Can PDD-NOS be milder than Aspergers?

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Some people say PDD-NOS is more severe than Aspergers but if it doesn't display all of the symptoms of Aspergers, and just some, can PDD-NOS be milder than Aspergers Syndrome?

Some could be more mild than some with aspergers, some could be more severe, in some areas they could be mild, and some they could be severe. You can't just say some on is mild or severe, because it depends on the area.

Depends on your physician. Some will find Asperger's if childhood manifestation of all the criteria, even if you've learned to mask some of the behaviors in adulthood. Others will just find PDD-NOS if childhood was consistent with any autistic disorder, but adult has fewer symptoms than required for an Asperger's diagnosis.

Or maybe they just don't know what the hell to do with you regardless of your current level of symptoms.

I am an aspie adult but had a blend of PDD's during other periods. I was a normal baby. But the fire of autism started at 10 months and burned for 3 years, until it left me a zombie, allergic to everything except goat milk and almonds, hearing impaired, a f****d up visual system, and unable to speak understandably. And the disintegration and allergies disappeared one night after some unusual events that are not believable enough to post on a public message board without being accused of trolling. And everything since has been slowly repairing the damage, one step at a time, starting with reacquiring verbal communication, and most recently, nonverbal communication.

Who knows? The autistic demons could return someday.

PDD-NOS is when they don't know what the f**k else to call you. But who cares? It's all the same now under the DSM.

And the short answer is yes.

Intriguing...

Religious parents can make crazy claims sometimes about exorcists and such. I have no idea, as my earliest memories are from when I was 7. PM if you want details. I've always wanted to know if someone could explain my childhood because it's all a mystery to me.

My whole point is PDD-NOS encompasses virtually everything. So it can very well be milder than Asperger's or else more severe, or worse as a child and milder as an adult, or maybe vice versa, if someone got demon possessed, say, as a teenager as a punishment for having premarital sex .... joking.

As I understand it, PDD-NOS is given where they can't neatly label it up as AS or classic autism, it doesn't mean it's less severe. It's still part of a spectrum.

I always get confused with this mild, moderate and severe thing. How come I wasn't diagnosed with PDD-NOS then, or classic Autism? Why Asperger's Syndrome?

I've met a few people that seem PDD-NOS, but all are more able to socialise in the normal NT range, like engaging in conversation without appearing nervous, distant or odd, but still seem socially awkward in other ways, along with many significant AS traits that aren't social-related. But I suppose this sort of thing is too subtle to explain, and is the sort of situation where you've got to meet these people in person to be able to get what I mean.

PDD NOS tells you nothing at all about severity.

Some are diagnosed PDD NOS because they're too mild for AS. (Or, if they do have significant impairment, it comes from non-criteria areas like executive dysfunction, with only mild issues in the criteria-relevant areas.)

Some have significant language and/or social impairment, but no restricted repetitive behavior. (These people will soon be considered to have Social Communication Disorder instead of PDD NOS.)

Some are too low functioning to show certain issues (for example their mental age is too low for pretend play), but the clinician feels they're probably autistic nonetheless. Or some may have been diagnosed extremely young, for example if a child under 3 gets an autism spectrum diagnosis it's usually PDD NOS. (Which may be changed to autism as they get older.)

Some have autistic traits with a late onset, but don't meet criteria for Heller Syndrome.

And then there are others who are even more unusual.

I've met a girl who always spoke in an extremely quiet voice, almost as quiet as a whisper, and when people made eye contact with her while she was talking, she went even more quieter until you could barely hear what she was saying. But what she did say was always socially acceptable, and she had very confident body language too, and she had a boyfriend who was quite a confident young man. And funnily enough, my mum has met an older woman with exactly the same type of thing; always spoke extremely quietly as though she was afraid of her own voice. But that was the only unusual thing about her, and you know that if she spoke louder she would just be like an average NT person. Don't quite know what that is all about, but there are a few people out there like this.

This is rather similar to me. Except for some issues related to unconfident body language due to sensory processing issues. And timing issues. I don't really say socially incorrect things very often.

Yes.
PDD-NOS is for when a person is clearly some kind of autistic but doesn't fit into one of the other categories. It has nothing to do with severity.

Sounds like probably social anxiety.

Technically and Really YES it can be. I am kind of an example. Though I did not speak until I was 4 (The Golden rule of Aspergers Diagmosis is no speech delay), my social deficits are actually quite mild. In other words, I may be close to having Aspergers but I am actually more outgoing than many people who really have Aspergers Syndrome. And when I was young I rarely did Repetitive and Steryotipical Behaviors but when they they, they were very mild, managable, and did not impact my life. But when I became a teenager, my repetitive and steryotipical behaviors really became a problem in my life (PDD-NOS also has autism symptons that come at a later age) and developed to OCD. Also I did not use the sophisticated Mr. Spock language as the main language in everyday life like people who are really Aspies do. Despite this, my family and my doctors still diagnosed me with Aspergers Syndrome anyway. I still carry the official diagnosis to this day. Remember, PDD-NOS does not always mean moderate to mild autism (wrose than Aspergers but not as bad as Kanner Autism) like most doctors and people think. PDD-NOS actually means that you are kind of autistic but the symptons are not that much of a problem and/or not enough symptons to officially be in the criteria for Autism or Asperger's Syndrome. So one can be PDD-NOS because they are close to having Asperger's Syndrome but rarely does repetitive and steryotipcal behaviors and when done, not really a problematic impact on daily life. Because PDD-NOS does not have clear straight path in terms of what the condition comes with, PDD-NOS can be anywhere on the intelligence and functioning scale from milder than Aspergers to as mild as Aspergers to wrose than Aspergers to even much more servere and low functioning than Kanner Low Functioning Autism (much like my low functioning, non-verbal, profoundly mentally challanged cousin).

As I understand it, PDD-NOS is/was essentially the "none of the above" option for autism spectrum diagnoses. Sometimes they give it when the Doctor sees all the symptoms but not at a severe enough level that they consider them "clinically significant". Often times I think they would give it to adults who sought diagnosis simply on the basis that they couldn't reliably say whether or not the symptoms had been present during childhood. Sometimes they give it when people exhibit some traits very severely, but seem to lack other traits that are on the diagnostic criteria for Asperger's or Autism. So it could mean someone with PDD-NOS is more mild than people diagnosed with Asperger's, but it could also mean that they're actually much more severe, but only within a more narrow range of traits.

This.