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 inseveral areas of development.”

The five disorders under PDD are:

Autistic Disorder
Asperger's Disorder
Childhood Disintegrative Disorder (CDD)
Rett's Disorder
PDD-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS)  


 

Autism is a neurological developmental difference that effects the way a person thinks, communicates, feels, and interacts
with others in the world around him or her. It is not a disease. Instead, it is a spectrum disorder, which means it ranges in severity in each individual affected. No two
individuals with autism are alike. Just like people without autism are unique from others, people with autism are unique from others with autism. Autism affects more boys than girls. The reason for this is unknown. Autism is lifelong, but very treatable. The earlier it is recognized and treated, the better the prognosis.

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Ten Things Every Child with
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Ten Things Your Student with
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PDD or Pervasive Development Disorder
The term "PDD" is widely used by professionals to refer to children with autism and related disorders. Diagnosis of PDD, including autism, or any other developmental disability, is based upon the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), published by the American Psychiatric Association, Washington D.C., 1994, and is the main diagnostic reference of Mental Health professionals in the United States of America.

According to the DSM-IV, the term "PDD" is not a specific diagnosis, but an umbrella term under which the specific diagnoses are defined. The following are examples of diagnosis that fall under the spectrum of PDD.

Autistic Disorder
The central features of Autistic Disorder are the presence of markedly abnormal or impaired development in social interaction and communication and a markedly restricted repertoire of activity and interest. The manifestations of this disorder vary greatly depending on the developmental level and chronological age of the individual. Autistic Disorder is sometimes referred to as Early Infantile Autism, Childhood Autism, Kanner's Autism, or Classic Autism.

Asperger's Syndrome
What distinguishes Asperger's Syndrome from autism is the severity of the symptoms and the absence of language delays. Children with Asperger's Disorder may be only mildly affected and frequently have good language and cognitive skills. To the untrained observer, a child with Asperger's Disorder may just seem like a normal child behaving differently.

Retts's Disorder
The essential feature of Rett's Disorder is the development of multiple specific deficits following a period of normal functioning after birth. There is a loss of previously acquired purposeful hand skills before subsequent development of characteristic hand movement resembling hand wringing or hand washing. Interest in the social environment diminishes in the first few years after the onset of the disorder. There is also significant impairment in expressive and receptive language development with severe psychomotor retardation.

Childhood Disintegrative Disorder
The central feature of Childhood Disintegrative Disorder is a marked regression in multiple areas of functioning following a period of at least two years of apparently normal development. After the first two years of life, the child has a clinically significant loss of previously acquired skills in at least two of the following areas: expressive or receptive language; social skills or adaptive behavior; bowel or bladder control; or play or motor skills. Individuals with this disorder exhibit the social and communicative deficits and behavioral features generally observed in Autistic Disorder, as there is qualitative impairment in social interaction, communication, and restrictive, repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, and activities.