Mental health articles

Developmental disorders

Level of intelligence is one of the strongest predictors of the presence or absence of child psychiatric disorders, with highly intelligent children being most resilient to psychiatric morbidity in the face of adversity and those with learning disability being at greatest risk.

Up to 30–50% of children with a global learning disability also have a psychiatric disorder. In those with severe to profound learning disability, specialist skills within CAMHS are required for both assessment and treatment. Specific developmental disorders are all associated with an increased rate of psychiatric disorder, including both speech and language disorders, as well as ADHD and other behavioural disorders. Again, a systematic approach to assessment is necessary to identify the entire range of problems and develop a rational treatment plan. Both general and specifi c learning disabilities can go undetected without a cognitive assessment, performed either by an educational psychologist or the CAMHS team.

Tags: children, developmental disorders, disorders