What are spectrum disorders?

Answer 1

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD), also known as pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), are conditions with various levels of impaired communication skills, impaired social skills, and repetitive behaviors or interests. Sensory issues are also very common in the autism spectrum disorders. These disorders are neither diseases nor mental illnesses. Pervasive developmental disorders are a type of developmental disorder, as the name implies.

There are five disorders included in autism spectrum disorders: autism (sometimes called Kanner's Syndrome), Asperger's Syndrome (AS), pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS), Rett Syndrome, and childhood disintegrative disorder (also known as Heller's Syndrome). Autism or autistic disorder is the most well-known of the PDDs. Characteristics of autism are impaired social skills, impaired communication skills, repetitive behaviors or interests, and abnormal or delayed skills in social interaction, language use, or play. It usually becomes apparent by age three. It is more often diagnosed in males than in females.

Rett Syndrome is the least common diagnosis. Most people with Rett Syndrome are female. They seem to have normal prenatal development and continue to develop apparently normally for the first five to 18 months. After that period, head growth decelerates, hand skills decline, social engagement with others disappears, walking appears uncoordinated, language is severely impaired, and psychomotor skills are severely impaired. The child regresses. Children who had been able to talk, stop. Children who previously enjoyed social contact now start pulling away from it. Most of those with Rett Syndrome end up in wheelchairs. Childhood disintegrative disorder is another rare autism spectrum disorder. It is diagnosed using norm-referenced tests, not parental accounts. In can be misdiagnosed as late-onset autism. These children develop apparently normally for the first two years. Then, between the ages of three and four, they have a significant loss of skills in at least two of the following areas over the next few years: communication skills, social skills, motor skills, play skills, and control of bowel and/or bladder functions. They also engage in repetitive behaviors or interests. It can also be accompanied by seizures and extremely low IQ.

Asperger's Syndrome also involves impaired social skills and repetitive behaviors or interests, but no clinically significant delay in cognitive development and language development (except socially). This condition was once labeled as infantile schizophrenia.

Pervasive developmental disorder - not otherwise specified is used to describe a condition that matches the characteristics of a pervasive developmental disorder (impaired social skills, impaired language skills, and repetitive behaviors or interests), but does not seem to match any of the other four pervasive developmental disorders.

No single behavior can be used to identify an autism spectrum disorder. Other conditions can have similar symptoms. Also the impairments can range from mild to severe, so you cannot rule out the condition simply because one impairment seems relatively mild. Some of these behaviors occur in most children. However, the frequency and duration of these behaviors are atypical for the child's age group.