ABSTRACT
Physical illness and disability can be conceptualized across multiple dimensions of illness stage, course, impairment, and persistence. These variables interact with identity development and coping skills and with the relationships within families. Similar frameworks can be applied to neurodevelopmental disorders, in which the child or adolescent has never experienced the world from a different perspective but faces varying challenges depending upon the nature and impact of their impairment. Conceptual dimensions can help the clinician view developmental disorders from the perspective of our patients.
