XXY learning, emotional, and mental disorders

	learning, emotional, and mental disorders
	Emotional, mental, and learning disorders occur when the emotions, mental functioning, and learning abilities are affected to the degree that daily living is significantly impaired. If these disorders occur in an XXY, treatment for the individual condition and person should be the same as for an XY or an XX. There are reported cases of XXYs being diagnosed with such disorders as ADD, impulse control disorder, depression, emotionally disturbed, personality disorder, learning disabilities, early-onset schizophrenia, and communicatively impaired. In most cases, the extra X will not be identified until years later. Some XXYs and families report improvement in some of these areas with a regular program of HRT. Some also use various medications and most find psychosocial skills training or psychotherapy of benefit. Further Reading and Resources: Internet Mental Health site ADD-- with or without learning disabilities. Learning Disability Association has fact sheets, includes speech language disorders. LD Online is a very comprehensive resource for parents, teachers, and students with an index that can be searched and is international in scope. Top Dyslexia Though it is not a given that XXYs will develop dyslexia, the possibility does exist. A very short excerpt from: PEDIATRICS Vol 81 No.6 June 1988 (language disability, chromosome anomaly, 47,xxy, Klinefelter syndrome, dyslexia, school problem). Oral and Written Language Abilities of XXY Boys: Implications for Anticipatory Guidance. John M. Graham, Jr. MD, ScD, Anthony S. Bashir, PhD, Rachel E. Stark, PhD, Annette, Silbert, Phd, and Standlye Walzer, MD From the Clinical Genetics and Child Development Center, Department of Maternal and Child Health, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Hanover, New Hampshire: Depts. of Otolaryngology and Communication Sciences and Disorders, John F. Kennedy Institute, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore. ABSTRACT. Previous studies of xxy boys suggest that they are at risk for certain communication disorders involving oral and written language. In this study, the language, reading, and spelling skills of a group of 14 xxy boys identified during neonatal cytogenetic screening were compared with those of a group of 15 control children. (text deleted) These results suggest that difficulty learning how to read and spell may be due to a preexistent language disability. Early attention to such expressive language problems may be essential to ameliorate secondary maladaptive behaviors due to chronic language-related learning disabilities. Top ----Part of the article-- The results reported herein suggest that, although some unselected xxy boys are able to function in the normal range on certain receptive language tasks, many xxy boys are handicapped by auditory rate-processing difficulties and auditory memory deficits and show concomitant problems in expressive language. The particular expressive language deficits appear to involve difficulties in word finding, syntactic production, and narrative formulation. All of these problems may implicate left hemisphere dysfunction. The results described herein demonstrate generally deficient reading and spelling skills for the group of boys with an xxy chromosome complement, when compared to the performance of a control group. Those xxy boys with language disorders in the pre-school years also demonstrate disorders of reading and writing during the school years. These findings support a growing realisation that the language disorders present from the pre-school years are associated with and predictive of later reading and spelling deficits during the school years. This perspective is consistent with the view that specific language disabilities, including reading disorders, are chronic. The symptoms and effects of these deficits change throughout the life of the individual. Back Top

learning, emotional, and mental disorders

Emotional, mental, and learning disorders occur when the emotions, mental functioning, and learning abilities are affected to the degree that daily living is significantly impaired. If these disorders occur in an XXY, treatment for the individual condition and person should be the same as for an XY or an XX.

There are reported cases of XXYs being diagnosed with such disorders as ADD, impulse control disorder, depression, emotionally disturbed, personality disorder, learning disabilities, early-onset schizophrenia, and communicatively impaired. In most cases, the extra X will not be identified until years later. Some XXYs and families report improvement in some of these areas with a regular program of HRT. Some also use various medications and most find psychosocial skills training or psychotherapy of benefit.

Further Reading and Resources:

Internet Mental Health site

ADD-- with or without learning disabilities.

Learning Disability Association has fact sheets, includes speech language disorders.

LD Online is a very comprehensive resource for parents, teachers, and students with an index that can be searched and is international in scope.

Top

Dyslexia

Though it is not a given that XXYs will develop dyslexia, the possibility does exist.

A very short excerpt from:

PEDIATRICS Vol 81 No.6 June 1988 (language disability, chromosome anomaly, 47,xxy, Klinefelter syndrome, dyslexia, school problem).

Oral and Written Language Abilities of XXY Boys: Implications for Anticipatory Guidance.

John M. Graham, Jr. MD, ScD, Anthony S. Bashir, PhD, Rachel E. Stark, PhD, Annette, Silbert, Phd, and Standlye Walzer, MD

From the Clinical Genetics and Child Development Center, Department of Maternal and Child Health, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Hanover, New Hampshire: Depts. of Otolaryngology and Communication Sciences and Disorders, John F. Kennedy Institute, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore.

ABSTRACT. Previous studies of xxy boys suggest that they are at risk for certain communication disorders involving oral and written language. In this study, the language, reading, and spelling skills of a group of 14 xxy boys identified during neonatal cytogenetic screening were compared with those of a group of 15 control children. (text deleted) These results suggest that difficulty learning how to read and spell may be due to a preexistent language disability. Early attention to such expressive language problems may be essential to ameliorate secondary maladaptive behaviors due to chronic language-related learning disabilities.

Top

----Part of the article--

The results reported herein suggest that, although some unselected xxy boys are able to function in the normal range on certain receptive language tasks, many xxy boys are handicapped by auditory rate-processing difficulties and auditory memory deficits and show concomitant problems in expressive language. The particular expressive language deficits appear to involve difficulties in word finding, syntactic production, and narrative formulation. All of these problems may implicate left hemisphere dysfunction. The results described herein demonstrate generally deficient reading and spelling skills for the group of boys with an xxy chromosome complement, when compared to the performance of a control group.

Those xxy boys with language disorders in the pre-school years also demonstrate disorders of reading and writing during the school years. These findings support a growing realisation that the language disorders present from the pre-school years are associated with and predictive of later reading and spelling deficits during the school years. This perspective is consistent with the view that specific language disabilities, including reading disorders, are chronic. The symptoms and effects of these deficits change throughout the life of the individual.

Back

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