COMMON NEUROBEHAVIORAL DISORDERS

A child’s behavior is a reflection of both his/her environment and genetics. Behavioral genetic components are found in the brain. Intellectual, social and emotional genetic contributions are present in the way the child’s brain cells develop, the way the brain cells connect with each other and the availability of various chemicals that bathe the cells. Just as everyone has a unique face, they also have a unique brain which is reflected in each child’s set of cognitive and emotional capabilities and characteristics.
A neurobehavioral problem exists when a child has learning, social, emotional, or behavioral problems that occur because of the way his/her brain functions. For these children, the reason they have difficulties in reading, writing, spelling, following directions, understanding a smile, etc. is because they do not process specific kinds of information well. Some children have problems understanding spoken language while others have a hard time reading words. Another group of children has difficulty understanding the nonverbal world around them. These children have difficulty perceiving faces, places, and objects.

There are many types of interventions for children with neurobehavioral problems. In general, early recognition and treatment lead to the best outcome.
The following is a list of common neurobehavioral problems and a short description of each:

Language Based Learning Disability

These children have difficulty processing written or oral language, leading to problems in reading, spelling and writing. Dyslexia, the most commonly known language based learning disability, is thought to be due to difficulties processing the sounds that make up letters and words.

Visual-Spatial Learning Disability

Children with this type of learning disability have problems in processing spatial information. Spatial information includes everything your eyes see: people, places, objects, etc. For these children there are no problems with their vision; the problem is in how the brain uses the information the eyes bring to it to organize the visual spatial information. Organizational problems and motor coordination difficulties are often associated with visual-spatial learning disabilities.

Nonverbal Learning Disability (NLD)

These children have specific problems understanding nonverbal communication. This type of communication consists of all the messages people give to each other that do not include language, such as facial expressions, gestures, etc. Nonverbal communication accounts for approximately 75% of the messages people give to each other. These children have social interest, but lack social know-how. They have a hard time fitting into the social world. They have organizational problems and visual-spatial difficulties. Depression and anxiety often accompany nonverbal learning disabilities.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

ADHD is a developmental disorder. The major clinical characteristics include inattention, impulsivity, distractibility, and a lack of behavioral inhibition. Increased motor activity is sometimes, but not always, present.

Executive Function Disorder

Executive functions include planning, organization, mental flexibility, working memory, regulation of attention, self-monitoring and more. For some children this set of abilities is not strongly developed. In everyday life, these are children who are forgetful, unorganized, sometimes impulsive and often have difficulties thinking things through before acting. There is overlap between ADHD and this disorder.

Tourette Syndrome

This is a movement disorder consisting of motor and vocal tics. For many children with this disorder the tics are minimal. The majority of people with Tourette Syndrome have a neurobehavioral component which is often the more disabling feature of the problem. The neurobehavioral components include ADHD , obsessive compulsive behavioral characteristics, and learning difficulties.

Asperger’s Syndrome

This syndrome originally referred to a group of children who had behaviors that were autistic-like, but who had normal language. Presently there is controversy about the definition of Asperger’s Syndrome. Some professionals believe that NLD and Asperger’s Syndrome are the same.

Autistic Spectrum Disorders

The key feature of autism is a lack of social interest. These children do not relate to the people in their environment. The majority of autistic children are intellectually retarded and have minimally developed language . Stereotypic behavior is another identifying feature of autism.

There are children who lack social interest and have social relatedness, but are of normal intelligence. They form a subset of children who are part of an autistic spectrum, but do not fit the traditional criteria for autism.

Some children who have social relatedness problems and other developmental delays are diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder. They too do not fit the strict criteria for autism and are thought of as fitting into the autistic spectrum.