23 May 2022

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Neurodevelopment and Neurocognitive Disorders

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Neurodevelopment disorder refers to developmental deficits that arise from the inappropriate function of the brain or the central nervous system. The neurodevelopment disorders are observed early in life as they can be identified in a child before entering the elementary school ( Goodey, 2016) . It is important to indicate that the neurodevelopment disorders significantly interfere with the child's life in various ways such as interfering with the emotions, a memory of the child, child's readiness and ability to learn, the social interaction aspects of a child's life as well as an individual's ability to maintain self-control ( Goodey, 2016) . There are numerous neurodevelopment disorders. However, this paper will focus on the intellectual disability.

Intellectual Disability

Intellectual disability is a general disability that is used to describe mental disorders including mental retardation and general learning disabilities. Importantly, intellectual disability is defined by an IQ score that is below 70 as well as poor adaptive behaviors ( Goodey, 2016) . In this case, the child's IQ is relatively low and performs relatively poor in adaptive behaviors such as social and practical skills. It is essential to indicate that the severity of the disorder varies from one patient to the next and from severe to moderate and to mild ( Goodey, 2016)

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Behavioral Criteria

Some of the behavioral characteristics that can be used to differentiate intellectual learning from other neurodevelopment disorders include the following features that are general for most of the individuals affected but varies with the degree of severity pf the disorder. Firstly, the early signs of intellectual disability include delayed or failure to achieve some developmental milestones ( Goodey, 2016) . Children growth and development takes places gradually, and all children undergo the same milestones, but at different paces. For children with an intellectual disability, they might achieve some developmental milestone quite late in life or fail to completely achieve some of the milestones such as sitting, crawling, and walking. Additionally, children who have an intellectual disability also experience slowness in learning to talk as well as developing speech problems after learning to talk ( Goodey, 2016) . In this case, the child does not fully acquire language skills, and in some cases, the children take relatively long to learn how to talk despite having a reinforcing environment. Additionally, children who have an intellectual disability also portray behavior of difficulty in engaging in self-help activities as well as scoring poorly in self-care skills such as dressing and feeding themselves ( Goodey, 2016) . Additional behavioral characteristics to differentiate patients who have an intellectual disability from other disorders is the fact that the patients have poor problem-solving techniques. Children who have an intellectual disability have challenges in effectively handling a problem which demonstrates deficits in problem-solving skills. 

In addition to the lack of problem-solving techniques, patients who have intellectual disability portray behavioral and social problems. It is also important to indicate that children with intellectual disability have challenges adapting to the new environment as well as new people. Intellectual disability impairs the child's ability to efficiently and smoothly adapt to new surroundings and people, in most of the cases, such children are at ease when surrounded by familiar, people, objects as well as in familiar places ( Goodey, 2016) .While in school, children who have an intellectual disability can be identified as they have challenges putting up with the school environment. The learners have challenges following instructions as well as simple school rules which in turn make it difficult for them to put up with the school daily routines. Lastly, children with intellectual disability have difficulty in understanding and well as following social rules. As a result, this type of children scores relatively low in their social aspect of life.

Incident Rates

According to recent statistics, intellectual disability affects approximately 2-3% of the global population ( Goodey, 2016) . Additionally, 75-90%of the affected individuals portray characteristics of mild intellectual disability while 30-30% of the affected population results from Non-syndromic ( Goodey, 2016) . It is also important to indicate that one-fourth of all the affected population obtained their disorder from genetically related disorders while unknown causes of intellectual disability among the affected individuals account for approximately 95 million people. It is also important to indicate that the onset of the disorder occurs before and individual reaches 18 years, of which the condition is permanent but varies regarding severity degree ( Goodey, 2016)

Causes

Some factors that lead to intellectual disability is the genetic condition. In this case, the child acquires the intellectual disability from the parents as well as from some genetic disorders such as gene mutation, as well as other gene combination errors ( Goodey, 2016) . Some of the intelligence related disabilities that arise from this factor include Down syndrome, Klinefelter syndrome, and Fragile X syndrome among other disorders ( Goodey, 2016) . Secondly, intellectual disability also arises from pregnancy complications which interfere with appropriate growth and development of the fetus brain such as rubella infection during pregnancy, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, as well cell division problems during the prenatal development stage. Additionally, a problem during birth also can lead to brain damage which in turn leads to intellectual disability ( Goodey, 2016) . For example, prolonged labor might lead to oxygen deficit for the infant which in turn leads to brain damage. Additionally, after birth, some factors also pose a high risk for children to acquire intellectual disability some of these factors include, exposure to specific diseases such as whooping cough, meningitis, and measles can lead to intellectual disability is the child experiences delayed in receiving appropriate medical care ( Goodey, 2016) . Additionally, exposure to poisonous toxins such as lead and mercury also increases the risk factors of an individual contracting intellectual disability. Additionally, malnutrition and actuate fasciculus can also lead to intellectual disability. Importantly, lack of iodine is one of the leading causes globally for intellectual disability.

Treatment

Despite the fact that intellectual disorder has no known cure, the disability can be managed using numerous approaches. Firstly is the use of Psychosocial treatments which is an intervention approach that takes place quite early in life of the affected individuals and include encouraging exploration, teaching core competencies, celebrating achieved milestone through appropriate reinforcement, encouraging practicing of learnt skills as well as protecting the children from being labeled in school or at home ( Goodey, 2016) . The second treatment approach is a behavioral treatment which aims at improving the affected individual’s language as well as social skills. The acquisition of the skills, in turn, enables the children to learn to express themselves as well as develop positive social relations ( Goodey, 2016) .

Neurocognitive Disorder

The neurocognitive disorder is a general term that is used to describe mental decline disorders that result from other diseases such as Alzheimer disease, Huntington disease, and Creutzfeldt- among other mental disorders however it is essential to indicate that the disorders do not emanate from psychiatric illness ( Butcher et al., 2014) . There are numerous neurocognitive disorders. However, this paper will focus on the Delirium as one of the neurocognitive disorder.

Delirium

Delirium is a mental condition that involves mental confusion, divided attention, and concentration as well as cognitive dysfunction. It is important to indicate that delirium is a disorder that leads to decreased mental functioning, memory as well as reduced attention levels which in turn leads to disorganized thinking. The major causes of delirium are not known ( Butcher et al., 2014) . However, some researchers indicate that the disorder results from confusion in the brain with the signals that are responsible for sending and receiving signals and information.

Behavioral criteria

Individuals suffering from delirium are likely to portray a wide range of behaviors. Firstly, the individuals experience reduced cognitive functions which are evident by their reduced memory ( Butcher et al., 2014) . This type of individuals has challenges remembering information at a relatively high rate when compared with other individuals. Secondly, delirium patients also demonstrate attention deficit problems, whereby, the individuals have challenges maintaining concentration on one activity due to attention deficit. It is also important to indicate that the individuals are easily destructed due to reduced attention and concentration. Additionally, people suffering from delirium also portray disturbed characteristics which last for hours or days and as a result lead to attention challenges. In this case, the individuals are not settled, but rather they demonstrate uneasiness in the daily routines. Besides the loss of concentration which is easily distributed, individuals suffering from delirium also describe other characteristics such as being disoriented and difficulty in their communication and writing skills ( Butcher et al., 2014) . Additional characteristics that can be used to differentiate individuals suffering from delirium from other disorders include experiences of hallucinations, experiences of extreme emotional changes, lack of sleep as well as a demonstration of aggressive and hostile temperaments. It is important to indicate that these behavioral characteristics differ from one patient to the other depending on the severity of the condition ( Butcher et al., 2014) .

Incident Rates

Delirium is a disorder that affects the elderly in most of the cases, but it is important to indicate that also affects all people across all age groups. Statistics indicate that for individuals above 65 years, cases of delirium is approximately 10% for individuals who attended hospital with other medical conditions ( Butcher et al., 2014) . Additionally, 10-15% of the individuals beyond 65 years of age are likely to be diagnosed with the disorder while receiving treatment in the hospital. Additionally, 10-15% of individuals who undergo heart surgery are likely to suffer from delirium during their recovery period. It is also important to indicate that 25% of the old people who are diagnosed with delirium die within the first six months after contracting the disorder ( Butcher et al., 2014) .

Causes

Firstly for old individuals who acquire the disorder, the cause is mainly associated with exposure to the traumatic related environment which in turn leads to confusion of the brain. Other causes include withdrawal from alcoholism and drug and substance abuse, multiple medical problems, malnutrition and dehydration, past experiences with delirious episodes, old age as well as dementia which is the common risk factor for contracting delirium ( Butcher et al., 2014) .

Treatment

Delirium is a life-threatening condition which must be treated upon diagnosis. Environmental manipulation can be utilized to calm the mind and help the individual to recover from the disorder fully. In this case, the family members and the health practitioners manipulate the environment in the best way possible to allow the individual become aware of the environment ( Butcher et al., 2014) . Secondly, delirium can also be treated with medication such as Neuroleptics which are antipsychotics drugs and are used in treating delirium. 

References

Butcher., J. N., Hooley, J. M., and Mineka, S., (2014)  Abnormal Psychology. Published by Pearson.

Goodey, C. F. (2016).  A history of intelligence and "intellectual disability": The shaping of psychology in early modern Europe . London: Routledge.

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StudyBounty. (2023, September 16). Neurodevelopment and Neurocognitive Disorders.
https://studybounty.com/neurodevelopment-and-neurocognitive-disorders-essay

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