Diagnostic difficulties in children with neurodevelopmental disorders
Michele Zappella
Autistic behaviours often show symptoms common to other difficulties and developmental disorders and are comorbid with some of them. An adequate diagnosis should therefore be based on clinical grounds, putting differential diagnosis first, as mistakes are easier if a prevalent diagnostic role is given to psychological tests centred only on autism. Different diagnostic approaches explain the significant difference between the notable increase of autism prevalence observed in some western countries, where diagnosis gives considerable value to psychological tests, compared to much lower values noticed in China and France, where diagnosis is based on a clinical evaluation more open to differential diagnosis. This is similar in Germany and Poland as well. The importance of how the first appointment is conducted is stressed and a comparison between different methods is described.
Keywords
Autism, developmental disorders, verbal, manual and general dyspraxia.
