Childhood Psychological Disorders

This accessible, informative book will help teachers, parents, and practitioners make sense of current issues and controversies surrounding childhood disabilities.

Childhood Psychological Disorders: Current Controversies was compiled to disentangle controversial issues, contributing to a fuller understanding of the needs of children with disabilities and the families raising them. The book focuses on emotional, social, and behavioral concerns such as the psychological dimensions of childhood disability. Specific, topical essays highlight the current state of knowledge and the nature of opposing arguments among specialists in various disciplines.

The book opens with a consideration of the historical and social context of child disability, addressing the evolution of disability concepts and the changing nature of disability as a social/cultural phenomenon. Disability's impact on the family system and schools is explored, too, from the vantage point of educators, children, and their parents and siblings. Subsequent chapters examine such diagnoses as pediatric bipolar disorder, autism, the educational label Emotionally Handicapped/Disturbed (EH/D), food allergies and related disorders, and Gender Identity Disorder (GID).