autism faq | Autism PDD

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Okay, to clarify, I generally refer to PDD as ASD as in your post:

The five disorders under PDD are:

Each of these disorders has specific diagnostic criteria which been outlined in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR).

Autism Spectrum Disorder consistes of the 5 types above.  I think that many people will be confused if you say PDD as the overall title and PDD (albeit PDD-NOS) as one of the 5 types.  Also "NOS" or not otherwise specified is terminology that I most often associate with medical billing and coding...I don't like the term PDD-NOS, and I think it confuses parents alot.  My belief is that these 5 are all forms of autism, which is a spectrum disorder, thus autism spectrum disorder, or ASD...

Comments?

Autism is a complex developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of life and is the result of a neurological disorder that affects the normal functioning of the brain, impacting development in the areas of social interaction and communication skills. Both children and adults with autism typically show difficulties in verbal and non-verbal communication, social interactions, and leisure or play activities. One should keep in mind however, that autism is a spectrum disorder and it affects each individual differently and at varying degrees - this is why early diagnosis is so crucial. By learning the signs, a child can begin benefiting from one of the many specialized intervention programs.

Autism is one of five disorders that falls under the umbrella of Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD), a category of neurological disorders characterized by “severe and pervasive impairment in several areas of development.”

The five disorders under PDD are:

Each of these disorders has specific diagnostic criteria which been outlined in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR).

Prevalence of Autism

Autism is the most common of the Pervasive Developmental Disorders, affecting an estimated 1 in 150 births (Centers for Disease Control Prevention, 2007). Roughly translated, this means as many as 1.5 million Americans today are believed to have some form of autism. And this number is on the rise.

Based on statistics from the U.S. Department of Education and other governmental agencies, autism is growing at a startling rate of 10-17 percent per year. At this rate, the ASA estimates that the prevalence of autism could reach 4 million Americans in the next decade.

Autism knows no racial, ethnic, social boundaries, family income, lifestyle, or educational levels and can affect any family, and any child.

And although the overall incidence of autism is consistent around the globe, it is four times more prevalent in boys than in girls.

Tzoya,

Not even the doctors all use the "official" names of things.  Technically, you are correct, but most every conversation, in person, that I've had with Moms, docs, teachers or therapists uses the term ASD or "under the spectrum" instead of PDD as noted above.  It's just the way it is.  Throwing PDD into the mix, again in person, seems to cause confusion, while ASD does not...

I think we parents are WAY ahead of the medical community by calling the category Autism Spectrum Disorders and seeing everyone as having the same thing but to different degrees.  However, the OFFICIAL name of the category is PDD.  I think it's perfectly OK to use the term autism spectrum disorder or ASD. However, when speaking about a medical diagnosis, I think we should use the official terms.  The lingo is confusing enough without renaming the diagnoses.  I do think there are some differences. Mostly, I think Asperger Syndrome stands out.  Those with TRUE AS (as opposed to those children with autism or PDD-NOS who are at the highest functioning end and have be "redx'd" as having AS) seem to have qualitative differences from the others on the spectrum.  It's hard to explain, tho doctors who've seen hundreds of kids on the spectrum can spot an Asperger's kid vs a high functioning autistic kid right away.  My observation is that Asperger's kids appear to have much more trouble socially.  You might think that that's because AS kids tend to be educated with NT kids more often than others on the spectrum, so they're held to higher social standards. But I've seen kids with autism and PDD-NOS who have reached the point where they are educated 100% of the time with NT kids and meet NT academic standards, just like AS kids do, and those spectrum children tend to be able to develop better social skills than kids with a dx of AS.  Non-AS spectrum kids tend to tattle less, be less rule-bound, have less of a tendency to talk like little professors, have better success in physical activities and be less obsessed with odd interests versus those on the highest functioning end of autism and PDD-NOS.  Of course, everything I've written here has absolutely no scientific basis -- it's just my observation of the past 15 years of being exposed to a wide range of spectrum kids, including Asperger's kids.  It breaks my heart because it's the Aspies who seem most roundly disliked by their peers and the least able to change to fit in.  Hopefully, that will change as more and more interventions are implemented and more and more AS kids are dx'd early enough to teach them social skills at a very young age.  We'll see...Doctors are confused by all this as well.  When they start using the codes in the DSM IV, it gets more confusing,  PDD-NOS, Rett's and Aserper's all have the same code.  It was really confusing when we trying to get respite services.
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