UNDERSTANDING THE
FIVE SUBCATEGORIES:
Autistic Disorder
Children with Autistic Disorder can display a wide range of deficiencies in moderate to severe in communication skills, social skills, and behavioral problems. Some children with Autistic Disorder also have mental retardation. The three most common early symptoms of Autistic Disorder are a lack of eye contact, a lack of pointing, and a lack of responding. Even though the criteria for Autistic Disorder are quite detailed and specific, remember that two children with the same diagnosis can appear quite different.
Asperger's Disorder
Asperger's is sometimes mistakenly referred to as high-functioning autism because children with this diagnosis tend to have average or above average intelligence and typical or advanced language skills. The difference between a diagnosis of Asperger's and high functioning
Autistic Disorder lies in the realm of
communication. Because children with Asperger's develop communication skills within the typical range for the the first few years of life, they usually present strong verbal skill, which are not a component of Autistic Disorder.
Asperger's is often more difficult to diagnose at an early age because children with Asperger's are quite bright, and there are no major warning signs of language impairment. It has been seen that Asperger's can sometimes show quirky behaviors,awkward motor skills, repetitive behavior, or difficulty relating to others.
Childhood Disintegrative Disorder (CDD)Occurring more often in boys than girls, CDD is very rare; it is 100 times less common than Autistic Disorder. The usual onset of CDD is later than that of Autistic Disorder-between three and five years old. Children usually develop typically than experience marked regression in communication, social interaction, and everyday functioning.
Rett's Disorder
Rett's is a rare disorder that occurs in 1: 10,000 to 1: 23,000 female births worldwide. Unlike most of the other disorders on the autism spectrum. Rett's is seen exclusively in girls. Girls diagnosed with Rett's generally develop normally until age six to eighteen months of age, after which development either stagnates or regresses. Symptoms of Rett's include lack of communication skills, loss of purposeful hand skills, stereotyped hand movements(such as hand wringing), difficulty walking and poor coordination, slower head and body growth, sleep disturbances, seizures, and difficulty breathing.
Pervasive Developmental Disorder- Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS
A diagnosis of PDD-NOS means that children show some but not all of the criteria for Autistic Disorder, Asperger's Disorder, Rett's Disorder, or CDD. PDD-NOS is one of the most confusing diagnoses of all ASDs. While there is more detailed criteria for the four ASDs, there is only a short paragraph in the DSM-IV-TR describing PDD-NOS.
For more information on Autism Spectrum Disorders you can visit
www.nationalautismassociation.org
The five disorders are listed under the heading PDD or Pervasive Development Disorders, which is the classic umbrella term for the Autism Spectrum that was first used in the 1980s. The term pervasive means that a child's overall behavior and development is affected. The term developmental disorder means that there is is a disordered or disorganized way in which a child is developing. At the time of diagnosis, you may hear both terms PDD and ASDs. Don't be confused by these terms, as they are often used interchangeably.Each of the five disorders has its own set of criteria and yet all of them fall under the heading PDD. All of them share a common "triad of symptoms", no matter what diagnosis a child receives on the Autism Spectrum, a child with ASD displays examples of the following behaviors to some degree before the age of three.
