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Childhood Disintegrative Disorder (CDD)
CDD also known as "Heller's syndrome" is a form of the autism spectrum that causes children to loose vocabulary, motor skills, bladder and/or bowel control. CDD is very rare, it is seen in about every 2 in 100,000 children with autism.
Image found at http://www.foundationsource.com/tools/cause-center/autism/
Image found at http://www.foundationsource.com/tools/cause-center/autism/
Symptoms
Symptoms include: loss of language, motor/social skills as well as other skills over a few months. Children with CDD will also have symptoms/signs of children with Classic Autism as well. Children can start to show signs as early as age two, but the onset average age is between 3 and 4 years old. At this age it is easier for specialists to to identify if a child has CDD or Rett Syndrome (autismspectrum,illinoisstate).
Children diagnosed with CDD must have loss in already acquired skills between ages 2 and 10:
- Expressive/receptive language
- Social skills or adaptive behavior
- Bowel or bladder control
- Play
- Motor skills
Children diagnosed with CDD must have loss in already acquired skills between ages 2 and 10:
- Expressive/receptive language
- Social skills or adaptive behavior
- Bowel or bladder control
- Play
- Motor skills
Causes
There is no identified causes for CDD but specialists have linked the cause to be related to brain and nervous system problems.
Strategies for children with Childhood Disintegrative Disorder
Because CDD is so rare, and children that suffer from it are suffering from the loss of at least two skills, there are few to no strategies available for just this specific Disorder. If a child has CDD parents/teachers should use strategies that are similar to Classic Autism strategies that focus on the same difficulties a child with CDD has. The best options to help a student with CDD is to use any additional services offered through special education services, such as:
-Speech and Language Services
-Physical and Occupational Therapy
-Applied Behavior Analysis
-Discrete Trial Instruction
-Speech and Language Services
-Physical and Occupational Therapy
-Applied Behavior Analysis
-Discrete Trial Instruction
More information on this topic can be found at autismspectrum,illinoisstate