I'd like to meet:
THERE ARE A LOT OF DIFFERENT OPINIONS ON WHAT CAUSES AUTISM, AND AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS. BUT I TRULY BELIEVE BRODY'S VACCINES (HIS MMR) IS WHAT CAUSED HIS ASPERGER'S SYNDROME. BRODY HIT ALL OF HIS MILESTONES UNTIL HE HAD HIS MMR. I AM NOT SAYING DO NOT VACINATE YOUR CHILDREN, BECAUSE I DO. I AM JUST SAYING WE NEED TO EDUCATE OURSELVES ABOUT IT. LEARN WHAT IS EXACTLY IN THOSE VACCINES THAT ARE BEING GIVEN TO OUR CHILDREN. I WISH I KNEW THEN ALL WHAT I KNOW NOW. BUT I WAS A NEW MOMMY, AND THOUGHT ALL THE DOCTORS WERE NEVER WRONG. WELL, GUESS WHAT???? THEY WERE!
What are Autism Spectrum Disorders?
Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), also known as Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDDs), cause severe and pervasive impairment in thinking, feeling, language, and the ability to relate to others. These disorders are usually first diagnosed in early childhood and range from a severe form, called autistic disorder, through pervasive development disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS), to a much milder form, Asperger syndrome. They also include two rare disorders, Rett syndrome and childhood disintegrative disorder.What is autistic disorder?
Autistic disorder (also called autism; more recently described as "mindblindedness") is a neurological and developmental disorder that usually appears during the first three years of life. A child with autism appears to live in his/her own world, showing little interest in others, and a lack of social awareness. The focus of an autistic child is a consistent routine and includes an interest in repeating odd and peculiar behaviors. Autistic children often have problems in communication, avoid eye contact, and show limited attachment to others.Autism can prevent a child from forming relationships with others (in part, due to an inability to interpret facial expressions or emotions). A child with autism may resist cuddling, play alone, be resistant to change, and/or have delayed speech development. Persons with autism tend to exhibit repeated body movements (such as flapping hands or rocking) and have unusual attachments to objects. However, many persons with autism excel consistently on certain mental tasks (i.e., counting, measuring, art, music, memory).What is Asperger's Disorder?Asperger's Disorder is a milder variant of Autistic Disorder. Both Asperger's Disorder and Autistic Disorder are in fact subgroups of a larger diagnostic category. This larger category is called either Autistic Spectrum Disorders, mostly in European countries, or Pervasive Developmental Disorders ("PDD"), in the United States. In Asperger's Disorder, affected individuals are characterized by social isolation and eccentric behavior in childhood. There are impairments in two-sided social interaction and non-verbal communication. Though grammatical, their speech may sound peculiar due to abnormalities of inflection and a repetitive pattern. Clumsiness may be prominent both in their articulation and gross motor behavior. They usually have a circumscribed area of interest which usually leaves no space for more age appropriate, common interests. Some examples are cars, trains, French Literature, door knobs, hinges, cappucino, meteorology, astronomy or history. The name "Asperger" comes from Hans Asperger, an Austrian physician who first described the syndrome in 1944. An excellent translation of Dr. Asperger's original paper is provided by Dr. Uta Frith in her Autism and Asperger Syndrome.Childhood disintegrative disorder
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Childhood disintegrative disorder
Classification and external resources
ICD-10 F84.2-F84.3
ICD-9 299.10-299.11
Childhood disintegrative disorder (CDD), also known as Heller's syndrome and disintegrative psychosis, is a rare condition characterized by late onset (>3 years of age) of developmental delays in language, social function, and motor skills. Researchers have not been successful in finding a cause for the disorder.CDD has some similarity to autism, but an apparent period of fairly normal development is often noted before a regression in skills or a series of regressions in skills. Many children are already somewhat delayed when the illness becomes apparent, but these delays are not always obvious in young children.The age at which this regression can occur varies, and can be from age 2-10 with the definition of this onset depending largely on opinion.Regression can be very sudden, and the child may even voice concern about what is happening, much to the parent's surprise. Some children describe or appear to be reacting to hallucinations, but the most obvious symptom is that skills apparently attained are lost. This has been described by many writers as a devastating condition, affecting both the family and the individual's future. As is the case with all pervasive developmental disorder categories, there is considerable controversy around the right treatment for CDD.The syndrome was originally described by Austrian educator Theodore Heller in 1908, 35 years before Leo Kanner described autism, but it has not been officially recognised until recently. Heller used the name dementia infantilis for the syndrome.
Rett's Disorder
Rett's Disorder is included as a Pervasive Developmental Disorder because there is some potential confusion with autism - particularly in the preschool years (Tsai,1992). Otherwise the course and onset of this condition is very distinctive.In people with Rett's Disorder (first reported by Rett in 1966), very early development is normal. Head growth then decelerates, usually in the first months of life and a loss of purposeful hand movements occurs. Motor involvement is quite striking and profound mental retardation is typical. Characteristic hand-washing stereotypies develop.While the DSM-IV does not list male sex in the exclusionary criteria, the existing literature on Rett’s syndrome documents the condition primarily in girls. The DSM-IV field trial sample included only girls and a recent, very well executed epidemiological investigation documented a prevalence of 3.8 per 10,000 girls; boys were not included.Since the discovery of the MECP2 gene, responsible for Rett’s, variants of the syndrome have been reported in males who have mutations of MECP2, with some overlap in the symptomatology observed in girls (Amir, Van de Veyver, Wan, Tran, Franke, & Zoghbi, 1999; Schwartzman, Zatz, Vasquez, Gomes, Koiffman, Fridman & Otto, 1999; Schanen, Kurczynski, Brunelle, Woodcock, Dure, & Percy 1998). A national network of parents has formed the Rett Syndrome Association.
What are Pervasive Developmental Disorders?
The diagnostic category of pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) refers to a group of disorders characterized by delays in the development of socialization and communication skills. Parents may note symptoms as early as infancy, although the typical age of onset is before 3 years of age. Symptoms may include problems with using and understanding language; difficulty relating to people, objects, and events; unusual play with toys and other objects; difficulty with changes in routine or familiar surroundings, and repetitive body movements or behavior patterns. Autism (a developmental brain disorder characterized by impaired social interaction and communication skills, and a limited range of activities and interests) is the most characteristic and best studied PDD. Other types of PDD include Asperger's Syndrome, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, and Rett's Syndrome. Children with PDD vary widely in abilities, intelligence, and behaviors. Some children do not speak at all, others speak in limited phrases or conversations, and some have relatively normal language development. Repetitive play skills and limited social skills are generally evident. Unusual responses to sensory information, such as loud noises and lights, are also common.
