Childhood Disabilities & Disorders
- When to Seek Therapy
- Disabilities & Disorders
- ADHD/ADD
- Anxiety Disorders
- Apraxia of Speech, Childhood
- Articulation Disorders
- Asperger's Syndrome
- Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Birth Injuries
- Central Auditory Processing Disorder
- Cerebral Palsy
- Clubfoot
- Conduct Disorder
- Down Syndrome
- Elimination disorders (enuresis and encopresis)
- Failure to thrive/feeding disorder
- Fine and Gross Motor Delays
- Fluency/Stuttering
- Fracture
- Fragile X Syndrome
- Gait abnormalities
- Global Developmental Delay
- Hip dysplasia
- Language Delays
- Learning Disabilities
- Legg-Calve-Perthes Disease
- Mental Retardation
- Mood Disorders
- Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)
- Oral Motor Disorders
- Orthopedic conditions
- Osgood-Schlatter Disease
- Pervasive Developmental Disorder
- Pica
- Reactive attachment disorder of infancy or early childhood
- Reading Disorders
- Scoliosis
- Selective Mutism
- Sensory Processing Disorder
- Separation anxiety disorder
- Tic disorders
- Torticollis (Wry Neck)
- Additional Resources
Fragile X Syndrome
Fragile X is a genetic disorder that results in mild to severe physical and intellectual limitations, as well as characteristic emotional and behavioral features. It is the most frequent form of inherited intellectual disability and is caused by the mutation of the X chromosome. This is believed to result in the constriction of the X chromosome which appears “fragile” under the microscope. Males are predominantly affected.
As females carry two X chromosomes, if a mother is a carrier she may pass on either a mutated or unmutated X chromosome to either her daughter or her son. This is because female children get one X chromosome from their mother and one X chromosome from their father. Males carry one X chromosome and one Y chromosome, therefore he will always get an X chromosome from his mother. If a father is carrying a “fragile” X chromosome he will definitely pass it on to his daughter, but never to his son because a father only passes on his Y chromosome to a son. Therefore mothers are conclusively proven to be carriers if a male child is affected, but not necessarily if female children are affected.
Passing on a "fragile" X chromosome to a child may not cause Fragile X Syndrome to appear in the child; it is the degree to which the X chromosome mutates that is the determining factor. Many carriers of a fragile X chromosome display no characteristics associated with Fragile X.
Some individuals with Fragile X Syndrome also meet the diagnostic criteria for autism.
Fragile X Syndrome can be treated through behavioral therapy, special education and when necessary, treatment of physical abnormalities. Individuals with family histories of Fragile X Syndrome are advised to seek genetic counseling in order to properly assess the likelihood of having children who are affected, as well as to understand how severe any impairments may be in these children.
Signs and Symptoms
Prominent physical characteristics of the syndrome include an elongated face, high-arched palate, large or protruding ears (one or both), hyperextensible finger joints, double-jointed thumbs, soft skin, flat feet, and low muscle tone.
Other characteristics include issues in intellectual development as they learn 2.2 times slower than other children, social interaction such as social anxiety and avoiding eye contact, and hypersensitivity and repetitive behaviors.
