Lecture 2: Introduction to Assessment of Developmental Disorders
Today:
Part 1:
Developmental approach to disorders and Biopsychosocial Model of health
Areas of developmental psychology studied:
- Physical developmental
- Cognitive: memory, intelligence, language development
- Social: attachment
Part 2:
Intake form- review what the teams have come up with
Compare with sample
List the areas of information sought after
Importance of this information
Discuss what happens in your home country when a disorder is suspected
Part 3: Setting up the initial interview with parents/ caregivers
Things to look out forPart
4: Professionalism in assessments
Part 5: Aims of testing, other professionals involved
Part 6: Issues presented
Trends in current times: types, rates, identification, culture, technology, definition
Assessing interaction
A mother, who was having treatment for a postpartum psychosis, said proudly
that she was breastfeeding her baby and it was going well. When the baby started
moaning she picked him up and positioned him well to feel but did not open her shirt or
give the baby access to her breast, just holding him against her shirt where the baby
vainly attempted to latch onto the breast. The mother seemed unaware of his struggle
until he grizzled loudly.
A two year old boy fell off the chair during the assessment and bumped his head
quite hard. His mother had described him as “independent”. Instead of crying or going to
his mother, he walked to the window and looked outside. It was striking to the
interviewer that he did not seek parental comfort or show distress.
A five year-old boy is brought by his mother to a consultation with a primary care
psychologist. The boy was referred by his teacher because he was not able to do the
activities proposed in class. He was always quiet and alone, refusing peers’ invitations
to play. The mother could not understand his behaviour. In their second consultation,
the psychologist invited the boy to play offering him some toys. The boy only could play
when the mother came into the room and gave him verbal instructions about what to do.
He only moved or changed toys after she gave him permission.
The parents of a two year-old girl brought her to a mental health outpatient clinic
complaining that she had been “very nervous and agitated since she was one year old”.
Her parents said she often became aggressive, hit her head on the wall at home and
scratched herself. She would wake up stressed, refusing the bottle and scratching her
mother. Her behavior worsened when in contact with other children, so parents kept her
at home. She was aggressive with adults, throwing toys on the floor or at people. They
reported that she was calm when near her maternal grandfather, who did everything
she wanted including things the parents considered dangerous. With strangers she was
very shy, keeping her head down and not talking.
The parents could not identify a precipitant for the symptoms but the onset had
coincided with the child learning to walk and therefore becoming more independent.
She lived with her parents and her eight year old brother.
Biological
SocialPsychological