Developmental disorders
From Drug Rehab Wiki
Developmental disorders is a term used to describe any neurologically based condition that interferes with a child's natural intellectual and mental maturation into an adult. Developmental disorders are usually detected before age five years old. Some are so severe, such as profound mental retardation, that the person is never able to master self-care and requires help his entire life. Others, such as dyslexia, are so mild that they only interfere with one aspect of education and often go undetected. Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorders, learning disabilities, and mental retardation (sometimes called intellectual disability) are all developmental disorders.
The most plausible explanation for developmental disorders is that they are kinds of birth defects. Other explanations are that they have a genetic basis or are the result of exposure to chemical toxins or trauma during pregnancy. Some forms of mental retardation are linked to consuming alcohol or drugs during pregnancy. Tay-Sachs syndrome has been identified as genetically-based. Children with ADHD tend to have parents or other blood relatives with similar disorders.
Mental retardation/intellectual disability results in below average intellectual function. Profoundly retarded individuals who have IQs of 20 or below often need permanent nursing home care. Those who are severely retarded with IQs of 20 to 35 can develop some self-care skills, and may be able to learn to communicate or talk. Those with IQs of 36 to 51 can usually learn to talk and to develop occupational skills, and may function academically at the elementary school level, but they usually need to be supervised even as adults. Those with IQs in the range of 52 to 69 can learn up to about a sixth grade level by adolescence and can achieve some vocational and social skills, but they may need guidance during times of stress.
About three percent of the population is mentally retarded, and one percent is severely so. Between 10% and 40% of the people in this category experience depression and anxiety. Autism spectrum disorders include Asperger's syndrome, autistic disorder, childhood disintegrative disorder, Rett syndrome, and other pervasive developmental disorders. Rett syndrome causes some of the most severe intellectual disabilities known, and occurs most often in girls. Those with Asperger's syndrome can have normal or even above-average IQs, but exhibit odd or eccentric behaviors that make relationships extremely difficult.
Autistic disorder is characterized by difficulties in social interaction and communication, and repetitive stereotyped patterns of behavior. Autism is one of the more common developmental disorders, affecting at least one in 150 children. It can be diagnosed even in toddlers, and is two to four times more common in boys. Prognosis depends on the usable language a child has acquired by age seven years old. Between 20% and 40% of autistic children have seizures, 50% never speak, and 70% are intellectually disabled with IQs below 70.
Childhood disintegrative disorder can resemble autism or childhood schizophrenia. Its symptoms usually appear after a child has been maturing normally for his first two years. Then he regresses in social skills, language, bladder or bowel control, and motor skills. Children with childhood disintegrative disorders are often more severely affected than autistic children.
Pervasive developmental disorder is more or less an umbrella term for a wide range of intellectual, behavioral, and social problems that do not perfectly match the criteria for the other disorders. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) may begin at birth. The child has trouble concentrating, completing tasks, paying attention, and controlling impulsivity. ADHD affects between 5% and 15% of all children, most of whom are not diagnosed until middle childhood. Adults often described the child with ADHD as one who doesn't listen, obey, or follow through, and who has difficulty organizing work and is easily distracted. The child may interrupt, have trouble taking turns, be forgetful, fidgety, and appear talkative, on the go, and intrusive. Among children with ADHD, 20% to 60% also have learning disabilities, 40% suffer from low self-esteem and depression and/or anxiety, and 60% have temper tantrums and low tolerance for frustration. Treatment for ADHD includes stimulant medications such as Adderall or Ritalin. Many children appear to outgrow ADHD.
Learning disorders affect 3% to 15% of all children, with boys being five times more likely to have them than girls. A learning disorder usually affects only one area of a child's academic education; for example, dyslexia is a specific reading disorder characterized by a difficulty to separate single words from groups of words or to recognize letters in words. The other two most common learning disorders involve written expression and mathematics. Children with normal and high IQs can have learning disabilities.
