Children's Health - Brain Development Disorder - Definition and Types

I. Definition

A neurodevelopmental disorder is defined as an impairment of the growth and development of the central nervous system. It effects the child's brain function in controlling emotion, learning ability and memory as well as social interaction. Today, one in six children is diagnosed with some forms of development and behaviour disorder. It is advised for parent to have their child diagnosed early, if they found that their child is withdrawing from social world, failing to learn the basic communication skill or struggle with emotional regulation, etc.. otherwise, a child may be at risk of becoming serious lifelong disability.

II. Most common types of brain development disorder

1. Autism disorder

Autism is one most common form of brain development disorder and one in 166 child is diagnosed with some forms of autism. It is defined as medical condition in which a child has some of the following impairments

a) Speech

b) Social and communication skills

c) Limited interest

d) Repetitive behaviour

2. Asperger syndrome

Children with Asperger syndrome has no problem with speech development, but have very poor social and communication skills. they may talk a lot, but fail to focus and keep up with the subject. they also have a very narrow interest as they may talk about only one single subject for months or years. Some children with Asperger syndrome may also engage in repetitive behaviour such as flagging hand.

3. Pervasive Development disorder

Children who have developed some or mild forms of autism are considered to have pervasive development disorder. Although some symptoms or important signs of autism are missing, they are likely to diagnoses with autism or Asperger syndrome later in their life.

4. Rett Syndrome

Rett syndrome effects mostly girl, is defined as a condition of which children lose social and communication skills as well as purposely use of their hand. It may also accompany with symptoms of hand repetitive and seizures.

5. Childhood integrative disorder

Children with childhood integrative disorder may gradually lose their language, social communication and self help skills between the period of 2 -4 years old.

6. Sensory integration dysfunction

Sensory integration dysfunction is a condition of which a child fails to react to the information collected from the scene, caused by abnormal brain function in processing information. Typically, most children with sensory integration syndrome may be under sensitive in reaction to pain or noise or over sensitive in reaction to certain environments such as noise, bright light or often both.

7. Auditory processing disorder

Auditory processing disorder is defined as damaging of the neurological structures and pathways of sound perception, therefore children with this disorder are able to hear sounds but have trouble to interpret what they hear.

8. Expressive language disorder

This is defined as a condition of which the children have a limited vocabulary and difficulty in recalling words or expressing themselves by using complex sentences.

9. Speech apraxia

It is caused by the broken down of the inter-reaction between the brain in controlling the speech muscles during speech. Children with speech appraxia know what they want to say, but can not speak through their voice and their words are difficult to understand.

10. Attention deficit hyperactivity

ADHD is defined as psychological condition of which a child has a poor attention skill, impulsive behavior and hyper-activity. The symptoms may appear to be innocent but annoying nuisances to other children. It effects between 3-5% of children globally and most of them are diagnosed later in their childhood life.

11. Attention deficit disorder

Unlike ADHD, children with attention deficit disorder are diagnosed only with symptoms of poor attention skill and impulsive behaviour. Although, the symptoms may appear only annoying to other children, it can inflict the learning ability of the children in the class.

12. Mental retardation

Metal retardation is considered as a generalized disorder. Children with mental retardation normally fail to adapt or adjust to another type of behaviour or situation. They also have a below average IQ ( 70 or lower) and difficulty in performing routine activity.

13. Hearing impairment

Hearing impairment is characterized as a child have a reduce of the ability to detect or understand sounds. Since the children can not hear well, it may interfere with normal progress of social and communication skills causing disruptive behaviour.

14. Seizure disorder (Epilepsy)

Since the normal function of neurons is to generate electrochemical impulses to act on other neurons, glands, and muscles to produce human thoughts, the damage or abnormal function of neurons in case of seizure disorder interferes with sensations, emotions, and behavior, resulting in delay or loss of social and communication skills.

15. Nonverbal learning disorder

The problems of the nonverbal learning disorder are not speech and memory, they may seem normal when they talk and understand what they hear, but in abstracted thinking such as non-verbal problem-solving, daily change of routine and social skills.

16. Traumatic brain injury

Traumatic brain injury normally caused by physical impacts such as car accident or lack of oxygen circulated in their body for a certain amount of time that damage certain areas of the brain in controlling speech, thinking, behaviour and social skills.

17. Fragile X syndrome

Fragile X syndrome is defined as a genetic defect. Children with this syndrome have difficult to control the physical, intellectual, emotional and behavioural aspects in their daily activity as resulting of inherited cause of mental retardation.

18. Tuberous sclerosis

This another type of genetic disease, which causes tumor to be growth in the brain and other organ, leading to seizure, delay development, behaviour problem and sometimes mental retardation.

19. William syndrome

William syndrome is a genetic defect, caused by a deletion of about 26 genes from the long arm of chromosome. Children with William syndrome appear to have unusual language skill and eager for social interaction, but can also be mental retardation and heart problems.

20. Angelman syndrome

This is a condition caused by deletion or inactivation of genes on the maternally inherited chromosome 15. Children with this type of syndrome have severe mental retardation that effect their intellectual and interfere with normal development. The syndrome also accompanies with unexplained smiling and laughing.

21. Prader-Willi syndrome

Prader-Will syndrome is also another genetic defect caused by missing or partial missing of the seven genes on chromosome 15. Children who was born with Prader-Willi syndrome have delay development and feeding difficulty in infancy and develop compulsive eating and food obsession after age one.

22. Phenylketonuria

Phenylketonuria is a genetically metabolic disorder caused by deficiency of phenylalanine hydroxylase, leading to accumulation of phenylalanine, interfering with development of the brain, causing severe brain damage, mental retardation if it is not controlled by a special diet in their early life.

23. Early-onset childhood bipolar disorder

It is also known as manic-depression. Children who are diagnosed with this disorder have symptoms of frequent mood swing, alternate thinking and behaviour .

24. Obsessive-compulsive disorder

Obsessive-compulsive disorder is characterized as a children life is disrupted by unwanted, unnecessary and repetitive thought, as well as an overwhelming need to do certain thing compulsively such as washing their hand many times a day, drinking a cup water before leaving home, etc.

25. Generalized anxiety disorder

It is a kind of anxiety disorder. Children with generalized anxiety disorder always worry about something, restlessness and fear without reason.

26. Selective mutism

Selective mutism is defined as another type of anxiety in which a child who is normally capable of speech is unable to speak or becomes silent in certain situations or in front of specific people.

27. Oppositional defiant disorder

Oppositional defiant disorder is defined as an ongoing pattern of uncooperative, disobedient, hostile and defiant behaviour toward parent and authority.

28. Pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorder association with streptococcal infection ( PANDAS)

It is defined as a condition in which the immune system attack the child central nervous system, leading to behaviour, thinking and movement problems.

29. Reactive attachment disorder

Reactive attachment disorder is defined as an inappropriate social behaviour caused by severe early experiences of neglect, abuse of parent or caregivers between the ages of six months and three years.

30. Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is described as a mental disorder characterized by abnormalities in the perception or expression of reality caused by inability of a child to cope with the change in the internal or external environment, leading to hallucination and delusion.