What is pervasive developmental disorder?

There are five kinds of pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs). The term refers generally to delays in the development of basic skills including social skills and communication, sometimes also physical challenges. A PDD diagnosis is considered on the autistic spectrum at the entry level.

There are five kinds of disorders that fall into the PDD category. Autism is one of them. Children with autism have problems with social interaction, imaginative play and communicating with others. Autism can be very mild or very severe with a combination of skill disorders. For many children mental retardation is also part of their diagnosis.

Asperger’s syndrome is another kind of PDD and it is most notably recognized as a lack of social skills including missing social cues. Many children with asperger’s have above average intelligence but lack the ability to focus.

A rare disease in the PDD family is childhood disintegrative disorder. With this disorder a child developes normally then at some point between 2 and 10 years old, they lose everything they have learned. In addition to language and social skills which are lost, they may also lose some body functions like bladder and bowel.

Rett’s syndrome affects mostly girls as it is associated with the X chromosome. These children will lose physical coordination, often the use of hands and the ability to walk. They also lose social skills and some cognitive abilities.

Finally, the catchall group is pervasive developmental disorders not otherwise specified. This is the category when the doctor knows the child is not developing properly, can recognize some of the symptoms, but not others or when symptoms are present that are usually mutually exclusive. Children with PDDNOS are usually not consider autistic because they do function socially with a higher degree of success.

Source: WebMD, Dr. Jay Gordon