Autism Spectrum Disorders and Pervasive Development Disorders
Michalis 'BIG Mike' Kotzakolios


Defined Tag: Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Developmental disorders can be pervasive or specific, an Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD, comes under the category of ‘pervasive’. The term Pervasive Development Disorder, or PDD, refers to a category of behavioural and psychological development disorders which affect a wide range of mental and physical functions and are not restricted to one specific area of development. The sufferer will likely exhibit a range of disabilities affecting a variety of their natural functions. In contrast, a Specific Developmental Disorder, or SDD, will have a specific area of effect: Examples include dyslexia (inability to learn reading or writing skills), dyspraxia (inability to perform certain movements), discalcula (difficulty in learning or understanding mathematics) and dysgraphia (inability to write, whilst able to read). So PDDs and SDDs are often presented in contrast to each other to highlight their area of affect.

Within the category of Pervasive Development Disorders (PDDs) is the Autism Spectrum. Since each case of Autism is unique, and every individual sufferer will experience it in a unique way the term Autism can be conceived of as referring to a scale of measurement, or spectrum, where severe cases are at one end and milder cases the other. The type, severity and quantity of Autism traits exhibited by an individual will determine the level of their case of Autism.

The low end of the spectrum is referred to as ‘Low Functioning Autism’ where the sufferer is severely impaired with a wide range of disabilities in many areas. Due to the severity and number of impairments this end of the spectrum tends to include low IQ individuals. The high end of the spectrum is referred to as ‘High Functioning Autism’ where the sufferer exhibits less severe, and a lower number or impairments and will often include very high IQ individuals. While Asperger’s Syndrome is considered by some to be a distinct disorder from Classic Autism, it may be placed nearer the higher end of the spectrum as an indication of its relation to the more severe forms.

The terms Pervasive Development Disorders and Autism Spectrum Disorders are often cited as being synonymous, as the same thing, but due to the presence of other similar and related disorders in the category they cannot be considered so. Disorders such as Rett’s Syndrome and Childhood Disintegrative Disorder are placed within the Autism Spectrum since they exhibit Autism-like behaviours but these similarities are only a part of their overall diagnosis and they etiologically are unrelated to Autism, or rather, they derive from different causes to the other Autism Spectrum Disorders.

BIG Mike is a well known author, developer and Adsense expert as well as the owner of Niche Maniacs - a unique Adsense Marketing System designed to build long-term passive income streams from Adsense, Amazon, YPN, Chitika and other PPC services.

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