What Is Childhood Disintegrative Disorder?
Very few children diagnosed with
autism spectrum disorder meet the criteria for childhood disintegrative disorder. An estimate based on four surveys of
autism spectrum disorder found fewer than 2 children per 100,000 with
autism spectrum disorder could be classified as having childhood disintegrative disorder. This suggests that the condition is a rare form of autism spectrum disorder. This disorder is far more common in males than in females.
Symptoms of Childhood Disintegrative Disorder
Childhood disintegrative disorder symptoms may appear by age two, but the average age of onset is between three and four years of age. Until this time, the child has age-appropriate skills in communication and social relationships. The long period of normal development before regression helps differentiate this disorder from
Rett syndrome.
The loss of vocabulary is more dramatic in childhood disintegrative disorder than it is in classical autism. The diagnosis requires extensive and pronounced losses involving motor, language, and social skills.
Childhood disintegrative disorder is also accompanied by loss of bowel and bladder control, and oftentimes
seizures and a very low IQ.
