Emotional and Personality Development in Neuromuscular Disorders

The personality development of the child who is afflicted with a neuromuscular disorder from birth may differ greatly from that of normal children. The usual environmental and psychological factors that influence maturation are modified by the attitudes of other persons toward the disabled one and by his own attitudes toward his defects and the limitations which they impose upon him.

During the first few formative years, the normal child develops increasing physical independence as his motility and equilibrium patterns mature, enabling him to erect himself against gravity and to locomote independently. This growing capability is paralleled by the ego development and the appreciation of body image concept. The development of speech is a major step in communication and greatly facilitates the child's contact with his environment. The alteration of these patterns of maturation by central or peripheral neuromuscular disorders may influence profoundly the individual's personality. This results from the anxiety