(no subject)
The Kausper Hauser Syndrom of Psychosocial dwarfism is so interesting. I know abuse and neglect is a major setback for children, and I hate it. I know that human touch and bonding is key in the development of an infant. I've read about Failture to Thrive in very young chldren. This, however, is an interesting extension. Does anyone know any good books or case studies regarding this subject?
The following is Copyright ©1995 by David Skuse.
Children with psychosocial dwarfism are rare. In the world literature on the subject, no more than one hundred cases have ever been described. The key features include, first, a very slow rate of linear growth with height for age among the lowest 1 per cent of the population. Second, there are remarkable features of behaviour, including a disrupted sleep pattern (with wandering at night in search of food a usual symptom), hyperphagia (an insatiable appetite), polydipsia (an insatiable thirst) and pain agnosia (an insensibility to physical discomfort). Social relationships with both peers and adults are characterized by their poverty of affect. The children are usually miserable and hyperactive and have a low self-esteem. An important feature, one on which Money himself has written, is cognitive impairment: the appearance is often of a child with moderate to severe learning difficulties.
The condition has proved of such interest to endocrinologists and psychologists because it is the most remarkable example of a psychoneuroendocrinological disorder that we know. When they present, often to a growth clinic, affected children appear to be suffering from hypopituitarism (that is to say, they appear not to be producing growth hormone from their pituitary gland). Isolated growth hormone deficiency is rare and needs treating with exogenous growth hormone. However, if this treatment is given to children with psychosocial dwarfism, it does not work: they do not grow any faster. Yet, once it is recognized that they are being abused and they are removed from their abusive environment, their height increases at a greatly accelerated rate with no treatment at all! As Money has shown, the associated intellectual retardation usually improves as well, alongside the growth, and the catch-up can be as great as 50 IQ points or more.
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I think I'm going to buy some books. @.@
The following is Copyright ©1995 by David Skuse.
Children with psychosocial dwarfism are rare. In the world literature on the subject, no more than one hundred cases have ever been described. The key features include, first, a very slow rate of linear growth with height for age among the lowest 1 per cent of the population. Second, there are remarkable features of behaviour, including a disrupted sleep pattern (with wandering at night in search of food a usual symptom), hyperphagia (an insatiable appetite), polydipsia (an insatiable thirst) and pain agnosia (an insensibility to physical discomfort). Social relationships with both peers and adults are characterized by their poverty of affect. The children are usually miserable and hyperactive and have a low self-esteem. An important feature, one on which Money himself has written, is cognitive impairment: the appearance is often of a child with moderate to severe learning difficulties.
The condition has proved of such interest to endocrinologists and psychologists because it is the most remarkable example of a psychoneuroendocrinological disorder that we know. When they present, often to a growth clinic, affected children appear to be suffering from hypopituitarism (that is to say, they appear not to be producing growth hormone from their pituitary gland). Isolated growth hormone deficiency is rare and needs treating with exogenous growth hormone. However, if this treatment is given to children with psychosocial dwarfism, it does not work: they do not grow any faster. Yet, once it is recognized that they are being abused and they are removed from their abusive environment, their height increases at a greatly accelerated rate with no treatment at all! As Money has shown, the associated intellectual retardation usually improves as well, alongside the growth, and the catch-up can be as great as 50 IQ points or more.
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I think I'm going to buy some books. @.@