My DD was just preliminarily diagnosed with PDD this morning. Coming out of the meeting with the Neuro-Psychologist, I was pretty upbeat. He made a point of saying "She is absolutely not autistic, but there are some issues with the way she's putting stuff together or lack thereof".

Now, I'm sitting her looking through the internet (maybe my first mistake) and every single site on PDD says that it is, in fact, autism!?! Am I wrong to be on the brink here?

By Pamt on Wednesday, October 18, 2006 - 02:26 pm:

PDD is on the autism spectrum. Think of autism as a continuum with PDD being at the lesser end and severe autism at the extreme end with everything else in the middle. Basically PDD means that someone has some of the characteristics of autism, but not enough to be truly autistic. Your DD will need occupational and speech therapy most likely and should make GREAT progress. What type of specific problems is she having? Sensory issues, speech/language issues, poor play skills, poor social interaction, etc. I'd be glad to help with more info.

By Tink on Wednesday, October 18, 2006 - 02:29 pm:

Pam has it nailed. PDD is the diagnosis they give when there are some autistic traits without fully meeting the criteria. Seth has gone from a diagnosis of full-blown autism to a tentative diagnosis now of Aspergers' (one of the highest functioning forms of autism). If there is any information I can help with or if you just need an ear, let me know. I didn't know this was something you were even looking into. Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help.{{{Angela}}}

By Angellew on Wednesday, October 18, 2006 - 03:15 pm:

Thanks ladies! I really needed to hear some encouragement this afternoon! Not that it's the end of the world, but, it threw me!

The thing is, as I have previously posted, I noticed DD wasn't very conversational over a year ago. When her PCP scheduled a "routine" development assessment, the woman who did the eval did the whole test and said, "She's a great girl. Very warm, loving, funny. She has great memory skills and is really good with flash cards!" and stood up to leave. It wasn't until I said to her "don't you think she should be more conversational" that she, in a very wishy-washy way said "well... she should be a little further along, but she is an only child, maybe she'll just sprout and start talking. But, if your insurance covers it, look into some therapy!" My DH and I discussed it, and felt, since she didn't even notice it, it couldn't have been a problem, so why subject my DD to testing and pressure she didn't need. So... in short, I feel guilty for not following my gut instinct that something wasn't right!

To answer your question, Pam, as best I can... it's speech/language definitely. She talks and responds to someone talking to her in mostly stock answers! She has no problem asking for what she wants and things of that nature, but you really can't have a conversation. You can't ask her what she had for lunch two hours ago! 80% of the time, she doesn't respond because there is no one answer. Her social skills, which I never thought were a problem, seem to be. She was in the same daycare, with the same five children all her life. So, she never had a problem with them. But, now that she is in a more school-environment daycare with all new people, she tends to play around or among the children, not with them!

So, she has already had her speech/language eval. The neuro-psych was this morning and the cognitive (?) is tomorrow. Then, we will be meeting with all of them on the 27th to talk about all the tests and see what recommendations they make for preparing for school and what she may need before starting, i.e. speech therapy. So, I really won't have any definitive answers until the 27th! Like I said, I just came out of there feeling upbeat, and then I looked up the ONE thing I remembered from the meeting and saw that!

Again, thank you for talking me down on this one!
As always, you Ladies are the best!!!!

By Pamt on Wednesday, October 18, 2006 - 04:14 pm:

You still have reason to be upbeat. Her difficulties sound very amenable to therapy and she sounds like a bright little girl. And no guilt mom....you did your job, the pediatrician dropped the ball on this one. The important thing is that she is getting the help she needs now. You're a great mom! And I will be glad to help decipher test scores and reports if you need me to. A lot of times they don't do such a great job of that. My email is pamela dot terrell at gmail.com

By Angellew on Wednesday, October 18, 2006 - 04:33 pm:

THANK YOU MILLIONS, PAM!!!!

{{{{{Pam}}}}}}

By Tink on Wednesday, October 18, 2006 - 04:49 pm:

Oh, Angela! I think moms always manage to find a way to hold themselves responsible but Pam's right. You brought your concerns to the right person and the evaluator didn't pay enough attention to what you saw. My pediatrician did the same thing and it meant that Seth was diagnosed a full year after I brought his language and social problems to her attention.

Susanna sounds a lot like Seth with the playing "around and among" the other kids instead of engaging in the same play as they are. He also had trouble telling me what he'd done in school that day or just giving stock answers to simple questions. My ds's therapists told me that these issues are the most likely to respond to therapy and the exercises they do with the kids are mostly fun for them.

Please don't feel like this is the end of your world. Your dd is beautiful and bright. Her cognitive evaluation will just confirm that for you! You'll be amazed at how she'll blossom with the right methods and you'll just have a whole different facet of her personality to get to know. {{{Hugs}}}

By Stace on Wednesday, October 18, 2006 - 07:42 pm:

Hi Angela! I just wanted to let you know that I have a great deal of experience with special needs children. I actually used to be a discrete trial therapist for children who were all diagnosed with PDD. I now work as a TSS and my client has autism. So, if I can be of any help, please let me know. Like Pam said, you still have a reason to be upbeat. With the proper testing and help, you will see how she will excel in many different areas. Keep a positive attitude!!!

By Angellew on Thursday, October 19, 2006 - 08:56 am:

I'm feeling a little tender this morning, just trying to process all the information, and you guys have brought me to tears!

Thank you all for the support! I truly appreciate it more than words can say!

By Amecmom on Friday, October 20, 2006 - 08:32 pm:

Just to let you know, My friend's son has severe PDD and he's come quite a long way with therapy. It does sound like your daughter's issues can be worked through with therapy.
Be happy you got a diagnosis. This way it will make it easier to get insurance to pay for therapy.
Ame

By Lauram on Saturday, October 21, 2006 - 01:53 pm:

Just wanted to add, PDD is NOT a diagnosis. I'm going to assume that the dr stated that it is PDD-NOS. Sometimes that's referred to as "close, but no cigar autism." This means the treatment is the same. My son has this-but his difficulties are different from what you describe in your child. Early intervention is key and will make all the difference in the world!