I am so confused about PDD-NOS. >X(

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I'm sorry guys, but I have a hard time processing this information in my head. I hear so many things that include PDD-NOS as a catch all phrase, its milder or more related to Aspergers, or its smacked in the middle between Autism or Aspergers. In terms of mild or severe, where is it on the spectrum and does atypical/sub-threshold only apply to Autism or the whole ASD in general? I know I have a lot of questions for it, but I'm just curious and need an explanation. Even the person who diagnosed me with it said he personally disliked the diagnosis because it dosen't provide that much information.

hmm, ive not looked too much into PDD-NOS, but to my knowledge, it means you show some, not all the signs of a form of autism, but not enough to be called autism. you know thatbig list of all the diagnostic criteria? with A I, II, and III, and B I, II, III, etc. well, it means you show irregular symptoms, not enough in one section of the criteria and too many in the other, so it isnt enough to be called autism, but you are on the spectrum.
im sorry if i just confused the hell out of you, but i hope i helped.

...PDD-NOS means you're autistic but don't fit the label for autism for asperger's. There is no severity, it can be all over the place. How is that difficult to understand? It's the label you get if you're clearly autistic but don't fit all the diagnostic criteria for another ASD.

^This^

I have many things going through my head which is why I find it difficult to understand. It happens.

Yes, I'm sorry, I was angry with something completely unrelated when I posted that. I'm not very good at explaining things besides. Do you understand PDD-NOS now?

Yes I do. I'm autistic but its neither Autism or Aspergers or sometimes both.

So is the entire psychiatric profession. You're not alone.

Okay, basically, when you put autistic people into categories, right now, we have five specific categories:

• Autistic Disorder (the basic disorder)
• Asperger Disorder (like Autistic Disorder without the speech delay or developmental delay)
• Childhood Disintegrative Disorder (like Autistic Disorder with an unusually late onset and normal development before that; extremely rare)
• Rett Syndrome (X-linked genetic neurological disorder with CDD-like symptoms; very rare)
• PDD-NOS ("Miscellaneous", or Atypical Autism; the most common diagnosis)

The basic procedure is that, when a doctor sees someone with autism--that is, someone with a "pervasive developmental disorder"--he tries to figure out which specific type of autism that person has, whether it's autistic disorder, Asperger's disorder, CDD, or Rett's. If that person fits into none of those categories, but still has autism, the doctor calls it "PDD-NOS".

NOS is short for "not otherwise specified", and PDD is "pervasive developmental disorder", the category of disorders that we call autism. So, in other words, PDD-NOS is "miscellaneous autism", the way "ED-NOS" would be "miscellaneous eating disorder", or "PD-NOS" would be "miscellaneous personality disorder".

Reasons to diagnose PDD-NOS include:

• Having some traits, but not all, of one or more disorders; these traits can be anywhere from mild to extreme, since "fewer traits" does not mean "milder traits"
• Having a history of a speech delay or developmental delay, but symptoms that match Asperger's
• The child is too young to tell whether they have a speech delay (diagnosis before age 3 is generally PDD-NOS)
• Having a complicated case with more than one condition present, such as other neurological or psychological conditions (for example, Fragile X + Autism, or history of neglect + Autism) that make it difficult to tell which traits came from which source
• The doctor cannot get a childhood history in a clearly autistic adult
• The doctor is making a misdiagnosis and should be diagnosing Autistic Disorder (happens frequently, nearly half of cases)
• The doctor knows he should diagnose "autistic disorder" but feels that PDD-NOS is less intimidating to parents or less likely to stigmatize their child
• The assessment was particularly difficult, for some reason, and the doctor is not confident enough to make a specific diagnosis

Last edited by Callista on 22 Aug 2010, 5:47 pm, edited 3 times in total.

Well yeah it's easy to see why PDD-NOS is confusing and how is it different from AS, which many people consider to be mild ? The question is, do we really need PDD-NOS as a diagnostic catagory, or do the others cover everything?

I understand what PDD-NOS means, I think, but I'm a little confused when they say you don't fit the diagnostic criteria for autism, yet you are clearly autistic.

The thing that I don't understand about PDD-NOS, is that in America, it's seen as less mild than AS, and in the UK, it's seen as being more mild, than AS.

Yes, it's needed. PDD-NOS covers 65% of the autism spectrum!--it's the most diagnosed kind of autism out there. Autism is too diverse to fit into specific criteria, in most cases.

That's probably why they are thinking of just calling it all autism spectrum disorder. In a way, PDD-NOS will become the only diagnosis there is.

I definately agree with the umbrella diagnosis of Autism covering everyone's head. It is so confusing, having different labels for the same thing. It might be easier to think in terms of types of autism instead of three distinct disorders. Severity levels are a good idea.

I am drawn to this topic because my 5 yr old son was diagnosed as PDD_NOS at 2.5 yrs. old. As time goes on, I am pretty sure this is the best diagnosis for him. My son did not really seem autistic in the beginning because he made eye contact, he babbled, he had words on time, he laughed and was cuddly. However, he was developmentally delayed in all of his physical milestones. When we started physical therapy for him, we were told that he wasn't pointing to things or showing things, and then we realized he was not playing with toys much or playing with other children at all. Then we started noticing that he was memorizing books/ lines from tv and was talking in a scripted fashion. He also did echolalia. So he had language at the correct time, but we realized he was not using it to have back and forth dialogue. Then he started becoming obsessed with car makes and models and his memory skills seemed to be very advanced for his age.

Well, then I started thinking he has Asperger's. He was social with adults, but not interested in his peers. He flaps his hands as well. But, he does not talk like a "little professor", he makes good eye contact, he is pretty flexible, doesn't have too many rigid routines, and his IQ test came in below average. So, then I decided that he probably doesn't have Asperger's.

I guess my point in posting this is that it is very confusing. While it is clear that my son is on the spectrum, he really does not fit into either the classic autism diagnosis or the Asperger's diagnosis. Therefore, PDD_NOS is a very real diagnosis.

I hope this helped.........

Thanks everyone, you've all been a big help .

PDD-NOS can also be pretty much any severity. You could have one person with PDD-NOS who is nearly nonverbal and the autistic symptoms they have are very severe, but just not *enough* of the symptoms for an Autistic Disorder diagnosis. Then you could have another person with PDD-NOS who is very highly functional, but doesn't have the right combination of symptoms for an Asperger's diagnosis.