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 Childhood
Disintegrative Disorder (also known as Heller's Disorder) is a
rather rare condition that has been described much before autism.
Children develop a condition similar to that of autism after several
years of normal development (usually 2 to 4 years) but before
the age of 10 years. They then become impaired in at least two
of the following major functional areas: social, communication,
restricted receptive language, or stereotyped movements. Though
the age of onset is later, in the most severe cases, these children
can resemble autistic children, although the severity is generally
less.
:: Diagnosis
CDD is diagnosed by a number of symptoms that develop between
the ages of 4 to 10 years. The DSM- IV lists the criteria for
diagnosis.
:: Etiology/Cause
The etiology of CDD is still unknown but several lines of evidence
suggest that it arises as a result of some form of central nervous
system pathology.
:: Epidemiology
More boys than girls appear to be affected. Childhood disintegrative
disorder is perhaps 10 times less common than more strictly defined
autism.
::
Disorders on the Autism Spectrum
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