The terminology that is oftentimes used in order to describe and diagnose disorders that are classified as pervasive developmental disorders is referred to as the Autism Spectrum. Pervasive developmental disorders include Autism, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, and Rett Syndrome. They are typically characterized by cognitive delays, communication difficulties, repetitive or stereotyped behaviors and interests and social deficits.
Despite the fact that these diagnoses have some features in common, the individuals who are afflicted with these disorders are considered as being "on the Autism Spectrum" because of the differences in severity exhibited from one individual to the next.
As we mentioned above, there are five categories of pervasive developmental disorders and are broken down as follows:
Autism - characterized by abnormal functioning or delays prior to age 3 in one or more of the following areas communication, repetitive, restrictive, and stereotyped patterns of activity, behavior, or interest and poor social interaction.
These deficits are all characterized by specific aspects and elements that are unique to each of those three areas.
Most of the developmental delays are distinguished in each child by the deviance of or lack of delays in early language development. Additionally, those individuals who have been diagnosed with autism typically do not exhibit any cognitive delays.
Childhood Disintegrative Disorder - unlike the aforementioned two areas, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder is usually characterized by the loss of functioning or significant regression after the first two years of development. The child afflicted with this might lose their communication skills, motor functioning, nonverbal behaviors, and certain skills that have been learned already.
Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified - a "sub-threshold" form of Autism because of the fact that it is characterized by milder Autism symptoms or those symptoms that exist in a single domain such as social difficulties.
Rett Syndrome - is characterized by numerous deficits that follow a period where functions appear normal after birth while only occurring in females. It is characterized by a loss of acquired language and social engagement skills, loss of expressive or meaningful hand skills, decelerated growth of the children's head and poor physical coordination
The risk of comorbidity tends to increase as the individual ages and may make things difficult for the younger adults. This makes intervention or treatment extremely challenging. Furthermore, distinguishing between Autism Spectrum disorders and other diagnoses is a challenge in itself because they will sometimes overlap the symptoms that characterize other disorders.
So, characteristics of current Autism Spectrum disorders make it difficult for the more standard types of diagnostic procedures to be done accurately. In spite of this, comorbid disorders tend to fall into the following six categories where they can be easily identified as anxiety disorders, behavior-related disorders, intellectual disabilities, medical conditions, mood disorders and sensory processing disorders.
You want to remember that the more you know regarding the Autism Spectrum, the easier it will be for you to learn how to manage your child's symptoms.
For the latest videos and training information on child development as well as books and curricula on Autism please visit childdevelopmentmedia.com.
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