Child Development Diseases and Autism Flashcards
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
- Childhood onset; often lasts into adulthood
* Disrupts functioning across settings - both school and home
What is the main gender affected by ADHD?
Males
What is the treatment for ADHD?
- Methylphenidate
- Atomexitine
What are the 3 different presentations of ADHD?
‐ Combined
‐ Predominantly inattentive
‐ Predominantly hyperactive/impulsive
What are the overlapping diagnoses of ADHD?
- Oppositional Defiant Disorder
- Conduct Disorder
- Bipolar Disorder
What is a disease with high co-morbidity with ADHD?
Bipolar Disorder
‐ Often loses temper ‐ Argues with adults ‐ Hostile, defiant behavior towards authority figures ‐ Blames others for own mistakes ‐ Annoys people deliberately ‐ Touchy and easily annoyed by others
Oppositional Defiant Disorder
- Violates others’ basic rights or major age‐appropriate societal norms/rules
- Often bullies, threatens others
- Cruel to animals
- Destroys property, sets fires
- Often starts fights
- Often lies and lacks remorse
- Skips school, runs away
- Often stays out at night, despite parental rules
Conduct Disorder
Tic
Involuntary sudden, rapid motor movement or vocalization
- Tics occur many times every day or intermittently for > 1 year
- Tics can be simple (rapid, repetitive contractions) or complex (appear as more ritualistic and purposeful)
- Simple tics appear first
- Onset before 18 years
Tourette’s Disorder
What gender is more affected by Tourette’s?
Males
What is the treatment for Tourette’s?
Haloperidol
What NT is Tourette’s associated with?
Associated with increased levels of dopamine
What is the age range for separation anxiety disorder?
Often 7-11 years
- Constant thoughts, intense fears about safety of parents
- School refusal
- Frequent somatic complaints
- Extreme worries about sleeping away from home
- Being over clingy
- Panic, tantrums when separating from parents
Separation Anxiety Disorder
Systematic Desensitization
• Begins with imagining oneself in a progression of fearful
situations and using relaxation
• Often used to treat anxiety and phobias
• When the person is relaxed in the presence of the feared stimulus, objectively, there is no more phobia
When does stranger anxiety appear?
6 months - disappears at 8 months
When does separation anxiety appear?
8-12 months
- Significant deficits in intellectual functioning
- Diagnosis via clinical assessment and standardized neurocognitive testing
- Significant deficits in adaptive behavior
- Presents as developmental delay
Intellectual Disability
What is the most common cause of intellectual disability?
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
What are the most common GENETIC causes of intellectual disability?
- Down Syndrome
- Fragile X-syndrome
What gender is more affected by autism?
Males
What gender has greater intellectual disability from autism?
Females tend to have greater intellectual disability
- Deficits in reciprocal social interaction
- Decreased repertoire of activities and interests
- Abnormal or delayed language development, impairment in verbal and non‐verbal communication
- No separation anxiety
- Oblivious to external world
- Fails to assume anticipatory posture, shrinks from touch
- Preference for inanimate objects
- Stereotyped behavior and interests
Autism Spectrum Disorder
What are some prenatal diseases that have increased risk for autism?
- Maternal asthma or allergies
- Psoriasis while pregnant
What gender is more affected by Rett syndrome?
Females
‐ Onset (6‐18) months of age
‐ Hand wringing (stereotyped hand movements)
‐ Small hands & feet
‐ Microcephaly (decreased rate of head growth)
‐ Prone to seizures, GI issues, scoliosis

Rett Syndrome
What is the main drug used for autism - mainly treat behavior?
Risperidone
