Ecological systems theory

A theory put forward by Urie Bronfenbrenner (1917-2005), which states that family relationships relative to child development must be understood as a network of interacting parts or systems in a whole that is itself influenced by wider social and cultural processes.  In short, there is not just an ‘environment’, but rather a multiplicity of environmental systems …

Echolalia

Also called echophrasia, it is involuntary repetitive parroting of the words or speech fragments of others, sometimes including an exact replication of the speaker”s pattern of inflection.  it can be immediate or delayed (e.g., repetition of television commercials), occurring minutes hours, days, weeks, months and even years after hearing the speech of others.  While echolalia …

Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS)

An instrument devised by Thelma Harms, Richard M. Clifford and Denny Cryer for measuring aspects of the environment of pre-school children from 2.5 to 5 years of age, which can be considered to be measures of the quality of the preschool environment.  It consists of 43 items assigned to 7 sub-scales: space and furnishing, personal care …

Early Childhood Longitudinal Studies (ECLS)

Sponsored by the US National Institute for Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), these studies focus on child development, child care, and the early school years and include two separate longitudinal panels: ECLS-B, that follows children from nine months of age through first grade, and ECLS-K, which follows through from kindergarten entry to fifth grade. See …

Dystonia

A state of excessive or inadequate muscle tone.  The term was coined by the neurologist Hermann Oppenheim (1858-1919) in 1911 to indicate that “muscle tone was hypotonic at one occasion and in tonic muscle spasm at another, usually, but exclusively, elicited upon volitional movements”, a definition that is still used.  A transient form of dystonia …

Dysphoria

Generalized feelings of low or unpleasant mood (anguish, anxiety, uneasiness) often associated with depression.  Gender dysphoria is a conflict of about one’s gender, gender assignment and gender identity that appears to occur more frequently in boys than girls.  See Anhedonia, Gender, Gender identity, Major depressive disorder

Dysplasia

Any abnormal or pathological growth of tissues or organs resulting in the alteration in size, shape, and organisation of cells.  This is contrasted with anaplasia (loss of structural differentiation within a cell or group of cells often with an increased chance of multiplication, as in a malignant tumour), aplasia (failure of some tissue or organ …

Dyslexia

Sometimes referred to as alexia and visual dysphasia, it is a disorder of reading in which oral language skill and non-verbal cognitive ability is normal.  May be acquired or developmental in origin.  In developmental dyslexia, reading and spelling are both impaired.  Like dysgraphia, it is now considered to be a specific learning disorder that is …