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Rett Syndrome Essay

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Rett Syndrome

Abstract
Rett syndrome is considered one of the autism spectrum disorders. Rett syndrome is a developmental disability disorder resulting in severe mental and physical deficits in female children. Rett syndrome is grouped as a pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) in which conditions are severe and pervasive, and that begin in early life and influence multiple areas of development. Rett syndrome, including the age of onset and the severity of symptoms, varies from child to child. Before the symptoms begin, however, the child generally appears to grow and develop normally, although there are often subtle abnormalities even in early infancy, such as loss of muscle tone (hypotonia), difficulty feeding, and jerkiness in …show more content…

The disorder was identified by Dr. Andreas Rett, an Austrian physician who first described it in a journal article in 1966 after he noticed two girls in his waiting room exhibiting identical hand mannerisms (Perry, 1991). He subsequently identified 20 other girls with mental retardation who exhibited similar hand movements and shared a number of other features (Kerr & Stephenson, 1985). It was not until after a second article about the disorder, published in 1983 by Swedish researcher Dr. Bengt Hagberg, that the disorder was generally recognized (Hagberg, 1983). Rett syndrome, including the age of onset and the severity of symptoms, varies from child to child. Before the symptoms begin, however, the child generally appears to grow and develop normally, although there are often subtle abnormalities even in early infancy, such as loss of muscle tone (hypotonia), difficulty feeding, and jerkiness in limb movements. Then, gradually, mental and physical symptoms appear. As the syndrome progresses, the child loses purposeful use of her hands and the ability to speak (Rett Syndrome, 2010). Other early symptoms may include problems crawling or walking and diminished eye contact (Rett Syndrome, 2010). The onset of a period of regression is sometimes sudden. Apraxia — the inability to perform motor functions — is perhaps the most severely disabling feature of Rett syndrome, interfering with every body movement, including eye gaze

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