#EYEWITNESS DISINTEGRATION SYNDROME SERIES#

In her book, Thinking in Pictures, Temple Grandin argues that compared to 'Kanner's classic autism' and to Asperger syndrome, CDD is characterized with more severe sensory processing disorder but less severe cognitive problems.

Repetitive behavior and interest patterns.

Lack of normal function or impairment also occurs in at least two of the following three areas:

Receptive language skills (comprehension of language – listening and understanding what is communicated).

Expressive language skills (being able to produce speech and communicate a message).

However, between the ages of two and 10, skills acquired are lost almost completely in at least two of the following six functional areas: Up until this point, the child has developed normally in the areas of language skills, social skills, comprehension skills, and has maintained those skills for about two years. Ī child affected with childhood disintegrative disorder shows normal development. Signs and symptoms ĬDD is a rare condition, with only 1.7 cases per 100,000. As is the case with all pervasive developmental disorder categories, there is considerable controversy about the right treatment for CDD. This has been described by many writers as a devastating condition, affecting both the family and the individual's future. Many children are already somewhat delayed when the disorder becomes apparent, but these delays are not always obvious in young children.

Some children describe or appear to be reacting to hallucinations, but the most obvious symptom is that skills apparently attained are lost. The regression, known as a 'prodrome,' can be so dramatic that the child may be aware of it, and may in its beginning even ask, vocally, what is happening to them. The age at which this regression can occur varies after three years of normal development is typical.

#EYEWITNESS DISINTEGRATION SYNDROME SERIES#

Īn apparent period of fairly normal development is often noted before a regression in skills or a series of regressions in skills. Heller had previously used the name dementia infantilis for the syndrome. ĬDD was originally described by Austrian educator Theodor Heller (1869–1938) in 1908, 35 years before Leo Kanner and Hans Asperger described autism. In May 2013, CDD, along with other sub-types of PDD ( Asperger's syndrome, autism, Rett syndrome and PDD-NOS), was fused into a single diagnostic term called ' autism spectrum disorder' under the new DSM-5 manual. CDD has some similarities to autism and is sometimes considered a low-functioning form of it. Researchers have not been successful in finding a cause for the disorder. variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease) Ĭhildhood disintegrative disorder ( CDD), also known as Heller's syndrome and disintegrative psychosis, is a rare condition characterized by late onset of developmental delays-or severe and sudden reversals-in language (receptive and expressive), social engagement, bowel and bladder, play and motor skills. Landau-Kleffner syndrome), and some neurodegenerative diseases (e.g. Regressive autism, Rett syndrome, lead poisoning, mercury poisoning, HIV infection, brain tumor, certain seizure disorders (e.g. Medical condition Childhood disintegrative disorder

Eyewitness disintegration syndrome