The following glossary terms have been listed here to help users of the website find the definition to terms that they might run across while reading materials at this site. If you should find a term for which there is no corresponding definition here on this page, please send an email to: Webmaster
Anxiety disorders are blanket terms covering several different forms of abnormal and pathological fear and anxiety which only came under the aegis of psychiatry at the very end of the 19th century. Gelder, Mayou & Geddes (2005) explains that anxiety disorders are classified in two groups: continuous symptoms and episodic symptoms. Current psychiatric diagnostic … Read More »
Aphasia… is an impairment of language ability. This class of language disorder ranges from having difficulty remembering words to being completely unable to speak, read, or write. Aphasia disorders usually develop quickly as a result of head injury or stroke, but can develop slowly from a brain tumor, infection, or dementia, or can be … Read More »
“Asperger Syndrome or (Asperger’s Disorder) is a neurobiological disorder named for a Viennese physician, Hans Asperger, who in 1944 published a paper which described a pattern of behaviors in several young boys who had normal intelligence and language development, but who also exhibited autistic-like behaviors and marked deficiencies in social … Read More »
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD or AD/HD or ADD) is a neurobehavioral developmental disorder. It is primarily characterized by “the co-existence of attentional problems and hyperactivity, with each behavior occurring infrequently alone” and symptoms starting before seven years of age.
ADHD is the most commonly studied and diagnosed psychiatric disorder in children, affecting about 3 to … Read More »
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their synapses connect and organize; how this occurs is not … Read More »
The autism spectrum, also called autism spectrum disorders (ASD) or autism spectrum conditions (ASC), with the adjective autistic sometimes replacing the noun autism, is a spectrum of psychological conditions characterized by widespread abnormalities of social interactions and communication, as well as restricted interests and repetitive behaviour.
Source: “Autism Spectrum”. (2011, June 13). In Wikipedia, The … Read More »
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a psychotherapeutic approach which is used by psychologists and therapists to help promote positive change in individuals, to help alleviate emotional distress, and to address a myriad of psycho/social/behavioral issues. Cognitive Behavioral therapists identify and treat difficulties arising from an individual’s irrational thinking, misperceptions, dysfunctional … Read More »
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition. Lists the diagnostic criteria for the most common mental disorders including: description, diagnosis, treatment, and research findings. Published by the American Psychiatric Association, Washington D.C., 1994, it is the main diagnostic reference of Mental Health professionals in the United States of America.
Dysnomia is a difficulty retrieving the correct words, names, or numbers from memory. Dysnomia is a learning disability present from childhood which can affect speech, writing, and/or math. Normal individuals will occasionally suffer problems recalling words, names, and numbers. This normal condition is not a learning disability.
Word recall problems are classified as dysnomia when … Read More »
Echolalia is the automatic repetition of vocalizations made by another person.
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Echolalia can be present in autism and other developmental disabilities, Tourette syndrome, aphasia, Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome, schizophrenia, Asperger syndrome, Alzheimer’s Disease and, occasionally, other forms of psychopathology. It is also frequently found in blind or visually impaired children, although most will outgrow this behavior. When done … Read More »
Echopraxia is the involuntary repetition or imitation of the observed movements of another.
Source: “Echopraxia”. (2010, December 23). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 01:42, June 24, 2011
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Echopraxia&oldid=403856330
Epilepsy (often referred to as a seizure disorder) is a chronic neurological condition characterized by recurrent unprovoked seizures. The condition is named from the Greek epilepsis (“to take a firm grip on”). It is commonly controlled with medication, although surgical methods are used as well.
Source:“Epilepsy.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 2 Feb 2006, 19:25 … Read More »
“Hyperlexia is a syndrome in which the main characteristics are an above normal ability to read coupled with a below normal ability to understand spoken language. Hyperlexia appears to be different from what is known as hypergraphia, the urge or compulsion to write, although as with many mental conditions or quirks it is possible … Read More »
A neurotypical (or NT) person is one whose neurological development and state are typical of the local population at large, conforming to what most people would perceive as “normal”.
A methodology of behavior whereby form is more important than function. It is typically used in a negative connotation, indicating someone overly concerned with minutiae and detail. In regards to autism and Asperger’s Syndrome, detail is important, so in a conversation for example, a person with Asperger’s Syndrome will often … Read More »
The repetition or continuation of something such as the repetition of a word, or a thought, usually to an exceptional degree or beyond a desired point.
The diagnostic category pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), as opposed to specific developmental disorders (SDD), refers to a group of five disorders characterized by delays in the development of multiple basic functions including socialization and communication that have traditionally been referred to as Autism.
Parents may … Read More »
Pragmatic language impairment (PLI) is an impairment in understanding pragmatic areas of language. This type of impairment was previously called semantic-pragmatic disorder (SPD). Pragmatic language impairments are related to autism and Asperger syndrome. People with these impairments have special challenges with the semantic aspect of language … Read More »
Linguistics concerned with the relationship of sentences to the environment in which they occur.
“Prosody consists of distinctive variations of stress, tone, and timing in spoken language. How pitch changes from word to word, the speed of speech, the loudness of speech, and the duration of pauses all contribute to prosody.”
Source: “Prosody.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 8 Nov 2005, 03:47 UTC. 6 Feb 2006, 01:09
Read More »
Prosopagnosia… is a disorder of face perception where the ability to recognize faces is impaired, while the ability to recognize other objects may be relatively intact. The term originally referred to a condition following acute brain damage, but a congenital form of the disorder has been proposed, which may be inherited by about 2.5% of … Read More »
“Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by persistent defects in the perception or the expression of reality. A person experiencing untreated schizophrenia typically demonstrates disorganized thinking, and may also experience delusions or auditory hallucinations. Although the disorder primarily affects cognition, it can also contribute to chronic problems with behavior or … Read More »
“In the DSM-IV selective mutism is described as a rare psychological disorder in children. Children (and adults) with the disorder are fully capable of speech and understanding language, but fail to speak in certain social situations when it is expected of them. They function normally in other areas of behaviour and … Read More »
A neurological disorder that is characterized by recurrent involuntary tics involving body movements (as eye blinks or grimaces) and vocalizations (as grunts or utterance of inappropriate words), often has one or more associated conditions (as obsessive-compulsive disorder), is more common in males than females, and usually has an onset in childhood. … Read More »
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