What is Childhood Disintegrative Disorder?

Imagine that your child had a normal birth, seemed to be a healthy infant, and passed all his normal developmental milestones until age two. Even from the age of two to four, he was a cheerful toddler and child, smiling, developing language, and using the toilet. Then, gradually, he started to deteriorate. He began losing interest in other people socially, and his use of language seemed to regress. He started soiling himself, and developed curious motor behaviors, like hand-flapping. Little by little, what was once a normal child now appears to be autistic in nature. This is the agonizing reality … Continue reading

What is Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)?

Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) is a term that often confuses parents. That’s because some professionals use it interchangeably with “autism,” while others refer to the two as distinct conditions. Sometimes in medical reference books you will see both terms listed side by side, as in “Autism/Pervasive Developmental Disorder,” with the same definition for both. So the question becomes… what exactly is pervasive developmental disorder, and how does it differ from autism? The answer is that, according to the DSM-IV-TR (American Psychiatric Association, 2000) a reference book used to identify disabilities, pervasive developmental disorder is actually a large umbrella term describing … Continue reading