Transactional Neuropsychology, a Holistic View of Children with Developmental Disabilities

Introduction: The main objective of this article is to review some essential concepts to understan­ding the traditional way in which neuropsychology conceives difficulties in child development, and to propose an alternative model for integrally understanding this problematic. Development: Physicians, psychologists, therapists, and teachers conceive difficulties in development as a result of a neuro-biological problem that can be subject of identification and treatment. This premise, widely used currently by interdisciplinary staffs, is the prevailing focus and the traditional po­sition to evaluate and intervene in medicine, psychology and education. The traditional model, known as the deficit model, conceptualizes the difficulties in child development as being essentially neuro-biological, without considering the various aspects of both family and school environments, which are of paramount importance not only for the child development, but also in the genesis of its difficulties. This explains why efforts invested in the rehabilitation and education of the child with difficulties have a limited success. In contrast, the ecological or transactional neurop­sychology is an approach that considers the child in a comprehensive manner, relating with its social, family and cultural environment. Conclusion: Integrally conceptualizing and interpreting these phenomena leads to a holistic intervention where each element of the problem is assessed, leading to the proposal of a model in which the environment plays a crucial role in the genesis of the difficulties in child development, and the search for solutions.

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