course, and aetiology; final sections of the chapter address aspects of treatment and prevention for the group of disorders as a whole (Box 9.2.3.1).


2009 ◽  
Vol 39 (12) ◽  
pp. 2013-2023 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Andrews ◽  
D. S. Pine ◽  
M. J. Hobbs ◽  
T. M. Anderson ◽  
M. Sunderland

BackgroundDSM-IV and ICD-10 are atheoretical and largely descriptive. Although this achieves good reliability, the validity of diagnoses can be increased by an understanding of risk factors and other clinical features. In an effort to group mental disorders on this basis, five clusters have been proposed. We now consider the second cluster, namely neurodevelopmental disorders.MethodWe reviewed the literature in relation to 11 validating criteria proposed by a DSM-V Task Force Study Group.ResultsThis cluster reflects disorders of neurodevelopment rather than a ‘childhood’ disorders cluster. It comprises disorders subcategorized in DSM-IV and ICD-10 as Mental Retardation; Learning, Motor, and Communication Disorders; and Pervasive Developmental Disorders. Although these disorders seem to be heterogeneous, they share similarities on some risk and clinical factors. There is evidence of a neurodevelopmental genetic phenotype, the disorders have an early emerging and continuing course, and all have salient cognitive symptoms. Within-cluster co-morbidity also supports grouping these disorders together. Other childhood disorders currently listed in DSM-IV share similarities with the Externalizing and Emotional clusters. These include Conduct Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Separation Anxiety Disorder. The Tic, Eating/Feeding and Elimination disorders, and Selective Mutisms were allocated to the ‘Not Yet Assigned’ group.ConclusionNeurodevelopmental disorders meet some of the salient criteria proposed by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) to suggest a classification cluster.


Author(s):  
V. Mark Durand

Disorders of development include a range of problems first evidenced in childhood. Although most disorders have their origins in childhood, a few fully express themselves before early adulthood. This chapter describes the nature, assessment, and treatment of the more common disorders that are revealed in a clinically significant way during a child’s developing years. The disorders of development affect a range of functioning, from single skills deficits to more pervasive problems that negatively impact a child’s ability to function. Included is coverage of several disorders usually diagnosed first in infancy, childhood, or adolescence, including attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, learning disorders, communication and related disorders, pervasive developmental disorders (including autistic disorder and Asperger disorder), and intellectual disabilities. Recommendations for future research on the potential for advancing knowledge regarding spectrums within some of these disorders, as well as recommendations for treatment, are outlined.


2008 ◽  
Vol 136 (9-10) ◽  
pp. 555-558
Author(s):  
Smiljka Popovic-Deusic ◽  
Milica Pejovic-Milovancevic ◽  
Saveta Draganic-Gajic ◽  
Olivera Aleksic-Hil ◽  
Dusica Lecic-Tosevski

For a long time, there was a strong belief of existing continuity between childhood-onset psychoses and adult psychoses. Important moment in understanding psychotic presentations during infancy and childhood is Kanner's description of early infantile autism. Later studies of Rutter and Kolvin, as well as new classification systems, have delineated pervasive developmental disorders from all other psychotic disorders in childhood. But clinical experience is showing that in spite of existence of the group of pervasive developmental disorders with subgroups within it and necessary diagnostic criteria there are children with pervasive symptoms, who are not fulfilling all necessary diagnostic criteria for pervasive developmental disorder. Therefore, in this paper we are discussing and pointing at psychotic spectrum presentations in children, which have not the right place in any existing classification system (ICD-10, DSM-IV).


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 87-116
Author(s):  
Anca Nicoleta Bîlbă

Pervasive developmental disorders are a series of illnesses characterized by delays in the development of some basic functions, such as the ability to communicate and socialize, but also through a small number of interests or activities, and according to ICD-10 (1996), in this category can include childhood autism, where deficiencies at these levels are identified, being identified until the age of three years or atypical autism - common in people with mental retardation or with responsive language disorders. A form of alternative therapy focused on these dimensions is horse-therapy therapy, a rapidly expanding approach in recent years, both with the aim of empirical substantiation and implementation of its different application centers to alleviate psychomotor deficiencies and emotional. This study aims to analyze the results obtained from horse-assisted therapy on psychomotor disorders in children with autistic spectrum disorders, epilepsy, ADHD or cerebral palsy. A group of 64 children aged between 2 and 14 years, biological age, participated in the study. 41 children were part of the study group, 23 constituting the control group. A controlled research model with pretest-posttest measurements was used. The effect of horse therapy on adaptive skills was evaluated. The ABAS II Adaptive Behavior Assessment System was used to measure these skills. The results indicate that hypothyroid therapy is effective in increasing the adaptability of children with psychomotor disorders.


Author(s):  
Helmut Remschmidt ◽  
Gerd Schulte-Körne

The term ‘specific developmental disorders’ includes a variety of severe and persistent difficulties in spoken language, spelling, reading, arithmetic, and motor function. Skills are substantially below the expected level in terms of chronological age, measured intelligence, and age-appropriate education and cannot be explained by any obvious neurological disorder or any specific adverse psychosocial or family circumstances. As the deficits are quite substantial, analogies were initially made to neurological concepts and disorders such as word-blindness, alexia, aphasia, and apraxia, thus giving rise to the notion that neurological deficits are the aetiological basis of these disorders. Since this could not be demonstrated, the next step was to define the disorders in a more functional way, taking into account not only psychometric testing but also psychosocial risk factors and the quality of schooling and education. Today, numerous findings support the validity of the diagnostic concept of specific developmental disorders. These disorders and pervasive developmental disorders have the following features in common (ICD-10): ♦ An onset that invariably appears during infancy or childhood. ♦ An impairment or delay in the development of functions that are strongly related to biological maturation of the central nervous system. ♦ A steady course that does not involve the remissions and relapses that tend to be characteristic of many mental disorders. Thus the term ‘specific developmental disorders’ reflects the fact that the deficits are circumscribed and relatively isolated against the background of an otherwise undisturbed psychological functioning.


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