Technical diagnosis

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What would be the technical diagnosis of someone with PDD now? I've been reading that all autism spectrum disorders have been moved under the umbrella term of PDDs now. I, and some other people I've met were diagnosed with PDD between 1990 and probably the early 2000's at the latest. Since PDD is no longer used as a diagnosis, is it just covered under HFA? I know I'm not aspergers due to language delays and sensory issues.

PDD-NOS is still a recognized diagnosis last I checked.

Well, PDD isn't an actual diagnosis. Though sometimes it's used as short for PDD-NOS, which is a diagnosis.

PDD = pervasive developmental disorders

It's a group of diagnoses which includes autism and Aspergers, as well as PDD-NOS. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pervasive_ ... l_disorder

PDD-NOS = Pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified

I believe autism has been considered a pervasive developmental disorder for as long as that category has existed. Nothing new.

Let me see if I can clear this up for you.

First, PDD (Pervasive Development Disorders ~ otherwise known as "Autistic Spectrum Disorders"), was never a diagnosis in and if itself. PDD is a category of diagnoses that in the DSM-IV includes:

299.00 Autistic Disorder
299.80 Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified
299.80 Asperger's Disorder
299.80 Rett's Disorder
299.10 Childhood Disintegrative Disorder

PDD-NOS (the second) might be what you were thinking of, and it is still a valid diagnosis.

The confusion, which a lot of people have, is because of the proposed changes to the DSM (which would become the DSM-V in the near future), that have not yet been implemented. What can be found right now under DSM-V searches on the internet are not yet "official." DSM-IV, which still includes the above diagnoses, is still in effect.

What is proposed for the next version of DSM is that all the above diagnoses be "umbrella'd" under Autistic Disorder in DSM-V, which is will be a simpler, shorter set of symptoms, most of which encompass the current five PDD's.

There is quite a bit of controversy over whether the new criterion will sufficiently represent the current disorders.

The bottom line at this point is that these five disorders are still valid, and that it remains to be seen whether the proposed changes are actually adopted. From what I have read, the DSM-V will not be seriously considered (voted on or whatever) by the APA until sometime in 2013.

http://www.dsm5.org/ProposedRevisions/P ... px?rid=94#

http://www.firstsigns.org/screening/DSM4.htm

You will find all five of the above disorders in the following list. Clicking on each one will reveal four of the five are proposed NOT to be included in DSM-V, but once you open the DSM-V page for each, you can then click on the DSM-IV tab and read the current, and still valid diagnostic criteria for each one.

http://www.dsm5.org/meetus/pages/neurod ... rders.aspx

Note that "HFA" (High Functioning Autism), isn't on the list, because it's not an actual diagnosis. "High Functioning" is just a term used by professionals to indicate the patient is able to function better than one might expect of "stereotypical" Autism. Autism, as a diagnosis, either is present, or it is not. The criteria don't require that one be either low or high functioning.

EDIT: Here's an informative link that mentions "High Functioning Autism," just note that these are "topics under discussion," and represent topics and possibilities that are not considered yet to have been accepted by consensus. Most of what is on this page are currently "debated" topics. As you can see, quite a lot has not yet been firmly determined even by the APA.

http://www.dsm5.org/progressreports/pag ... group.aspx

It's not too hard to see why there is so much confusion, misinformation and debate after you take a good look at what the professionals themselves haven't yet agreed on.

Thanks I was confused b/c for some reason I was diagnosed w/ classic autism or autistic disorder and than a developmental pediatrician changed the diagnosis to PDD when I was 18 months b/c she thought I was too high functioning for just autism but definitely not aspergers, CDD, or Retts .

That was probably, or should have been "PDD-NOS."

Eighteen months is awfully young for a firm determination of anything on the spectrum, but if there did seem to be some obvious indicators, PDD-NOS is often used as a "safe" diagnosis that can later be re-evaluated as a more distinct diagnosis like Asperger's.

I would be looking to get a fresher evaluation now. It would have been better to have it done much earlier. It is possible that IF you actually had AS, you may have already learned by now enough adaptive skills to "mask" many of the symptoms of AS, which may be diagnosed as PDD-NOS now anyway, but you won't know until you have it done.

I have had AS all of my life, yet because of the DSM criteria, which requires that enough of the AS symptoms are still present during the evaluation, the official DX for me is PDD-NOS. I'm fifty years old, and so have learned to adapt and don't display some symptoms any more. They were there when I was young, and for decades, so even though the evaluating Dr. agrees it probably IS Asperger's, she isn't technically allowed to call it that because not enough of it shows any more.

If you ever do decide to be re-evaluated, make sure you put the doctor in touch with anyone who knew you growing up. Input from my father is what convinced me and the doctor that if I had been evaluated while still in school, the DX would have been AS. Input from family helps a LOT.

BACK UP THE TRUCK!

You were diagnosed at eighteen months, right?

Your profile says you're twenty now, which means your DX would have been around 1991 or 1992?

DSM-IV wasn't published until 1994, which means the Dr. you saw would have been using DSM-III.

That's pretty significant, since Asperger Syndrome was not included until DSM-IV. Meaning, it didn't even exist at that time as an official diagnosis.

EDIT: Correction. AS WAS considered an official diagnosis by the World Health Organization, but the APA didn't include it in it's official diagnostic manual until 1994. Either way the whole idea of AS was extremely new to the vast majority of professionals at that time.

I'm not familiar at ALL with what was or wasn't in DSM-III.

For all I know, PDD WAS an official diagnosis at the time. At that time the diagnoses associated with Autism may have been entirely different than they are now.

Good catch, MrXxx.

I did a Google search on PDD and DSM-III, and it looks like what's now called PDD-NOS was under DSM-III called atypical PDD or A-PDD.

This page (below) gives information on the situation in DSM-III, as background to talking about the present, and also talks about the proposed changes under DSM-V.

http://www.brighthub.com/mental-health/ ... 00021.aspx

There was also a "DSM-IIIR" (DSM-III revised) for a short while just before DSM-IV was published. I don't know anything about what may have been in either of them, except that Asperger Syndrome was not there until DSM-IV.

It's confusing, and explains at least some of why there is so much confusion and controversy, even though all that happened nearly twenty years ago.