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Brief Report: An Unusual Manifestation of Diagnostic Overshadowing of Pervasive Developmental Disorder—Not Otherwise Specified: A Five Year Longitudinal Case Study

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Abstract

Children with communication disorders present with a range of comorbid conditions. Occasionally one of the comorbid conditions manifests so strongly that the primary condition goes unnoticed by the clinician. This tendency to overlook comorbid health problems in the presence of a disability is referred to as diagnostic overshadowing. This is a five-year follow up case study of a 9-year-old female child. The child was initially diagnosed to have Separation Anxiety Disorder (SAD), but during the course of follow up she began to exhibit features of pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS). This case report throws light on the severity of SAD which overshadowed PDD-NOS. Importance of follow-up and the need for a multidisciplinary team to be sensitive to the phenomenon of diagnostic overshadowing is discussed.

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Notes

  1. Even though there are revised versions like the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale-II available for assessment, the Indian version of these tests was not available. Hence, the Indian version of VSMS was used in the present study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma

    Ramesh Kaipa

  2. All India Institute of Speech and Hearing, University of Mysore, Mysore, India

    Jaslin Thomas

  3. Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, India

    N. Shivashankar

  4. Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, India

    S. S. Meera

Authors
  1. S. S. Meera
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  2. Ramesh Kaipa
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  3. Jaslin Thomas
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  4. N. Shivashankar
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Correspondence to Ramesh Kaipa.

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Meera, S.S., Kaipa, R., Thomas, J. et al. Brief Report: An Unusual Manifestation of Diagnostic Overshadowing of Pervasive Developmental Disorder—Not Otherwise Specified: A Five Year Longitudinal Case Study. J Autism Dev Disord 43, 1491–1494 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-012-1691-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-012-1691-9

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