eMedicine Specialties > Pediatrics: Developmental and Behavioral > Medical Topics
Pervasive Developmental Disorder: Follow-up
Updated: Mar 26, 2008
Follow-up
Further Inpatient Care
- Thorough medical evaluation is warranted before psychiatric hospitalization is considered.
- Inpatient care is warranted to manage acute medical issues or for a workup of subclinical medical disorders.
- Patients often present with medical problems that manifest as changes in behavior.
- Psychiatric hospitalization is indicated whenever the safety of the patient cannot be maintained.
Further Outpatient Care
Outpatient management requires a multidisciplinary approach.
- Comorbid medical problems, including seizures and constipation, are frequent.
- Certain behaviors may require medication by a child and adolescent psychiatrist or behavioral-developmental pediatrician.
- A speech pathologist's expertise is essential to develop a communication plan.
- A special education professional may be needed to design a specific curriculum for each child with pervasive developmental disorder (PDD).
- Occupational and physical therapists may be indicated for motor deficits and sensory processing deficits.
- A social worker not only helps find financial, educational, and emotional resources but also provides important psychosocial support for the family.
- Psychologists often develop behavioral plans and ongoing therapy to improve social relationships.
Patient Education
- For excellent patient education resources, visit eMedicine's Brain and Nervous System Center. Also, see eMedicine's patient education articles Autism and Asperger Syndrome.
Miscellaneous
Medicolegal Pitfalls
- Failure to conduct a thorough medical review: A thorough review is important because none of the pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs) has a medical cure. Treatable conditions may cause symptoms of PDD, or they may worsen behaviors associated with these disorders.
- Failure to suggest legal consultation: Many parents of children with PDD need legal guidance to help them understand their legal rights to benefits and services for their children from public schools and from the medical system.
This article is dedicated to Henrietta Leonard, MD (program director of child and adolescent psychiatry and professor of psychiatry and human development in the division of child and adolescent psychiatry at Rhode Island Hospital and Brown University) who passed away in August 2007. Dr. Leonard will be missed by many for her passion for teaching, highest ethical standards, and dedication to children's mental health. Without her, this chapter would never have been realized.
More on Pervasive Developmental Disorder |
| Overview: Pervasive Developmental Disorder |
| Differential Diagnoses & Workup: Pervasive Developmental Disorder |
| Treatment & Medication: Pervasive Developmental Disorder |
Follow-up: Pervasive Developmental Disorder |
| Multimedia: Pervasive Developmental Disorder |
| References |
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References
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Further Reading
Keywords
personality developmental disorder, PDD, autistic disorder, autism, Rett disorder, Rett syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, Asperger disorder, Asperger syndrome, pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified, childhood disintegration, obsessive compulsive disorder, OCD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, ADHD, schizophrenia, anxiety, regression, language delay, epilepsy, cerebral palsy, tuberous sclerosis, phenylketonuria, neurofibromatosis, Down syndrome, congenital rubella
Follow-up: Pervasive Developmental Disorder