AOL File Library: 2,301 to 2,400/aol-file-protocol-4400-2301-to-2400.zip/AOLDLs/Special Ed Library/Pervasive Developmental Disorder/PDD2.txt

Text File | 2014-09-22 | 8KB | 178 lines

Pervasive Developmental Disorder
An overview for teachers and parents

1. Impaired Social Interaction
2. Impairment in verbal & nonverbal communication
3. Restricted range of interest

1. Impaired Reciprocal Social Interaction:
- lack of awareness of other's feelings
- does not seek comfort when distressed
- trouble seperating from parent - uses adult to organize & control environ-
ment; can't read parent emotions to know it will be safe
- abnormal/absence of social play
- can't figure out how to get along with peers

2.  Impaired Verbal, Nonverbal Communication & Imaginative Activity:
- Absence or Impaired mode of communication
- Does not understand gestures, body language, tone of voice
- Abnormal nonverbal communication (no eye contact)
- Absence of imaginative activity - symbolic play and communication symbolic
- Abnormality in production or rate of speech, no intonation - flat
- "Strange speech" repetitive, irrelevant, parroting
- Stereotypic body movements (handflapping)
- Concentrates on one sensory aspect of an object (eg sound or smell or feeling of
something)
- attracted to spinning or shiny objects
- Does not like changes, needs sameness in rountine

3. Restricted Range of Interests:
- Knows everything about that one thing (ie, cars, machines)
- Gets "stuck on" one topic

Common Features not Described in the Journals:
(not present in all cases)
1. Vulnerabe/prone to being disorganized
2. Falls apart when something changes
3. Sensory Processing: integration or regulatory defects:
proneness to sensory over arousal; hyper & hypoactivities
4. auditory sensitivity
5. trouble with background noise (can't tune it out)
6. hand flapping- control for visual overload
7. tactile hypersensitivity- deon't like to be touched unless asked
may have trouble with clothing, might not like wetness



4. Emotional Regulatory Defect:
- Lack of smooth emotional modulation
- extremely distressed quickly
- positive emotions can also get out of control and negative as child becomes
overwhelmed

5.  Marked daily Variability in Fucntioning in Attention, Organization, Language,
Sociability, tension and Behavioral Control:
- Bad days where can't do anything previously done
- Can't Understand symbolic language - child is concrete; may not undersatnd a joke,
figurative language; tied to literal

6. Problems Processing Nonverbal, Verbal Information esp. sequencing
- Can't understand complex information
- Can't decode what is important, what isn't, why things are put together
- Can't understand what is going on in someone elses mind (intentions etc)

7. Uneven Cognitive Development:
- Strong Verbal memory
- Weak in Verbal Areas
- Can make you think they have skills and concepts not mastered based on memory
learning
- Strength also in visual/ perceptual skills (ie. puzzles)

8. Chronic Underlying Tension & Anxiety:
- Always fell vulnerable because can't sequence & develop an expectation
- Unable to predict what will happen
- Constantly feel in danger of or on the verge of disorganization - somewhat like knowing
a little of a foriegn language and then trying to fucntion in that country... missing info,
don't know idioms, don't understand culture


3 Kinds of Pain these Children are Trying to Cope With:

1. Confusion - feeling lost
2. Overly Stimulated
3. Emotionally out of control

Adults usually try to help children by giving them verbal information and sensory
stimulation ----> PDD children withdraw


Child's Behavior is to deal with these 3 types of Pain:
- Repetitiveness/Sameness - trying to reduce confusion
- Compulsion Behavior - an exaggerated attempt to insist on order;
gain control
- Hand Flapping or Tapping: provides a sensory stimulation that child has control over
- Tantrums - sensory information the child is in control of; obliterates the rest
of the world
- Withdrawal/Impaired Social Interaction: withdraws from social interaction
or stimulation that can't be understood; child controls situation by withdrawing

Combination of Sensory Processing Problem & Social Defect:

- Every symptom or behavior exhibited is an expression of trying to cope with an
overwhelming world
- There is great variation in cognitive functioning of these children
- They need to learn that if they don't understand something they need to ask
- Need to keep environment manageable and sensory input so child can function
- Have to modulate kind and quantity of of stimulation according to child's response

PDD is a Spectrum Disorder from severe to which a child can barely be diagnosed to
very mild

Principles in Treating the Child:
1. Make environment intelligent to child
2. Provide a lot of organizational structure/environment predictable
(routines, picture schedules, sounds mark transition, prepare for change with a calender,
picture card, small activities to make time seem shorter)
3. Do not Rush the child
4. Monitor level of stimulation in environment and regualte accroding to child's needs and
capacity for regulating her/his arousal. Pay attention
to regulatory deficits
5. Set up ways to monitor own self stimulation- quiet place to retreat to; special object
from home which helps calm the child, headphones & music,
hands over ears and close eyes, other calming activity
6. Teach child self-monitoring- How are you feeling? What are your hands
doing? How is your stomach feeling?
7. Teach child how to put a strategy into place independently once he/she can monitor
self. Before this teacher may need to cue child. (Teacher pulls on ear as signal)


8. Plan for highly stimulatiing activity such as lunch room, playground, fire drill etc.. Do
not send child until he can do it- this is when he wants to do it
- Starts slo and move to next step as child exhibits comfort:
    a. Activity that is isolated
    b. Adult joins
    c. One peer joins... etc..
* capacity for managing sensory information changes daily

9. Facilitate communicative growth by simplifying language and eliciting then expanding
the child's communicative efforts in the context naturally occurring in the interaction:
- Treat acquisition of cognitive skills as secondary to social only
- Goal to be relaxed & happy at school
- Don't be fooled by splinter skills - don't focus only on strengths because
it will encourage rote learning/memorization
- Monitor child's understanding and teach the child to monitor own understanding by
learning to ask for clarification

10. Indentify any existing areas of relatedness and work to expand them with the child.
Give the highest priority to pleasurable interactions with the child and to relating in the
presence of strong feelings. The goal is to help the child
develop a strong sense of self.

11.  Provide opportuntiies for the child to regulate his/her level of arousal and engagement
in socially facilitative manner (ie, quiet place to retreat instead of tantrum. Allow the child
to self regualte as much as possible, without withdrawal and without allowing him to
control environment.

12. Facilitate familial understanding of the child as having unique strengths and
weaknesses and provide support to parents in coping.

Additional Notes:

1. Perserveration- sign something is not right with child
2. Inclsuion may be more than some of these children can handle
3. Large group activity may be too much
4. For unpredictable situations ie substitute- may need to prepare child for these things
with a visual "wild card"
5. Daily notebook fro parents is helpful, monthly/bimonthly team meeting,
ask parents what helps child feel comfortable
6. Attachment to Teacher- can't go to the bathroom without child becoming distressed;
leave a scarf or necklace of clothing with child
7. Separation - Mom puts on smock when going to work; child learns this signal and
learns she will come back, adjusts to signal
8. Child may need to leave classroom to calm himself (e.g., walk to drinking fountain or
other side of school.