What is PDD-NOS? | Autism PDD
My elder son is PDD-NOS, the younger is an autism diagnosis. So before I start I would say they if my two kids are any measure, every kid is different and so you will have to judge what's right for your child for treatment, and consult experts you trust. Read books if you have the time (such as Tony Attwood's "The Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome").
As I understand it, PDD is the psychologist's diagnosis if the child has symptoms from list of symptoms. If further, the child has enough symptoms from another list, then its is considered autism. There are about 4-5 such lists and names associated with them (like Rhett's). If the child does not fit into any of these categories then the diagnosis is "NOS". There is an assumption that PDD-NOS is less severe that autism. Apparently this is not necessarily true, but can be.
Be aware that PDD-NOS is not used in the legal definition of what qualifies for services (at least where I live). The words used are "autism and autism-live disorders". PDD-NOS is "autism-like" and can qualify.
Welcome to the forum! The article "10 things every child with autism wishes you knew" by Ellen Notbohm is the best introduction to autism spectrum disorders like PDD-NOS. She also expanded the article into book form, highly recommended. Here's a link to the article:
http://www.ellennotbohm.com/ten_things_article.html
Good luck with everything.
I am new to this forum and actually this is my first post. My son is 12 years old and is currently in 7th grade. He was diagnosed with PDD-NOS at the age of 2 years, 9 months. I know what all of you parents are going through that have children that have been recently diagnosed with PDD-NOS. The fear of the unknown and what do you do next after you receive that diagnosis are very difficult to deal with. You feel very lost and don't really know where to turn for information and assistance.
When my son was initially diagnosed, his doctor immediately directed me to a local group (Birth to 3 Connections) to have him evaluated for services such as PT, OT, ST and to get him started in Early Childhood classes. He started EC at the age of 3 and attended for 2 years until Kindergarten. We had an IEP set-up and it has been in place since he started in EC. My recommedation is to start any services you can with your child at an early age. Early intervention can help tremendously. My son was barely able to put 3 words together at the age of 3 and today at the age of 12, you would not know that he is diagnosed as autistic if you had just met him. He is in mainstream 7th grade classes with only minor accomodations at school and is doing very well (A's and B's in all classes). I am very proud of him.
The only thing I can add is to never give up. With lots of patience, persistance and love, things get better everyday. I am very thankful that I found this forum! It's nice to be able to talk with other people that are going through the same things we are.My ds has a diagnosis of pdd-nos and adhd. I knew people with autism
and people with aspergers and my son seemed so different to me that I
could not wrap my mind around how they could be on the same
spectrum.
After reading everything I could get my hands on for six month it makes
perfect sense now and it has become clear where my son fits in. He might
be difference in appearance but has the same in underlying problems.
Everyone with this diagnosis is so different that I can not tell you what
your daughters weak areas are, but the more you learn the more you will
understand.
My son has problems with focus, problems relating in appropriat ways (he
is overly friendly with strangers, tends to stand too close, not cue into
conversations , is not able to read peoples reaction...), he can not use two
senses at the same time (like look at a face and listen to what people
say...), he had a very high pain tolerance and he seems very emotionally
immature for his age. He had a significant speech delay but speaks well
now and he is great in math. He picks up any games like nobodys
business, is affectionate and joyful. He goes to a regular school and does
well for the most part with just a few accomodations.
Keep reading about other kids and you will find bits and pieces of your
daughter in others. This is a wonderful site for support and advice.
welcome.Welcome! I have a 5 year old dd who was just dx with PDD-NOS too.
I agree that you will find that the kids are all so different, yet the same. Like the pp said, they all look different based on the traits they have and the severity.
Hope you enjoy the board!
My 5 yr old daughter was diagnosed with PDD-NOS and ADHD. I understand ADHD but I don't understand what PDD-NOS is. I want to help my girl be the best she can be. I want to understand why she does what she does and how to help her. Also what forms of treatment there is and what others have found to be sucessful treatments. Any information would be appreciated.PDD-NOS stands for Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Not Otherwise
Specified
It is an autistic spectrum disorder. In layman's terms, it is a form of
autism where the child does not quite fit all the criteria for classic autism,
but still has clinically significant autistic-like behaviors.
The treatment would be the same for any child with autism--that is you
need to have your daughter evaluated to determine her strengths and
weaknesses and find the best individual supportive interventions to help.
Common interventions include, Occupational Therapy, Speech and
Language Therapy, Behavioral therapy (applied behavioral analysis-ABA),
and proper special ed placement.
There are other therapies available and ways of engaging your child in the
world. RDI is popular, floortime. You will find out about these in time.
Contact your school district to have them evaluate your child to get her
school placement rolling, and get a referral from the doc who diagnosed
her to someone in your area who can help you learn about all of this.
THERE ARE PARENTS HERE WITH LOADS OF EXPERTISE!!!!!!!!!! welcome to
our board, and I hope you find it as valuable as I do. 
Welcome to the board!
Please read the thread entitled "For Newbies to the Forum" that is one of the top three threads on this forum (it stays there permanently as one of the top three). There is a TON of information that will help answer your questions. PDD-NOS is a form of autism. Basically, a child is given that diagnosis when s/he is showing signs/symptoms of autism but the symptoms are not severe enough or s/he has less than the required six symptoms.
You have asked such broad questions that people could probably try to answer for days and still not finish! There is no one form of treatment as there is really no "one form" or autism. Because there are twelve possible symptoms and a child only has to have six (less if the diagnosis is PDD-NOS) to qualify as having autism - you can see that kids could have quite different symptoms and still be considered as having autism. There is a saying that a lot of people quote, "If you've met one child with autism, you've met one child with autism." In other words, all of our kids are different from each other, but they often have some things the same.
There are a lot of great people on this forum who can offer a lot of advice. Perhaps it would be helpful to tell us a little about your daughter, what her symptoms are, what your experiences have been with the school system and getting a diagnosis. And what kinds of issues you are dealing with that you might need help with.
Again, welcome - I'm glad you're here!
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