Which is less severe PDD-NOS or Asperger?

Post Reply New Topic

I am not a typical person with aspergers.
I can use eye contact and I dont stim(like flapping your hands...)


The only thing is that my social skills are very impaired and I was very late to understand many social conventions and non-verbal communication.



I'm wondering what PDD-NOS is , and I'm thinking I may have it

Pdd nos and apergers and atypical autism are pretty much used interchangably. Non indicate anything about severity.

My son was diagnosed with PDD-NOS ten years ago. I think it's basically an "umbrella term" for those people who have some, but not all, of the characteristics of autism. You may have good eye contact, for instance, but still have problems with social interaction, or problems with taking things literally, etc.

I was under the impression that lots of kids got the PDD-NOS diagnosis when they were ages 3-6 or so. I think that an Asperger's diagnosis is usually applied later on, maybe when a kid reaches pre-teen years. Asperger's is usually a diagnosis for those people who are able to function in society academically (may be mainstreamed totally in school), but this diagnosis has a really pervasively rough time with social skills. My impression is that a diagnosis of Asperger's usually includes really obsessive interests, but that could be up for discussion...

My son has more of the PDD-NOS/High-functioning Autism diagnosis. It's been an interesting ride, in that he seems to do better in some situations than others. He's in high school, and seems to be doing better there socially than he does at church. He's found his social "niche" in high school, and surprisingly, it's NOT with the nerds. I'm amazed by this. He's with a group of guys and girls, many who are quiet, but a few who are not. They tend to be religious kids, but not necessarily all are that way. Just seems to be a nice group. Right now, church is a struggle for him, and we are not pushing church attendance as much as we used to.

Severity has little to do with the label. It really has more to do with your impairment across multiple traits. Even "classic" autism with easily identified language delays can be "mild". Though there seems to be some general pattern that Asperger's trends towards less severe and classic autism towards more severe.

Aspergers can be severe or mild, PDD NOS can be severe and mild. You can have someone with aspergers more severe then someone with classic autism.

Your environment may be a bigger factor than your diagnosis on how severe it seems.

The biggest factor is the NTs around you--they can make your life hell even if you don't have any impairment. But, if you go to a private school with lots of support, you may do very well despite significant issues.

You.

I've never heard of PDD-NOS and AS being used interchangeable. I have used AS and HFA used as such though. I don't think either PDDNOS or AS are indicative of severity. Severe AS is more limiting than mild PDDNOS. PDDNOS, I've only ever heard of that being used interchangeably with atypical autism, is when someone is clearly on the spectrum but cannot fit the diagnosis for either AS or classic autism or any other traditional PDD.