Attention: The ability to focus selectively on a selected stimulus, sustaining that focus and shifting it at will. The ability to concentrate.
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Autism : A spectrum of neuropsychiatric disorders characterized by deficits in social interaction and communication, and unusual and repetitive behavior. Some, but not all, people with autism are non-verbal.
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Brain: That part of the central nervous system that is located within the cranium ( skull ). The brain functions as the primary receiver, organizer and distributor of information for the body. It has two (right and left) halves called "hemispheres."
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Child health: Child health is the purview of pediatrics.
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Childhood: (1) The time for a boy or girl from birth until he or she is an adult. (2) The more circumscribed period of time from infancy to the onset of puberty .
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Cure: 1. To heal, to make well, to restore to good health. Cures are easy to claim and, all too often, difficult to confirm.
2. A time without recurrence of a disease so that the risk of recurrence is small, as in the 5-year cure rate for malignant melanoma .
3. Particularly in the past, a course of treatment. For example, take a cure at a spa.
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Deafness: Deafness is defined by partial or complete hearing loss. Levels of hearing impairment vary from a mild but important loss of sensitivity to a total loss of hearing. Older adults suffer most often from hearing loss. Age-related hearing loss affects 30 to 35 percent of the population between the ages of 65 and 75 years, and 40 percent of the population over the age of 75. The most common cause of hearing loss in children is otitis media, a disorder that affects predominantly infants and young children. A substantial number of hearing impairments are caused by environmental factors such as noise, drugs, and toxins. Many sensorineural hearing losses result from a genetic predisposition.
Echolalia: The involuntary parrotlike repetition (echoing) of a word or phrase just spoken by another person. Echolalia is a feature of schizophrenia (especially the catatonic form), Tourette syndrome, and some other disorders. From echo + the Greek lalia, a form of speech.
Epilepsy (seizure disorder): When nerve cells in the brain fire electrical impulses at a rate of up to four times higher than normal, this causes a sort of electrical storm in the brain, known as a seizure. A pattern of repeated seizures is referred to as epilepsy. Known causes include head injuries, brain tumors, lead poisoning, maldevelopment of the brain, genetic and infectious illnesses. But in fully half of cases, no cause can be found. Medication controls seizures for the majority of patients.
Eye: The organ of sight. The eye has a number of components. These components include but are not limited to the cornea, iris, pupil, lens, retina, macula, optic nerve, choroid and vitreous.
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Genes: The basic biological units of heredity . Segments of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) needed to contribute to a function.
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Genetic: Having to do with genes and genetic information.
Heart: The muscle that pumps blood received from veins into arteries throughout the body. It is positioned in the chest behind the sternum (breastbone; in front of the trachea, esophagus, and aorta; and above the diaphragm muscle that separates the chest and abdominal cavities. The normal heart is about the size of a closed fist, and weighs about 10.5 ounces. It is cone-shaped, with the point of the cone pointing down to the left. Two-thirds of the heart lies in the left side of the chest with the balance in the right chest.
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Infant: A child up to 2 years (24 months) of age.
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Jaw: The bones below the mouth (the mandible) and the bone above the mouth just above the mouth (the maxilla). The word jaw comes from the Anglo-Saxon ceowan meaning to chew.
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Lips: Aside from the lips of the mouth, there are two pairs of lips at the entrance to the vagina. They are the labia majora (the larger outside pair) and the labia minora (the smaller inside pair). Together they form part of the vulva (the female external genitalia).
Morphology: 1. Literally, the study of form. The study of structure.
2. The form itself, as of an organ or part of the body.
Music therapy: The use of music in therapy; the therapeutic use of music. There are many different definitions of music therapy ranging from the trivial (a form of distraction that uses music as an aid to relaxation) to the lofty (the prescribed use of music to restore, maintain, and improve emotional, physical, physiological, and spiritual health and well-being).
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NICHD: The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, one of the US National Institutes of Health . NICHD is in a sense the NIH for kids in that it is concerned with child health .
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NIDCD: Stands for National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, one of the US National Institutes of Health (the NIH).
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NIH: The National Institutes of Health. The NIH is an important U.S. health agency. It is devoted to medical research. Administratively under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the NIH consists of 20-some separate Institutes and Centers. NIH's program activities are represented by these Institutes and Centers.
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Pain: An unpleasant sensation that can range from mild, localized discomfort to agony. Pain has both physical and emotional components. The physical part of pain results from nerve stimulation. Pain may be contained to a discrete area, as in an injury, or it can be more diffuse, as in disorders like fibromyalgia . Pain is mediated by specific nerve fibers that carry the pain impulses to the brain where their conscious appreciation may be modified by many factors.
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Pathologist: A doctor who identifies diseases by studying cells and tissues under a microscope.
Primary: First or foremost in time or development. The primary teeth (the baby teeth) are those that come first. Primary may also refer to symptoms or a disease to which others are secondary.
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Psychotherapy: The treatment of a behavior disorder, mental illness, or any other condition by psychological means. Psychotherapy may utilize insight, persuasion, suggestion, reassurance, and instruction so that patients may see themselves and their problems more realistically and have the desire to cope effectively with them.
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Sensory: Relating to sensation , to the perception of a stimulus and the voyage made by incoming ( afferent ) nerve impulses from the sense organs to the nerve centers.
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Sign: Any objective evidence of disease. Gross blood in the stool is a sign of disease. It can be recognized by the patient, doctor, nurse, or others. In contrast, a symptom is, by its nature, subjective. Abdominal pain is a symptom. It is something only the patient can know.
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Sign language: A language that employs signs made with the hands and other movements, including facial expressions and postures of the body, used primarily by people who are deaf. There are many different sign languages as, for example, British and American sign languages. British sign language (BSL) is not easily intelligible to users of American sign language (ASL). Unlike ASL, BSL uses a two-handed alphabet. In developing countries, deaf people may use the sign language of educators and missionaries from elsewhere in the world. For example, some deaf individuals in Madagascar use Norwegian sign language. By contrast, deaf children in Nicaragua have created their own sign language. Study of the emerging Nicaruagan sign language (NSL) has revealed that children naturally possess learning abilities capable of giving language its fundamental structure. See also: American sign language .
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Speech-language pathologist: A specialist who evaluates and treats communication disorders and swallowing problems . A speech-language pathologist is sometimes called a speech therapist or speech pathologist.
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Therapy: The treatment of disease .
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Throat: The throat is the anterior (front) portion of the neck beginning at the back of the mouth , consisting anatomically of the pharynx and larynx . The throat contains the trachea and a portion of the esophagus .
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Tongue: The tongue is a strong muscle anchored to the floor of the mouth. It is covered by the lingual membrane which has special areas to detect tastes.
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- Detecting Hearing Loss in Children - Read about tests used for identifying hearing loss in children, treatment information, causes, risk factors and signs of hearing impairment, and learn about degrees of hearing loss.
- Fragile X Syndrome - Read about Fragile X syndrome (FXS or Martin-Bell syndrome) causes, signs, symptoms, and treatments. Learn the facts about the most common inherited form of mental retardation.
- Developmental Screening - Learn the importance of developmental screening for early detection of autism, intellectual disability (mental retardation) and ADHD. Parents should contact their child's pediatrician to discuss their concerns.
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