Treatment
There is no permanent cure for CDD - loss of language and skills related to social interaction and self-care are serious. The affected children face permanent disabilities in certain areas and require long term care. Treatment of CDD involves both behavior therapy and medications.
- Behavior therapy - Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA): Its aim is to systematically teach the child to relearn language, self-care and social skills. The treatment programs designed in this respect "use a system of rewards to reinforce desirable behaviors and discourage problem behavior." ABA programs may be designed by a board-certified specialist in behavior analysis called a "BCBA" (Board Certified Behavior Analyst), but ABA is also widely used by a number of other health care personnel from different fields like psychologists, speech therapists, physical therapists and occupational therapists with differing levels of expertise. It is important that at the same time, parents, teachers and caregivers also use the behavior therapy treatments because the research is crystal clear that a consistent approach by all concerned results in greater treatment gains by the child.
- Medications: There are no medications available to directly treat CDD. Antipsychotic medications are used to treat severe behavior problems like aggressive stance and repetitive behavior patterns. Anticonvulsant medications are used to control seizures.
Read more about this topic: Childhood Disintegrative Disorder
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—Thomas Szasz (b. 1920)
“If the study of all these sciences, which we have enumerated, should ever bring us to their mutual association and relationship, and teach us the nature of the ties which bind them together, I believe that the diligent treatment of them will forward the objects which we have in view, and that the labor, which otherwise would be fruitless, will be well bestowed.”
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—C. John Sommerville (20th century)