Does anyone understand PDD NOS. help appreciated?

Question

14 lyear old son will not attend school

Answer 1

You should be liaising with the educational psychologist to help with your son as well as the special educational needs co-coordinator at school. Also the clinical psychologist should be involved with your son to help you get a more specific diagnosis to enable him to get the help you both need. You should in your area have a Parent Partnership who will work with you and your son to get the support he needs in school. All this can take a long time but you must do what is best for your son and not give up, good luck.

Answer 2

It stands for Pervasive Developmental Disorder not otherwise specified and means that the person diagnosed with that had some characters of PDD, but not enough to make a specific diagnosis.  It's the medical way of diagnosing someone with something when they're not exactly sure what is going on (The NOS) and then they relate it to the disorder it is closest to (in this case PDD).  

Ah, so I edited and read more of your question.  I suggest you call and talk to your school's psychologist.  The two of you need to get to the bottom of what is bothering your son and making him not want to go to school.  If it's fear, there are ways to work through it.  If it's anger, finding work too hard, lack of peer acceptance, or any other reason then there are also things that may work like behavioral modification, teaching anger management and social skills strategies, creating social stories, finding him a peer buddy, etc.

Perhaps if you add more details as to what you need help with you can get better suggestions, but please contact your school psychologist!

Answer 3

Hiya, if you could email me, i might be able to help you.

[e-mail]

Answer 4

This diagnosis means that your child is on the autism spectrum. Frequently children with these disorders have irrational fears. This is most likely, school phobia.

However, a fourteen year old does not have the option of not attending school. By law, they must attend until they are sixteen. You could be subject to court proceeding if he does not go to school.

However, you should NOT be doing this alone. The school district is also responsible for helping a parent get a child to school.

While severe stress responses may be unusual, any child who does not want to go to school is experiencing stress, and an important part of solving the problem is for the adults involved to assess what may have gone wrong. When a child seeks to avoid school, the parents are advised to quickly request consultation with both the the special education teacher and the principal of the school. You may also want to involve the school psychologist. If they don't seem to want to get involved, call the special ed director.

If this is done, parents, teacher, administration and psychologist may explore clues from both home and school to determine how the child's needs are not being met.

Children on the autism spectrum may encounter an experience which overloads their ability to cope. Whatever the cause, the parents need to see themselves as part of a professional team working to solve the problem.

But first of all, parents must bring the child to school. You will probably be strongly ambivalent about subjecting the child to what seems like a piece of unbearable stress. However, by working with the school psychologist to find ways to modify school and home environments for the child's benefit, some of the discomfort will be resolved. Sometimes simple interventions, such as a planned focus on the child's positive behaviors, or special time with an important person in the child's life, may help the child comfortably resume going to school. At school, short-term counseling, opportunities to engage in favorite activities, or a chance to earn a privilege could be options.

There is a second option. Your child may be eligible for Hospital/Homebound services through the special education department. Even if he is not currently in special ed, he is still eligible. You need a doctor's note explaining the disability, the impact on his mental health and why it is deleterious for him to attend school at this time. Take it to either the school counselor, the special ed department chair or directly to the special ed department of your school district.

While it is better for him to attend school, you need to know there are other options. Perhaps getting a good relationship with the H/H teacher will help ease his fears about going to school again.