Publisher's Synopsis
This special issue represents an important update regarding the status of child neuropsychology -- a field that has seen dramatic growth during the past ten years. This growth has been spurred by many factors including:
1. Interdisciplinary roots.
Although child neuropsychology is a strongly emergent specialty area, its foundations are significantly associated with developmental psychology, pediatric neurology, the psychology of individual differences, and adult neuropsychology. The knowledge gained from these disciplines has contributed to forming and refining some of the core theoretical notions that child neuropsychologists hold.
2. Educational implications.
With the passage of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act in 1976, specific attention was directed to studying children with a variety of neurodevelopmental handicaps.
3. Long-term effects.
Neuropsychological assessment and treatment techniques have been applied to children with pediatric, neurologic, and psychiatric disorders. Because advances in medical care have brought about a dramatic increase in the survival of children whose conditions -- or treatments -- have a potentially adverse impact on the developing brain, there is an ever-growing need for the careful assessment of the extent, pattern, and developmental significance of possible neuropsychological sequelae in these children.
Devoted to the neuropsychological basis of disorders affecting children and adolescents, the intent of this issue is to provide exemplary studies or reviews that illustrate the broad application of the principles of child neuropsychology.
