Neurodevelopmental disorders Flashcards
Define developmental milestones
A specific set of abilities a child should reach by a certain age.
What is childhood development?
- A continuous and largely predictable process that involves biological, psychological, and emotional changes that occur from birth to the end of adolescence.
- Increase in complexity of the organism due to maturation of the nervous system.
Outline and define the key domains of developmental milestones
- Gross motor: using large muscle groups to sit, stand, walk, run and posture. Development in this area happens from the head down.
- Fine motor & vision: using hand to do more precise and skilled movements such as eat, draw, play and writing. Also includes visual development and hand-eye coordination.
- Hearing, speech & language: communicating through speech, body language and gestures. The ability to understand information and communicate. Skills in learning, problem-solving and reasoning.
- Social, emotional & behavioural: having relationships with family, friends and teachers. Includes skills in interacting and playing with others.
What is a normal variant of crawling before walking in some children?
The ‘bottom-shuffle’
Is hand preference before 12 months normal?
No it is abnormal and may indicate cerebral palsy.
What are some concerning features with regards to development?
- Disparity in progress between areas of the body.
- Disparity between domains of development.
- Regression (loss of previously attained skill).
Give examples of learning difficulties
- Dyslexia: specific difficulty in reading, writing and spelling.
- Dyspraxia (aka developmental co-ordination disorder): specific type of difficulty in physical co-ordination. It is more common in boys. It presents with delayed gross and fine motor skills and a child that appears clumsy.
- Dysgraphia: specific difficulty in writing.
- ADHD.
Outline some causes of learning disabilities
- Abuse, neglect, psychological trauma.
- Toxins.
- Genetic disorders e.g. Down’s syndrome, Fragile X syndrome.
- Antenatal problems e.g. foetal alcohol syndrome, maternal chickenpox, TORCH infections.
- Problems at birth e.g, prematurity, hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy.
- Problems in early childhood e.g. meningitis, encephalitis.
- Autism.
- Epilepsy.
Outline how you would communicate to a patient with learning disabilities
- Involve patient in any discussions where appropriate.
- Give small amounts of information at a time and check understanding.
- Use tools to assist communication e.g. pictures.
What are the 3 core features of ADHD?
- Hyperactivity.
- Impulsivity.
- Inattention.
What are the 3 domains deficits seen in ASD?
- Social interaction.
- Communication.
- Behaviour (restricted and repetitive).
What other features are seen in ASD?
- Sensory issues.
- Severely restricted diet.
Define Tourette’s syndrome
- Characterised by the development of tics that are persistent for over a year.
- Tics are involuntary movements or sounds that the child performs repetitively throughout the day.
- These tics become more prominent when the person is under pressure or excited.
- The person may describe an overwhelming urge to perform the tic, which is relieved when tic is completed.
Tourette’s syndrome is associated with…
OCD and ADHD
Give examples of tics
Simple tics:
- Clearing throat
- Blinking
- Head jerking
- Sniffing
- Grunting
- Eye rolling
Complex tics:
- Performing physical movements, such as twirling on the spot or touching objects.
- Copropraxia involves making obscene gestures.
- Coprolalia involves saying obscene words.
- Echolalia involves repeating other people’s words.
