PDD-NOS

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I remember a couple of years ago I saw this one psychiatrist, and he didn't think I had Aspergers. He said I had PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified) which seems like an official way of saying "We don't know why you are so strange, you are undiagnosable, so we gave it an medical sounding name" I was diagnosed at age 10, and I know I have it. The funny thing is, he supposedly specialized in Aspergers, and he said I don't have it. I knew I was good at hiding it, but holy crap I must be REALLY good. Either that, or I don't have it. I've always wondered if I had it, but I recently went to see some speakers, and this one table had a pamphlet, and everything on the pamphlet described me. I had no idea that stuff had anything to do with Aspergers, like the feeling of pain (or lack thereof) and stuff like that. So how many of you fooled the doctor? lol

There's oftentimes, not really that much difference between AS, and PDD-NOS. The main reason that I've seen that someone that has the PDD-NOS label instead of AS is because they had a speech delay. I've seen it go the other way, too. Some kids will get PDD-NOS that are nonverbal, but they're quite social, so that precludes Autistic Disorder. In other words, it doesn't have anything to do with how severely autistic a person seems as to whether or not they'll get a certain diagnosis, but in what categories their symptoms present.

How old is one to have a speech delay exactly? I didn't speak till I was 2ish.

Yeah, that's just the name for "Well, you're autistic, but we can't narrow it down any more than that." Don't worry; I've got an official Asperger's diagnosis and I don't see much difference between me and many people labeled PDD-NOS or Autistic Disorder. Honestly, I think we ought to just put the spectrum under one heading and then list subfeatures. That would make more sense.

Most people in America on the spectrum are PDD-NOS. Then a smaller percentage are classic autism, and an even smaller percentage are Asperger's. In the UK and other countries it's reversed, they put Asperger's in the PDD-NOS spot as the biggest percentage, then classic autism, then PDD-NOS.

Labels don't matter much when they're no consensus though. That's why I just say "autistic" or "ASD".

You're supposed to be yourself when you see the doctor for a diagnoses. I don't mean regress, I mean don't try real hard to act "normal" thinking "Okay is this how a normal person would act?" "Only a normal person would act this way."

But PDD-NOS is still on the autism spectrum so you are one of us.


Why did he say you have PDD-NOS?

hmm...I don't think there's that much genetic drift between the US and UK, possibly we have different diagnostic techniques...

I was diagnosed with classic autism (though high-functioning) when I was 13 but my mom and my grandma (who worked with autistics) knew since I was 1 or 2. I had a speech delay and didn't talk until I was 3 and couldn't put sentences together until I was 4 or 5. There have been people who say things like "I'm too polite to be autistic", but I don't really let that get to me.

PDD-NOS ranges from "mild" Asperger's/BAP up to near the full disorder of autism.

Some of the disorders that come under PDD-NOS are (this is from a psychiatry textbook):

Atypical Autism: not meeting the full criteria for autism or having subthreshold symptoms ("mild" or "different" autism), and/or a later age of onset (4-5 instead of under 3 for example)
Atypical Asperger's: usually "mild" Asperger's
Mixed Autism and Asperger's: self-explanatory
Residual Autism: individuals who met the full criteria for autism when young but improved enough in adulthood that they don't now
Broader Autism Phenotype: the most "mild" ASD

You can get diagnosed with AS even if you didn't have age appropriate adaptive skills and age appropriate curiosity about your environment. I was too, so I know.

I also know that even a clinically significant speech delay still means someone will diagnose with you AS these days. A couple of people have an AS diagnosis despite a speech delay that is explicitly not allowed in AS.

I want to say that another professional might diagnose with with AS. And yet another with PDD-NOS again...

The various different labels seem a bit pointless to me these days.

I have the same problem. I was dxed with PDD-NOS. However when some company or something sent us a aspergers checklist my mom went through and I had a lot of the characteristics.