obsolete childhood disintegrative disease

Childhood disintegrative disorder

Childhood disintegrative disorder (CDD), also known as Heller syndrome and disintegrative psychosis, is a rare condition characterized by a late onset of developmental delays—or severe and sudden reversals—in language (receptive and expressive), social engagement, bowel and bladder, play and motor skills. Researchers have not been successful in finding a cause for this disorder. CDD has some similarities to autism and is sometimes considered a low-functioning form of it. In May 2013, CDD was one of several subtypes of pervasive developmental disorder (PDD)—including Asperger's syndrome, classic autism, and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified—that was subsumed into a single diagnostic term called "autism spectrum disorder" in the DSM-5 manual. CDD was originally described by Austrian educator Theodor Heller (1869–1938) in 1908, 35 years before Leo Kanner and Hans Asperger described autism. Heller had previously used the name dementia infantilis for this disorder. An apparent period of fairly normal development is often noted before regressions in skills occurs. The age at which this regression can occur varies, but regression after three years of normal development is typical. The regression, known as a prodrome, can be so dramatic that the child may be aware of it, and may in its beginning even ask, vocally, what is happening to them. Some children describe or appear to be reacting to hallucinations, but the most obvious symptom is that skills apparently attained are lost. Many children are already somewhat delayed when the disorder becomes apparent,...