Autism Spectrum Disorder: What Exactly Is Autism?

Autism is actually a classification of PDD. And what is PDD? Well PDD stands for pervasive developmental disorder and it's considered to be a behavioral disorder. Children with PDD have difficulty in areas of development in social interaction, impairment in functional skills such as language and communication and repetitive type compulsive behavior.

There can be a great variation in symptoms among people with PDD and also in the severity of these symptoms. There are 5 types of disorders that fall under this category (including Autism, Asperger's Syndrome, Childhood disintegrative disorder, Rett's Syndrome, PDD NOS (pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified).

Here is a quick review of the various PDD's

The five types of PDD's.

1. Autism
2. Asperger's syndrome
3. Childhood disintegrative disorder
4. Rett's disease
5. PDD NOS or pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified

1. Autism
Symptoms of Autism usuallly always starts to show up before 36 months of age, and approximately 18 months of age many toddlers can experience regression in their speech and social interaction. Some of symptoms that parents often report is that their child has poor eye contact, is non-verbal, and seems to be "in a world of their own."

2. Asperger's syndrome
Children with Asperger's syndrome seem to have more problems with social interaction than in the speech department. Many of these children do rather well academically, and they tend to have exceptional memories for "insignificant" details, such as football or historical trivia. They can talk repetitively on a specific theme without realizing that they maybe boring other people with their repetitive talking. Alot of individuals with this disorder remain undiagnosed since they exhibit such excellent academic abilities and exceptional memories, however they are often looked upon by others as being odd or eccentric.

3. Childhood disintegrative disorder
This disorder affects children usually after they have done quite abit of developing, these children usually grow and develop normally for the first 3 years of life. Then they begin to regress and acquire some autistic characteristics which at times can be quite severe. These children can sometimes develop seizures which affect speech so it is important to have them evaluated by a physician.

4. Rett's disease
This disorder is only diagnosed in girls. These girls usually develop normally until about 6 months of age and the regression begins. The head of these little girls appear to stop developing around 6 months of age and regression is noticeable at that time.

5. PDD NOS
PDD NOS symptoms are quite similar to autism, but the impairment seems to be less severe. These children tend to experience some level of verbal or non-verbal communication, however they still exhibit autistic characteristics such as severe impairment in communication and social skills, they can also display repetitive stereotype behavior. Children are only diagnosed with PDD NOS when they are showing severe impairments but does not specifically qualify for the diagnosis of autism.

Submitted By: Nancy Clyne