We often get asked at Total Children’s Therapy about names for conditions and presentations and what is right and what is wrong.
The easy answer is there is no right or wrong. However, names do change and are updated and sometimes for reports or more important documents the most up to date term is used rather than the more common name.
Here are some of the examples that regularly come up but mean the same thing:
Co-ordination problems are often referred to as Dyspraxia, but this presentation is now known as a Developmental Co-ordination Disorder (DCD).
Dyslexia is now more commonly referred to as a child having ‘Specific Learning Difficulties'.
EBSA - Emotional Based School Avoidance is also known as EBSNA– Emotional Based School Non-Attendance which young people and families often prefer.
Asperger’s - this term is now not referred to in medical letters and reports and has been replaced with the more general umbrella term of Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
ASD – Autistic Spectrum Disorder and ASC – Autistic Spectrum Condition refer to the same profile. You will find that different services will have a preference to which term they use.
Stuttering /stammering /dysfluency are all the same thing
Delay or disorder? Delay means that a child is following the normal pattern of development but later than expected and they will catch up over time. Disorder means there is something unusual or more complex with the pattern of speech/language and the young person will need more specialist and targeted intervention.
You can find answers to other Frequently Asked Questions we get at the TCT clinic here.