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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 diagnosis by a number of symptome that develop between
the ages of 4 to 10 years. The DSM- IV ( 1994), list 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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