Neurodevelopmental Disorders. Changes in the Theoretical and Diagnostic Approach

Abstract

For the sake of diagnosis and therapy, there were created medical typologies of worldwide
range, among which the most recognized and commonly used are ICD (International Statistical
Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems) and DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) whose new editions are of interest to the authors. This article points out the global trends and directions of changes that occur throughout the area of terminology and categorization of mental development disorders (neurodevelopmental) and associated with them Developmental Language Disorders (DLD). The work presents and refers to
the proposals of changes, which are planned by WHO in the latest, eleventh edition of international classification of diseases and mental disorders ICD, that will be in force in Poland from the first of January 2022. There is also made an attempt to show how the terminology has been changing over
the past 25 years and what changes are currently being made in this field; how the development of
knowledge and social awareness impacted the revision of the theoretical approach and nomenclature. It was possible by the detailed analysis of the older and new editions of abovementioned ICD and DSM typologies, that is: DSM-IV from 1994 and 2000, DSM-5 (from 2013), ICD-10 (released
in 1996) and ICD-11 (from 2019). The table placed in the final part of the article (which is a modified version of the table published by G. Jastrzębowska in 1999, supplemented with new changes proposed by WHO and the American Association of Psychiatrists) indicates how the theoretical approach has evolved in relation to mental disorders and behaviour, and as a consequence, how the names of speech and language development disorders created on this background have changed.
This table compares the native terminology with the one that is currently in force in ICD-10 and DSM-IV, DSM-5, and it refers to the names of categories and clinical units distinguished in the new, eleventh edition of ICD. In order to make comparison and accurately evaluate the described
phenomena, this collation has been complemented with a detailed description of diagnostic criteria proposed in ICD-11 and DSM-5