| Question |
Answer |
| What are the priority considerations in children with mental health disorders? |
|
Safety and self-esteem
|
| What is considered the usual threshold on an intelligence test for mental retardation? |
|
An intelligence quotient of 70 or less
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| Aside from intelligence assessments, what else is factored into a diagnosis of mental retardation? |
|
Adaptive behaviors, developmental delays, essentially the ability to manage age appropriate tasks of daily living.
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| What are the main nursing interventions focused on for patients with mental retardation? |
|
Promoting coping skills, patient and parent education
|
| ________ is characterized by an uneven pattern of intelligence strengths and weaknesses marked by severe developmental delays that cannot be attributed to mental retardation. |
|
Pervasive Developmental Disorder
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| Children with _______ disorder may show a lifelong pattern of rigidity, intolerance of change, and behavioral outbursts in response to environmental demands or changes in routine. |
|
Pervasive Developmental Disorder
|
| What are the two distinguishing characteristics between autism and and other pervasive developmental disorders? |
|
Early age of onset (before 30 months), and severe disturbance in social relatedness
|
| What are common characteristics of children with autism? |
|
They exhibit an aloofness, indifference to others, preference for inanimate objects, impairments in communications, have stereotypic behaviors and concrete in interpretation of language.
|
| What are some common speech/communication characteristics of children with autism? |
|
Delayed speech development, echolalia (repetition of words/sounds spoken by others), concrete interpretation of language, pronoun reversals, abnormal intonation.
|
| _______ disorder is a marked impairment of development in social interaction and communication with a restrictive repertoire of activity and interest. |
|
Autistic disorder
|
|
|
| Which gender is most likely to be diagnosed with autism, and which gender tends to be impacted most severely with poorer outcomes? |
|
Boys are more likely to have autism but girls tend to be more severely impaired with poorer outcomes
|
| What is an ascertainment bias? |
|
A method of identifying cases for scientific study that creates a sample that differs from the population it is trying to represent. This is thought to be the reason for initial support of indifference of professional parents as a cause for autism.
|
| What biochemical differences have been identified in children with autism? |
|
Increased platelet serotonin levels, excessive dopaminergic activity, and alterations of endogenous opioids.
|
| What medication has demonstrated efficacy in reducing hyperactivity, emotional lability and stereotypic behaviors in children with autism? |
|
Haloperidol
|
| What are the common side effects of Haloperidol in children with autism and what are the recommendations regarding treatment? |
|
Tardive dyskinesia and withdrawal dyskinesias. Drug holidays every 6-12 months are recommended to assess for continued need for the medication.
|
| _________ has been found to be a safe and effective treatment for reducing aggression, tantrums, and self-injury in children with autism. |
|
Risperdal/risperidone
|
| If a child with autism is prescribed methylpehnidate/Ritalin, what are some things to keep in mind regarding side effects and dosing? |
|
Children with autism appear to be more likely to develop adverse effects at medium level dosing, including increases in self-injury. Dosing should start low and be incremented slower than usual.
|
| _______ disorder is defined as a severe and sustained impairment in social interaction and restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, and activities. |
|
Aspergers disorder
|
| Children with ________ demonstrate inappropriate initiation of social interactions, inability to respond to usual social cues and a tendency to be concrete in language interpretation. |
|
Aspergers disorder
|
| What disorders are commonly seen in children with autism? |
|
Seizure disorders
|
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