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10 - Pervasive development disorder

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 August 2009

Sandra N. Fisman
Affiliation:
Children's Hospital of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
Stan Kutcher
Affiliation:
Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia
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Summary

Introduction

The pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs) are characterized by impairments in socialization, communication, and imagination, and the presence of repetitive and ritualistic behaviors (American Psychiatric Association, DSM-IV, 1994). While these deficit areas echo Kanner's original description of “early infantile autism” (Kanner, 1943), considerable strides have been made over the past 50 years in the diagnostic clarification and categorization of these disorders. A substantial body of neurobiologic and psychologic research has emerged regarding these phenomenologically similar disorders (Cohen et al., 1994).

The PDDs were first included as a separate category in the third edition of the American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (American Psychiatric Association, DSM-III, 1980). Prior to this, the conceptualization of autism as a form of childhood psychosis (Creak, 1963) led to the lumping together of a heterogeneous group of children with impaired emotional relatedness, abnormal perceptual sensitivities, poorly modulated anxiety, and disordered language and sense of personal identity. This group included children with Kanner's autism as well as those children with hallucinations, delusions, and formal thought disorder. Subsequent differentiation of these children by age of onset, clinical course, and family history (Kolvin, 1971) allowed for diagnostically separate entities. In DSM-III, autism was included under the umbrella of the PDD and criteria for the diagnosis of childhood schizophrenia were subsumed with the adult disorder (American Psychiatric Association, DSM-III, 1980).

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2002

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  • Pervasive development disorder
    • By Sandra N. Fisman, Children's Hospital of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
  • Edited by Stan Kutcher, Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia
  • Book: Practical Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology
  • Online publication: 31 August 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511543920.011
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  • Pervasive development disorder
    • By Sandra N. Fisman, Children's Hospital of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
  • Edited by Stan Kutcher, Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia
  • Book: Practical Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology
  • Online publication: 31 August 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511543920.011
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Pervasive development disorder
    • By Sandra N. Fisman, Children's Hospital of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
  • Edited by Stan Kutcher, Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia
  • Book: Practical Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology
  • Online publication: 31 August 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511543920.011
Available formats
×