“Reed and Warner-Rogers have made a substantial contribution to the development of child neuropsychology, which has suffered a dearth of comprehensive texts, in this broad-ranging, well-conceived and authoritative volume.”
–Professor J Graham Beaumont, Department of Clinical Psychology, Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability, London
“For me, they have more than succeeded in meeting their goals for combining science and practice, staying academically grounded but accessible, and powerfully presenting the case for the necessary focus on developmental variables. The text is both fascinating and readable throughout.”
–Jane Holmes Bernstein Ph. D., Department of Psychiatry, Children’s Hospital Boston / Harvard Medical School
“A valuable addition to the libraries of pediatric/child neuropsychologists. It takes a somewhat different and refreshing approach as compared to existing texts, focusing on neurobehavioral functions rather than clinical disorders. The book places a strong emphasis on clinical translation and application that should appeal to practitioners, but is firmly grounded in state-of-the-art theory and research.”
–Professor Keith Yeates, Department of Pediatrics, Children’s Research Institute, Ohio State University
“Here in a single volume, the reader will find material about key concepts of child development, summaries of current theory, and recommendations for clinical practice with most of the disorders commonly seen by pediatric neuropsychologists. Whether read as the textbook for a course or bought as a self-study aid, practitioners new to the field will find this material invaluable, while experienced professionals will surely appreciate the well-edited chapters that will quickly bring them ‘up to speed’ on recent advances. This is an immensely useful book that should be a part of every pediatric neuropsychologist’s library.”
–Steve Hughes, PhD, LP, ABPdN, Director of Education and Research, The TOVA Company
From the Inside Flap
Based on the most up-to-date research, Child Neuropsychology is a thorough and accessible guide to the key concepts and basic processes central to neuropsychological assessment and child evaluation. Essays by leading experts in the field cover basic neuropsychological functions and related disorders in the context of brain development.
Divided into three parts, the text begins with clear definitions of the concepts and methodology of brain development in child neuropsychology. Part two examines normal and abnormal functional development. The final part considers professional practice and provides valuable insights into the special problems of neuropsychological assessment of infants and children in clinical and educational settings.
From the Back Cover
Child Neuropsychology
“Reed and Warner-Rogers have made a substantial contribution to the development of child neuropsychology, which has suffered a dearth of comprehensive texts, in this broad-ranging, well-conceived, and authoritative volume.”
Professor J Graham Beaumont, Department of Clinical Psychology, Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability, London
“For me, they have more than succeeded in meeting their goals for combining science and practice, staying academically grounded but accessible, and powerfully presenting the case for the necessary focus on developmental variables. The text is both fascinating and readable throughout.”
Jane Holmes Bernstein, Department of Psychiatry, Children’s Hospital Boston / Harvard Medical School
“A valuable addition to the libraries of pediatric/child neuropsychologists. It takes a somewhat different and refreshing approach as compared to existing texts, focusing on neurobehavioral functions rather than clinical disorders.The book places a strong emphasis on clinical translation and application that should appeal to practitioners, but is firmly grounded in state-of-the-art theory and research.”
Professor Keith Yeates, Department of Pediatrics, Children’s Research Institute, Ohio State University
“Here in a single volume, the reader will find summaries of current theory and knowledge regarding nearly all of the most common disorders seen by pediatric neuropsychologists. Whether read as the textbook for a course, or bought as a self-study aid, those new to the field will find this information to be invaluable. More experienced professionals are sure to appreciate well-edited chapters that will quickly bring them ‘up to speed’ on recent advances. This is an immensely useful book that should be a part of every pediatric neuropsychologist’s library.”
Steve Hughes, PhD, LP, ABPdN, Director of Education and Research, The TOVA Company
Based on the most up-to-date research, Child Neuropsychology is a thorough and accessible guide to the key concepts and basic processes central to neuropsychological assessment and child evaluation. Essays by leading experts in the field cover basic neuropsychological functions and related disorders in the context of brain development.
Divided into three parts, the text begins with clear definitions of the concepts and methodology of brain development in child neuropsychology. Part two examines normal and abnormal functional development. The final part considers professional practice and provides valuable insights into the special problems of neuropsychological assessment of infants and children in clinical and educational settings.
About the Author
Jonathan Reed is a clinical psychologist in private practice specializing in child neuropsychology. He is a director and co-founder of a community child neuropsychology rehabilitation service, Recolo UK Ltd. He has worked as a child neuropsychologist at Guy’sHospital, London and at the Royal London Hospital.
Jody Warner-Rogers trained at West Virginia University. She is a consultant clinical psychologist and pediatric neuropsychologist with the Paediatric Neurodisability Service at Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Foundation Trust.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Child Neuropsychology
Concepts, Theory, and Practice
John Wiley & Sons
Copyright © 2008 Jonathan Reed and Jody Warner-Rogers
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4051-5266-2
Chapter One
Introduction
Jonathan Reed and Jody Warner-Rogers
If “child neuropsychology is the study of brain-behaviour relationships within the dynamic context of the developing brain” (Anderson, 2001, p. 3), then in order to understand the field and practice within it, one must possess a thorough understanding of what a brain does and how it develops. The process of change is key in child neuropsychology. This differs from adult neuropsychology, where the focus of study is on damage to an already developed brain. Robust models of adult brain-behavior relationships have developed over the past hundred years. Child neuropsychology is, in contrast, an emerging discipline. It requires the creation of new models based on the process of development. We need to understand how brains and behavior develop, what contributions genes make, and what happens when there are deviations from typical development. Many people from different backgrounds, including researchers in child development, neuroscientists, and clinicians, are developing their understanding of these processes. We felt that there was a need to bring together different voices to begin to define what a comprehensive theory of child neuropsychology should encompass.
The idea for this book came from our experiences as clinicians. As practicing neuropsychologists, we recognized that a clear formulation is the key to understanding and supporting children’s brain-based difficulties. For children, a neuropsychologically informed formulation requires a thorough understanding of how brain-behavior relationships develop over time (see Chapter 21). But how does one acquire this understanding? We realized that something was missing from our bookshelf, and it was at this point that the idea for the book began to materialize. By their very nature, textbooks can date very quickly, particularly in a fast-moving field. They can never reflect the most contemporary research findings; one must hit the journals for that level of recency. Yet textbooks can provide the conceptual framework within which newly acquired knowledge can be organized, understood, and integrated. This textbook aims to provide that architecture for child neuropsychology. We saw the need for a book that bridged cutting-edge science and clinical practice, a book that was developmentally focused and not disorder based, a book that was academically grounded, but accessible to a range of students, clinicians, and researchers. We hope that this textbook addresses this need.
The first part of the book looks at key theoretical concepts and research evidence that underpins our current understanding of brain development and function. Dagmara Annaz, Annette Karmiloff-Smith, and Michael C. S. Thomas operationalize the term “developmental approach” by stressing the need to trace normal developmental trajectories. Hans J. ten Donkelaar describes basic brain development from conception onward, and discusses the influence of specific aberrations that occur throughout this process, each capable of producing a wide range of deviations from the expected trajectories. Yulia Kovas and Robert Plomin discuss the contribution of genes in relation to learning disability and provide insight into the possible impact of genes on neuropsychological development. Judy S. Reilly and colleagues outline the fallout of early traumatic brain injury, highlighting the concept and constraints of neural plasticity. Brain imaging has brought forward our understanding of brain-behavior relationships, and Paramala J. Santosh and Ruksana Ahmed provide a helpful review of the technologies of brain imaging and their use with children. One key concept that is often missing from neuropsychology textbooks is that of general intellectual ability (IQ). Mike Anderson explores the concept of IQ and how this broad-based marker of brain functioning may develop.
Undoubtedly, a firm grounding in “normal” child neuropsychological development is the foundation for any efforts to evaluate and (most importantly) to improve those situations in which developmental progress has not proceeded smoothly. The field of child neuropsychology relies heavily on the theories and research of developmental and cognitive psychologists. Part II of the book gives an overview of current research regarding normal neuropsychological development and provides examples of deviations from these processes. Within the domain of cognitive development, Frederic Dick and colleagues take us through the emergence of language skills and the effect of different disorders on language development. Janette Atkinson and Marko Nardini look at visuospatial and visuomotor development; Arthur MacNeill Horton and Henry Soper outline the key factors that are important in understanding the development of memory; Maxine Sinclair and Eric Taylor discuss the development of attention; and Claire Hughes and Andrew Graham examine the development of executive function. But neuropsychological development is not confined to basic information processes: social, behavioral, and emotional development are key factors in clinical practice. Rebecca M. Todd and Marc D. Lewis provide a fascinating discussion of the development of the self-regulation of emotions and behavior. Simon Baron-Cohen and Bhismadev Chakrabarti review the state of our understanding in social neuroscience and, in particular, how empathy develops. No discussion of normal development would be complete without reference to education. The last two chapters of Part II are devoted to the development of academic skills: Usha Goswami summarizes the acquisition of reading, and Brian Butterworth provides insight into the often neglected areas of numeracy and dyscalculia.
Building on the first two parts of the book, Part III focuses on clinical practice. Ingram Wright and Peta Sharples discuss neuropsychological practice with neurological disorders. Ian Frampton illustrates the applicability of neuropsychological thinking to child and adolescent mental health issues. Sue Harrison and Jane Hood highlight the value of neuropsychological assessment in education. Sarah Helps demonstrates how the field can contribute to the understanding and management of other physical illnesses. The book concludes with an approach to neuropsychological assessment and formulation, based on the themes of this book and on our clinical experiences.
We hope that this book will enhance the clinical practice of our colleagues, and help to stimulate ideas and discussion for the next stage of research and practice within the exciting field of child neuropsychology.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from Child Neuropsychology Copyright © 2008 by Jonathan Reed and Jody Warner-Rogers. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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