What is PDD-NOS?

Answer 1

ANSWER: PDD or Pervasive Developmental Disorder is actually a bit of a misnomer. Many doctors who would not like to commit to giving a diagnosis of Autism will tell the parents that their child has PDD or PDD NOS. ANSWER: PDD-NOS stands for Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified. PDD is another name for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Some doctors use PDD when they mean PDD-NOS. Some doctors use PDD as what it is - a set of disorders. PDD is not a diagnosis; it is a description of a category of developmental disorders. PDD-NOS is a diagnosis. It describes a condition that has the characteristics of a pervasive developmental disorder, but does not fit the criteria for one of the other PDDs.

Sometimes, doctors will use the diagnosis of PDD-NOS when it is apparent that the child has a pervasive developmental disorder, but the exact one cannot yet be determined - perhaps because the child is too young to identify certain symptoms, or the disorder is not severe enough to differentiate from the others yet, or comorbid conditions are making it difficult to differentiate among the disorders. Some doctors prefer not to give a diagnosis of autism until they feel absolutely sure that it is autism, so they diagnose the child with PDD-NOS until they are certain.