The
childhood disintegrative disorder (
CDD), also known as
Heller's syndrome and
disintegrative psychosis, is a rare condition characterized by late onset of
developmental delays in
language,
social function, and
motor skills. Researchers have not been successful in finding a cause for the
disorder. CDD has some similarity to
autism, and is sometimes considered a low-functioning form of it. With that being said, in May 2013, the term, CDD, along with other types of autism, have been fused into a single diagnostic term called "
autism spectrum disorder" under the new
DSM-5 manual. Therefore, CDD is now also called, "
regressive autism", being that this term can now refer to any type of autism spectrum disorder that involves regression, including CDD.