Developmental Disorders Flashcards
Intellectual disability
Deficits in intellectual functioning (reasoning, problem solving, planning, abstract thinking, judgment, and learning)
Deficits in adaptive functioning (communication, social, independent living)
Onset during childhood
Intellectual disability causes and contributors
Prenatal: teratogens (environmental chemicals that damage fetus)
Perinatal: labor difficulties, hypoxia (lack of blood flow to brain)
Postnatal: head injury, deprivation of food or oxygen
Genetic risk factors: PKU (phenylalanine builds up in brain because body can’t degrade it)
Chromosomal abnormalities: Down syndrome
75% have no known cause (referred to as “cultural-familial”)
Specific learning disorder
Difficulties learning and using academic skills
Academic skills lower than expected for age
Not due to intellectual disability
3 types: reading, written expression, math
Autistic spectrum disorder
Persistent deficits in social communication and interaction
Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior (severe: self-stimulation; mild: routine-based behavior)
Symptoms present in early development
Common symptom: hypersensitivity to environmental stimuli
Autistic spectrum disorder specifiers
With accompanying language impairment (classic autism)
Without accompanying language impairment (Asperger’s)
With accompanying intellectual impairment
How severity of autistic spectrum disorder is determined
Severity is determined by level of impairment in social communication and intensity of restricted behaviors
Autistic spectrum disorder epidemiology
Prevalence: 1 in 68 (increasing: greater awareness, changes in diagnostic criteria)
Sex: equal
Autistic spectrum disorder causes and contributors
Largely unknown
Genetics: many different genes involved
Brain abnormalities: lower levels of oxytocin (bonding hormone), smaller cerebellum, fewer neurons in amygdala, dysfunctional mirror neurons (empathy)
Myths of autistic spectrum disorder
Bad parenting
Lack of self-awareness
Vaccinations
Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
Need either symptoms of inattention or symptoms of hyperactivity and impulsivity
Present before age of 12
Impairments in multiple settings
Subtypes of ADHD
Inattentive type
Hyperactive type
Combined type
ADHD epidemiology
Prevalence: 6% of children
Many continue into adulthood (hyperactivity turns into inattention over time)
Sex: 3:1 male to female
ADHD causes and contributors
Genetic links
Gene-environment interactions (punishment fuels stress which fuels ADHD genes which fuels punishment)
Smaller overall brain volume: need to externally stimulate brain that is understimulated
Frontal lobe impairment
Maternal smoking and drinking
No evidence for diet and additives or parenting
Treatment of ADHD
Stimulant medications: stimulate brain to lessen need for external stimulation
70% improve
Stimulants help people with ADHD concentrate, but do nothing to help non-ADHD people concentrate
Behavioral treatments: parental training (applied behavioral analysis: use operant conditioning to help children to succeed)
Combined meds and therapy: superior to either alone
Controversies of ADHD
Over-diagnosed: many cases of ADHD are diagnosed by general practitioners
Some states now have laws that physicians have to refer potential ADHD cases to psychologists for formal testing
