childhood schizophrenia childhood schizophrenia childhood schizophrenia (also known as childhood-onset schizophrenia, and very early-onset schizophrenia) is similar in characteristics of schizophrenia that develops at a later age, but has an onset before the age of 13 years, and is more difficult to diagnose. schizophrenia is characterized by positive symptoms that can include hallucinations, delusions, and disorganized speech; negative symptoms, such as blunted affect and avolition and apathy, and a number of cognitive impairments. differential diagnosis is problematic since several other neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder, language disorder, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, also have signs and symptoms similar to childhood-onset schizophrenia. childhood schizophreniaother nameschildhood type schizophrenia; schizophrenia, childhood type; childhood-onset schizophrenia (cos); very early-onset schizophrenia (veos); schizophrenic syndrome of childhoodspecialtychild psychiatry (eu), child and adolescent psychiatry (usa), clinical psychologysymptomshallucinations, delusions, disorganized behavior or catatonia, negative symptoms (i.e., avolition or reduced affect display)usual onsetbefore the age of 13 yearstypesepisodic-progredient/shiftlike childhood schizophrenia (malignant, paranoid and slow-progressive sub-types), continuous childhood schizophrenia, recurrent childhood schizophrenia (the rarest form – 5 % of all cases)differential diagnosismajor depressive disorder or bipolar disorder with psychotic or catatonic features, brief psychotic disorder, delusional disorder, obsessive–compulsive disorder and body dysmorphic disorder, autism spectrum disorder or communication disorders, other mental disorders associated with a psychotic episodemedicationantipsychoticsfrequency1⁄5 of all forms of psychosis of the schizophrenia spectrum; 1.66:1000 among children (0–14 years) the disorder presents symptoms such as auditory and visual hallucinations, strange thoughts or feelings, and abnormal behavior, profoundly impacting the child's ability to function and sustain normal interpersonal relationships. delusions are often not systematized and vague. among the psychotic symptoms seen in childhood schizophrenia non-verbal auditory hallucinations are the most common, and include noises such as shots, knocks, bangs. other symptoms can include irritability, searching for imaginary objects, or low performance. it typically presents after the age of seven. about 50% of young children diagnosed with schizophrenia experience severe neuropsychiatric symptoms. studies have demonstrated that diagnostic criteria are similar to those of adult schizophrenia. neither dsm-5 nor icd-11 list "childhood schizophrenia" as a separate diagnosis. diagnosis is based on behavior observed by caretakers and, in some cases depending on age, self reports. classification of mental disorders diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders dsm-iii. american psychiatric association against childhood schizophrenia. childhood schizophrenia was not directly added to the dsm until 1968, when it was added to the dsm-ii, which set forth diagnostic criteria similar to that of adult schizophrenia. "schizophrenia, childhood type" was a dsm-ii diagnosis with diagnostic code 295.8, equivalent to "schizophrenic reaction, childhood type" (code 000-x28) in dsm-i (1952). "schizophrenia, childhood type" was successfully removed from the dsm-iii (1980), and in the appendix c they wrote: "there is currently no way of predicting which children will develop schizophrenia as adults". instead of childhood schizophrenia they proposed to use of "infantile autism" (299.0x) and "childhood onset pervasive developmental disorder" (299.9x). in the dsm-iii-r (1987), dsm-iv (1994), dsm-iv-tr (2000), dsm-5 (2013) there is no "childhood schizophrenia". the rationale for this approach was that, since the clinical pictures of adult schizophrenia and childhood schizophrenia are identical, childhood schizophrenia should not be a separate disorder. however, the section in schizophrenia's development and course in dsm-5, includes references to childhood-onset schizophrenia. international classification of diseases in the international classification of diseases 8th revision (icd-8, 1967) there was a category (295.8) "other" in the schizophrenia section (295). "other" includes: atypical forms of schizophrenia, infantile autism, schizophrenia, childhood type, nos (not otherwise specified), schizophrenia of specified type not classifiable under 295.0–295.7, schizophreniform attack or psychosis. unspecified psychoses with origin specific to childhood (code 299.9) in the international classification of diseases 9th revision (icd-9) includes "child psychosis nos", "schizophrenia, childhood type nos" and "schizophrenic syndrome of childhood nos". "childhood type schizophrenia" available in the soviet adopted version of the icd-9 (code 299.91) and the russian adopted version of the 10th revision icd-10 (code f20.8xx3) and the u.s. adopted the 10th revision icd-10 (code f20.9x6) classified "schizophrenia, unspecified". signs and symptoms main article: schizophrenia