Autism Spectrum Syndrome Evaluations

Autism is a disease with many debilitating symptoms, the worst part being that the symptoms never really go away. Sufferers of autism have social and communication difficulties, as well as mental retardation in many instances, and various associated symptoms to go with. Autism patients exhibit various unusual behaviors, the most remarkable being the savant skills that many of them appear to have. The symptoms typically appear early in life – around or before the age of three – and often stay with the patient for the duration of their lives.

Autism is however only one amongst a group of disease that make up the autism spectrum disorders, and are referred to as pervasive developmental disorders, or PDDs. The primary distinguishing factor between all PPDs is the presence or severity of the symptoms of autism that they suffer from. In some cases, the symptoms appear too soon to be regular autistic disorder, and at other times, the symptoms do not present themselves until you no longer expect them. Some sufferers of other diseases on the autism spectrum have all the basic indicators save for one or two, while others have only one of the symptoms.

Asperger’s syndrome: this disorder was named after Hans Asperger, the Austrian psychiatrist who first described children with this cluster of symptoms. Sufferers do not have communication problems and have average intelligence but do have autistic symptoms in social and behavioral areas. This means that they do not share enjoyment with others, they lack common gestures like pointing, make poor eye contact, never develop friendships, never comfort others, and they also exhibit the limited but intense interests that characterize classic autism.

PDD-NOS: suffers of Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified have maybe one or two of the characteristic autism symptoms, but do not show enough to be diagnosed with Asperger’s or Classic Autistic Disorder. Because the symptoms are often not too specific to the any patient, the diagnosis receives the ‘not otherwise specified’ suffix. Relatives of such patients need to spend time with the physician in charge of their loved one’s case so as to understand which specific symptoms they should be on the lookout for.

Rett syndrome: you may choose to refer to Rett syndrome as girls’ disease because it is a severe disorder that affects only girls. Incidentally, the early symptoms of this medical mayhem is close to the symptoms of autism, but not enough for a consensus agreement from all medical personnel that it should be classified as part of the autism spectrum. Sufferers typically have characteristic hand movements, language loss, motor skills failure, seizures, and maybe death due to breathing irregularities.

Childhood Developmental Disorder: CDD is closely related to autism but is a bit different. Most of the symptoms of autism are indeed present in sufferers, but they often present themselves in later years than they do in autistic patients. Often, CDD results in severe impairment for the patient ranging from loss of basic language abilities, to toilet use, and eventually, self care. It is also not regarded as an autism spectrum disorder.

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