Understanding Diagnoses

Some common special needs diagnoses include:

Developmental disabilities: a group of conditions that can cause impairments in a person’s physical, learning, language, or behavioral development.

–Autism spectrum disorder (ASD): ASD is a neurological and developmental disorder that can affect how people learn, communicate, interact, and behave. ASD can also make it difficult to master certain academic skills, such as reading body language, making friends, and learning basic skills.

–Cerebral palsy (CP): a group of neurological disorders that affect a person’s ability to control their muscles and movement. CP caused by abnormal brain development or damage to the developing brain.

Learning disabilities can include information processing problems that can make it difficult to learn and use skills effectively. Some common learning disabilities include:

–Dyslexia affects reading and language processing skills, and can cause symptoms like reversing letters, difficulty with phonological awareness, and delayed speech

–ADHD affects attention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity. ADHD can also cause symptoms like difficulty paying attention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity.

–Dyscalculia can make it difficult to understand math concepts and perform mathematical reasoning and computation.

Mental illnesses are a range of conditions that can affect a person’s thinking, mood, behavior, and perceptions.

–Anxiety disorders: cause people to experience uncontrollable and intense feelings of anxiety and fear. These feelings can significantly impair a person’s personal, social, and occupational functions.

Sensory disorders mean that individuals have problems processing information from the senses such as hearing, vision, taste, movement, smell, and touch. The most common sensory processing disorder is hearing loss.

–Hearing loss occurs when the transmission of sound from the outer ear to the brain is disrupted. It can be temporary or permanent, and can affect one or both ears.

Sources:

–https://www.cdc.gov/child-development/about/developmental-disability-basics.html#:~:text=Developmental%20disabilities%20are%20a%20group,last%20throughout%20a%20person’s%20lifetime.

–https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/autism-spectrum-disorders-asd#:~:text=Autism%20spectrum%20disorder%20(ASD)%20is,first%202%20years%20of%20life.

–https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cerebral-palsy/symptoms-causes/syc-20353999#:~:text=Cerebral%20palsy%20is%20a%20group,palsy%20may%20have%20exaggerated%20reflexes.

–https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8498014/#:~:text=Dyslexia%20is%20most%20commonly%20caused,speak%2C%20read%2C%20and%20spell.

–https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder-what-you-need-to-know#:~:text=Attention%2Ddeficit%2Fhyperactivity%20disorder%20(,have%20both%20types%20of%20symptoms.

–https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/23949-dyscalculia#:~:text=Dyscalculia%20is%20a%20learning%20disorder,number%2Drelated%20skills%20and%20understanding.

–https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/mental-illness/symptoms-causes/syc-20374968

–https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/anxiety-disorders/what-are-anxiety-disorders

–https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/conductive-hearing-loss#:~:text=Conductive%20hearing%20loss%20results%20from,ear%20or%20middle%20ear%20effusion.