This course provides an in-depth understanding of the neurological and neuropsychological characteristics of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders and brain conditions in the pediatric population. Students will acquire knowledge about symptoms, diagnostic assessment, and treatment options for these disorders and get in touch with adults that have been diagnosed with a neurological disorder in childhood. Neurodevelopmental disorders are discussed following brain development, from pregnancy to late adolescence. Per life stage, we will discuss the most commonly diagnosed neurodevelopmental and neurological disorders, such as Autism, ADHD, and epilepsy. In addition, the impact of these disorders on cognitive, emotional, behavioral, academic, social, and family functioning will be discussed.

Program:
Week 1: Pregnancy and Birth: Preterm birth and Cerebral Palsy
Week 2: Infancy and Toddlerhood: Autism, Epilepsy and Pediatric brain tumors
Week 3: Childhood: Reading, Math, and Language disorders, Intellectual disabilities, Giftedness, ADHD
Week 4: Workgroup Week
Week 5: Early adolescence: Major depression and (social) anxiety
Week 6: Late adolescence: Schizophrenia

 

Online knowledge clips and other materials
Each week, students will watch knowledge clips on Canvas to learn about the week’s topic. There will also be short quizzes for formative testing (testing your progress) and other materials (e.g., scientific papers, documentaries) available on Canvas.

Lectures
Each Friday, there will be a lecture (either live or online) to discuss the week’s topic together. Students are encouraged to ask questions about the course materials of that week. There will also be small group exercises during the lecture.

Workgroups: Meet the Patient
2 x Meet the Patient Sessions – half hour talking to patients, Human Library style.
Students have the opportunity to talk to adults that have been diagnosed with a neurodevelopmental disorder. They should prepare the interview and write an assignment about their experience as part 1 of the assignment (see below). Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REcWNxmg0eg

Exam:
This course consists of an exam and an assignment. The exam consists of 10 open-ended questions. Each question will be about the literature and knowledge clips provided. Each question has a maximum score of 10 points (total: 100 points). Students pass the exam with a minimum of 53 points (= 6). The exam counts towards 85% of the final grade. The assignment counts for 15% of the final grade

COVID-19 adjustments
Depending on the RIVM and university guidelines, this course will be either completely online or hybrid (both online and face-to-face).