Perspectives on classification of selected childhood neurodisabilities based on a review of literature

ABSTRACT

Purpose: Classifying children with heterogeneous health conditions is challenging. The purposes of this perspective are to explore the prevailing classifications in children with the three selected neurodisabilities using the underlying framework of ICF/ICF-CY, explore the utility of the identified classifications, and make recommendations aimed at improving classifications. Methods: A literature search on six databases and Google was conducted. Articles published between the years 2000 and 2013 were included if they provided information on classification of cerebral palsy (CP), and/or developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and/or autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Results: Children with DCD and ASD are classified using combinations of multiple measures. The classifications in CP meet more of the proposed criteria for utility than those in DCD and ASD. Conclusion: None of the existing classifications addressed all the criteria. The heterogeneity associated with the selected neurodisabilities poses major challenges. Further work is required to establish improved classifications.

KEYWORDS:

• Classification
• cerebral palsy
• developmentalcoordination disorder
• autism spectrum disorder

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Dr. Andrew Johnson and Dr. Allyson Dykstra for their comments and feedback on an earlier draft of this paper.

Funding

Deepa Jeevanantham was supported by research assistantship through a CIHR funded study (MOP: 119276) when the manuscript was prepared.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Supplemental Material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed at www.tandfonline.com/ipdr.

Additional information

Funding

Deepa Jeevanantham was supported by research assistantship through a CIHR funded study (MOP: 119276) when the manuscript was prepared.