Potential PDD diagnosis

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you elaborate on the repetitive behaviors? We are in the middle of a multi-faceted evalutation for my 5 year old, and I am anticipating a diagnosis of PDD NOS, because although he seems to have most characteristics of Asp., it's just not quite enough, I think. He has the obsessions, but I don't think he has the repetitive behaviors. He used spin things before he was 2 yrs old., but he has no "stim" behaviors now.

He jumps up and down when he gets excited and happy: this only started when he turned 4. Likes to run in circles. Use to finger posture when he was 2-3. He does not stim much and according to his preK teacher, does not do any of it at school. I have noticed lately that, he does not do it much at home either. Don't know why. Maybe OT or he's more mature? Will be turning 5 in the summer.

The obsessions have always been more noticible. Fans and now, elevators, with past fancies for traffic cones, fire hydrants when he was younger. When he was a baby, I noticed he would get much more into details rather than the story as a whole whenever we read together. Also, very very literal - all figures of speech have to be explained.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The PP has a AS diagnosis she feels fits, so that's good. (However, in her descriptions, she describes the child as having perfectly normal relationships with adults, but not with kids. So that's a bit confusing. She didn't initially mention the repetitive behaviors and the obsessive interests, which are hallmark AS issues and absolutely do affect relationships with adults down the road.)

Gifted kids -- especially as they get towards the higher end of the gifted scale -- can look exactly like this. They have good verbal skills, poor peer relationships, and good adult relationships. They can be obsessive. They're not necessarily suffering from an ASD. They're just gifted.

My 4 yr old ASD/Asperger's kid has an IQ of 145 which according to the psych who tested him (and diagnosed him for school) we should take with a grain of salt b/c his fine motor issues interfered with testing. His IQ is most likely higher. Being "gifted" and having Asperger's is not that uncommon. He has also been diagnosed with AS by Children's and a developmental pediatrician so we have no doubt about the DX.

If the "gifted" kid had similar issues with social relationships and repetitive behaviors/obsessions, he should get treatment and support b/c it'll make for a much better school experience. I don't see any negatives here. My DS is in a mainstream classroom with an IEP and he has friends and is happy. He also excels academically in the immersion language.

NP here: my 5 yr old son is very similar, IQ over 125 (he refused to keep going on certain portions of the testing so we don't know his "true" number). He is very visual (spatial IQ superior), excellent memory and presents as bright to adults (also talks/interacts with adults, but not with kids). Also doing well in an immersion program. Still, he stims, perseverates and is obsessed with one topic since he was 2 years old. Expressive and receptive language above 95th percentile, but pragmatic below average. Is he gifted? I don't know, but it doesn't matter because he definitely has AS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you elaborate on the repetitive behaviors? We are in the middle of a multi-faceted evalutation for my 5 year old, and I am anticipating a diagnosis of PDD NOS, because although he seems to have most characteristics of Asp., it's just not quite enough, I think. He has the obsessions, but I don't think he has the repetitive behaviors. He used spin things before he was 2 yrs old., but he has no "stim" behaviors now.

19:13 again: Our son started out with a PDD NOS, "Asperger's-like" diagnosis at 3 yrs old and recently received at 5 yrs old an AS diagnosis. His repetitive behaviors are body movements. Besides walking on his toes most of the time in a springy type motion, he has a complex hand gesture he does, finger posturing and facial grimacing. He also looks at people from the side of his eyes. Besides his subject of interest, e.g. universe/space (he never obsessed about objects like doors or switches) and is obsessed with ordering and categorizing things. At this time adults think he is "quirky" and kids are starting to think he is weird but he does interact with a kid that shares his interest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you elaborate on the repetitive behaviors? We are in the middle of a multi-faceted evalutation for my 5 year old, and I am anticipating a diagnosis of PDD NOS, because although he seems to have most characteristics of Asp., it's just not quite enough, I think. He has the obsessions, but I don't think he has the repetitive behaviors. He used spin things before he was 2 yrs old., but he has no "stim" behaviors now.

19:13 again: Our son started out with a PDD NOS, "Asperger's-like" diagnosis at 3 yrs old and recently received at 5 yrs old an AS diagnosis. His repetitive behaviors are body movements. Besides walking on his toes most of the time in a springy type motion, he has a complex hand gesture he does, finger posturing and facial grimacing. He also looks at people from the side of his eyes. Besides his subject of interest, e.g. universe/space (he never obsessed about objects like doors or switches) and is obsessed with ordering and categorizing things. At this time adults think he is "quirky" and kids are starting to think he is weird but he does interact with a kid that shares his interest.

16:51: DS LOVES ordering and categorizing. He collects things: Has a fan collection, erasure collection (Japanese erasures that he likes to arrange according to category, "fruits", "mammals", "things that move/traffic", etc. Likes to have things in every color - flashlight collection, light bulb collection. I now know that there are groups of people on Youtube who shares the same interests as DS. Yes, there are grown men and boys (always male, LOL!) who make videos of ceiling fans, elevators, etc. and upload them onto Youtube. Who knew...

DS has liked doors and switches since babyhood. Looking back if I had known what I know now, I would have got him evaluated when he was two instead of waiting until he was 4 and started school.

[Anonymous]

14:07 here. The obsessive interests are making me smile. Mine likes chimneys, attic fans, and external air vents (e.g., dryer, bathroom fan).

[Anonymous]

Hi op, you asked what you should do for your child. Aside from going to medical specialist who will give your child a label (I use label rather than DX because a real DX should be based on testing that identifies a physiological root cause rather than one that is just based on behaviors), you should consider taking your child to a nutritionist and a DAN! Doctor who can tell you about real interventions that may make a huge difference for your child. We are learning that most of these children are suffering from inflammation of the brain, perhaps an autoimmune response. There are supplements and dietary changes that can have an enormous impact

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you elaborate on the repetitive behaviors? We are in the middle of a multi-faceted evalutation for my 5 year old, and I am anticipating a diagnosis of PDD NOS, because although he seems to have most characteristics of Asp., it's just not quite enough, I think. He has the obsessions, but I don't think he has the repetitive behaviors. He used spin things before he was 2 yrs old., but he has no "stim" behaviors now.

He jumps up and down when he gets excited and happy: this only started when he turned 4. Likes to run in circles. Use to finger posture when he was 2-3. He does not stim much and according to his preK teacher, does not do any of it at school. I have noticed lately that, he does not do it much at home either. Don't know why. Maybe OT or he's more mature? Will be turning 5 in the summer.

The obsessions have always been more noticible. Fans and now, elevators, with past fancies for traffic cones, fire hydrants when he was younger. When he was a baby, I noticed he would get much more into details rather than the story as a whole whenever we read together. Also, very very literal - all figures of speech have to be explained.

Follow up. I asked our OT at ITS about DS's stims and she felt that the reason it's fading away is because the stims are mostly a result of his fine/gross motor and motor planning deficits. Since he's getting stronger and developing a better sense of his body in space, the stims are going away. She feels DS's stims are a result of him not knowing what or how to move his body. He has a very underdeveloped motor planning sense and b/c it does not come intuitively like most people, he stims.