A diagnosis helps professionals communicate across settings (e.g., school, healthcare), and a diagnosis can help inform intervention. Although each diagnosis has its own unique criteria, some symptoms or behaviors can overlap. Below are many of the conditions and diagnoses we understand:
Medical Diagnoses
A medical diagnosis is one given by a medical provider (e.g., pediatrician, cardiologist, neurologist, geneticist, nurse practitioner, etc) with information from a physical exam, medical tests, and labs.
Below is a list of medical conditions associated with differences in brain development that we understand:
- Prematurity (born more than 3 weeks early)
- Cerebral Palsy (CP)
- Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS); prenatal exposure to drugs
- Genetic Disorders (Turner syndrome, 22q11.2 Deletion or DiGeorge syndrome, Klinefelter syndrome, Trisomy 21 or Down syndrome, Rett syndrome, Noonan syndrome, Williams syndrome, and more)
- Congenital Heart Disease (CHD)
- Epilepsy or seizures
- Spina Bifida
- Neuromuscular Disorders (e.g., Muscular Dystrophy)
- Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
- Solid Organ Transplant
- Cancer that requires chemotherapy or radiation
- Metabolic diseases including mitochondrial disorders
- Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF-1)
- Sudden Cardiac Arrest
- Hemorrhagic and Ischemic Stroke
- Intraventricular Hemorrhage (IVH)
- Periventricular leukomalacia (PVL); white matter injury
- Hypoxic and anoxic brain injury; hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy
- Cerebral volume loss, atrophy, gliosis, and encephalomalacia
- Abnormalities of the cerebellum
- Thinning (agenesis) of corpus callosum
- Demyelinating diseases (e.g., Multiple Sclerosis, ADEM)
- Brain tumor or mass
- Hydrocephalus or Ventriculomegaly
- Cerebrovascular malformations
- Malformations in cortical development (cortical dysplasia, polymicrogyria, heterotopia, schizencephaly, lissencephaly)
- Brain cyst
- Chiari Type II malformation
Neurodevelopmental Disorders
While a medical condition can increase the risk of a neurodevelopmental disorder, many children with neurodevelopmental disorders have a healthy medical history.
Neurodevelopmental disorders are “a group of conditions with onset in the developmental period……. and are characterized by developmental deficits or differences in brain processes that produce impairments in personal, social, academic, or occupational functioning” (pg, 131 of the DSM -V TR). Neurodevelopmental disorders tend to occur together. Although deficits or delays begin during childhood, they may not be diagnosed until adolescence (or even adulthood).
Neurodevelopmental disorders are commonly diagnosed by psychologists following an evaluation of a child’s developmental abilities, but other professionals can diagnose in select cases (e.g., speech therapist can diagnosis communication disorders; neurologist can diagnosis tic disorders; pediatrician can diagnose ADHD; etc).
A comprehensive evaluation can help ensure a child is correctly diagnosed and the right interventions begin. Below is a list of neurodevelopmental disorders that we understand:
- Intellectual Disorder/Disability
- Global Developmental Delay (for under age 5 years only)
- Communication Disorders (Language Disorder, Speech Sound Disorder, Social Pragmatic Communication Disorder Childhood-Onset Fluency Disorder -Stuttering)
- Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (Inattentive, Hyperactive/Impulsive, Combined subtypes)
- Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Specific Learning Disorder, with impairments in reading (Dyslexia), in math (Dyscalculia) or in written expression (Dysgraphia)
- Tic Disorders (Tourette Syndrome, Motor or Vocal Tic Disorder)
- Other Specified Neurodevelopmental Disorder (e.g., caused by medical conditions listed above)
Other Mental Health Disorders
Problematic symptoms related to worry, anxiety, specific fears, mood, irritability, emotional outbursts, behavior problems, repetitive thoughts or behaviors, somatic symptoms, and more can also occur in children with medical and neurodevelopmental disorders.
Here are some mental health disorders we may screen or evaluate based on areas of concern; and in some cases, we may refer you to a subspecialist:
- Depressive Disorders
- Anxiety Disorders
- Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders
- Disruptive, Impulse-Control, and Conduct Disorders
- Trauma- and Stressor-Related Disorders
- Psychotic symptoms (e.g., hallucinations)
- Feeding and Eating Disorders
- Sleep-Wake Disorders
