Autism/PDD

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Expert: - 7/12/2008


Question
Catherine. I would like to thank you for your recent answers to my questions about my recently diagnosed 13year old son with ocd,tourettes and PDD. I found the reply most helpful.I agree that the word pervasive has an overwhelming totality to it especially in his case as we have been told it is minor and he will lead a nornmal life.His main difficulty seems to be the OCD and TS at present as these isolate him from his peers.
I am confused as to the differences between HFA,AS and PDD.
Best Wishes and thank you again
Patricia

Answer
So is everyone else!

HFA is usually someone like Dr. Temple Grandin or Stephen Shore, PhD. They had "classic" autistic behavior as children such as hand flapping, spinning toys or themselves, etc. Due to their intellect and some good parenting and/or education, they function at high levels as adults while often retaining the eye contact, speech patterns and some of the odd behaviors of autism.

AS kids tend to have been early talkers and readers. Most seem pretty normal as toddlers. Their social issues show up as they get older. Most  do have the sensory issues of autism like hyper sensitive hearing. They tend to have much greater expressive language skill than receptive language skill. Most have rigid thinking and poor impulse control.

PDD covers all the rest of the autistic spectrum that does not fit the classic low functioning autistic, or HFA/AS pigeon holes. As I said, it's kind of a catch-all terms for those with autistic tendencies. I think that kids with multiple diagnoses, like OCD and Tourette's tend to get this label more often than the others.

Autism

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Catherine Ridenour

Expertise

I can answer your questions about parenting your High Functioning Autisic or Asperger`s Syndrome child. In particular, questions about family life, discipline, siblings, finding resources, and working with (sometimes opposing) the educational system are welcome.

Experience

I am the parent of an Asperger's Syndrome child who is now 22 years old. She went undiagnosed for 14 years of her life, so I have done extensive reading and Internet research into the possible cause of her difficulties. Even a short 8 years ago, A.S. was practically unheard of by the public educational system.

We fumbled our way through her childhood and early adolescence without any effective outside support. In some ways, that may have been a blessing as we were focused on her abilities rather than a label for her disability. However, I can think of many times when knowing WHY would have been comforting.

Had we known very early on, some social skills interventions might have made her life in school easier. At this point, I like her for who she is so I do not regret how things have turned out. More importantly, she likes herself.

Education/Credentials
I have a Bachelor of Science in Education.

I have worked to educate myself about Autism in general and HFA/AS in particular.

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