- Section 1 The Subject Matter of and Approach to Psychiatry
- 1.3 Psychiatry as a worldwide public health problem
- 1.4 The history of psychiatry as a medical specialty
- 1.5 Ethics and values
- 1.6 The psychiatrist as a manager
- 1.7 Descriptive phenomenology
- 1.8 Assessment
- 1.9 Diagnosis and classification
- 1.10 From science to practice
- Section 2 The Scientific Basis of Psychiatric Aetiology
- 2.3 The contribution of neurosciences
- 2.4 The contribution of genetics
- 2.5 The contribution of psychological science
- 2.6 The contribution of social sciences
- 2.7 The contribution of epidemiology to psychiatric aetiology
- Section 3 Psychodynamic Contributions to Psychiatry
- Section 4 Clinical Syndromes of Adult Psychiatry
- 4.4 Persistent delusional symptoms and disorders
- 4.5 Mood disorders
- 4.6 Stress-related and adjustment disorders
- 4.7 Anxiety disorders
- Section 5 Psychiatry and Medicine
- Section 6 Treatment Methods in Psychiatry
- 6.2 Somatic treatments
- Section 7 Social Psychiatry and Service Provision
- Section 8 The Psychiatry of Old Age
- Section 9 Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- 9.1 General issues
- 9.2 Clinical syndromes
- 9.2.1 Neuropsychiatric disorders
- 9.2.2 Specific developmental disorders in childhood and adolescence
- 9.2.3 Autism and the pervasive developmental disorders
- 9.2.4 Attention deficit and hyperkinetic disorders in childhood and adolescence
- 9.2.5 Conduct disorders in childhood and adolescence
- 9.2.6 Anxiety disorders in childhood and adolescence
- 9.2.7 Paediatric mood disorders
- 9.2.8 Obsessive–compulsive disorder and tics in children and adolescents
- 9.2.9 Sleep disorders in children and adolescents
- 9.2.10 Suicide and attempted suicide in children and adolescents
- 9.2.11 Children's speech and language difficulties
- 9.2.12 Gender identity disorder in children and adolescents
- 9.3 Situations affecting child mental health
- 9.4 The child as witness
- 9.5 Treatment methods for children and adolescents
- Section 10 Intellectual Disability (Mental Retardation)
- Section 11 Forensic Psychiatry
Specific developmental disorders in childhood and adolescence
- Chapter:
- Specific developmental disorders in childhood and adolescence
- Author(s):
Helmut Remschmidt
and Gerd Schulte-Körne
- DOI:
- 10.1093/med/9780199696758.003.0213
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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- Section 1 The Subject Matter of and Approach to Psychiatry
- 1.3 Psychiatry as a worldwide public health problem
- 1.4 The history of psychiatry as a medical specialty
- 1.5 Ethics and values
- 1.6 The psychiatrist as a manager
- 1.7 Descriptive phenomenology
- 1.8 Assessment
- 1.9 Diagnosis and classification
- 1.10 From science to practice
- Section 2 The Scientific Basis of Psychiatric Aetiology
- 2.3 The contribution of neurosciences
- 2.4 The contribution of genetics
- 2.5 The contribution of psychological science
- 2.6 The contribution of social sciences
- 2.7 The contribution of epidemiology to psychiatric aetiology
- Section 3 Psychodynamic Contributions to Psychiatry
- Section 4 Clinical Syndromes of Adult Psychiatry
- 4.4 Persistent delusional symptoms and disorders
- 4.5 Mood disorders
- 4.6 Stress-related and adjustment disorders
- 4.7 Anxiety disorders
- Section 5 Psychiatry and Medicine
- Section 6 Treatment Methods in Psychiatry
- 6.2 Somatic treatments
- Section 7 Social Psychiatry and Service Provision
- Section 8 The Psychiatry of Old Age
- Section 9 Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- 9.1 General issues
- 9.2 Clinical syndromes
- 9.2.1 Neuropsychiatric disorders
- 9.2.2 Specific developmental disorders in childhood and adolescence
- 9.2.3 Autism and the pervasive developmental disorders
- 9.2.4 Attention deficit and hyperkinetic disorders in childhood and adolescence
- 9.2.5 Conduct disorders in childhood and adolescence
- 9.2.6 Anxiety disorders in childhood and adolescence
- 9.2.7 Paediatric mood disorders
- 9.2.8 Obsessive–compulsive disorder and tics in children and adolescents
- 9.2.9 Sleep disorders in children and adolescents
- 9.2.10 Suicide and attempted suicide in children and adolescents
- 9.2.11 Children's speech and language difficulties
- 9.2.12 Gender identity disorder in children and adolescents
- 9.3 Situations affecting child mental health
- 9.4 The child as witness
- 9.5 Treatment methods for children and adolescents
- Section 10 Intellectual Disability (Mental Retardation)
- Section 11 Forensic Psychiatry