My 6 yr old was just dxd with pdd-nos we had her iep at school yesterday, but i need some advice?

Question

need help understanding pdd-nos what is my child allowed to have in school? whats types of behavior are similar to other kids, need to talk to someone with a child with same issues

Answer 1

I worked in sp ed for 21 yrs, but I'm not familiar with dxd or pdd-nos.

Programs are referred to differently in different places.  If you can give me more info  I'll try to help.

Answer 2

I am a first grade special educator and I am very familiar with pdd, as I currently have students that are diagnosed with this disorder.  As it is on the autistic spectrum, there are many degrees to which a child can be affected by pdd.  One of my students requires a one-on-one aide because he has so many issues, but another one of my students with the disorder has few issues, and barely requires any intervention.  The best thing you can do right now is make sure you are keeping in constant contact with your child's teacher and getting feedback on how he/she is doing, while you read up on the disorder.  With good communication between yourself and the school, your child can get all the help he or she needs. :)

Answer 3

The school should have done an evaluation - at the end of the evaluation should be what the educational needs are - that's what should drive the IEP and the Accomodations.

For example - perhaps there is a need on developing Problem Solving or Organization skills or starting and maintaining conversations.

If those were the needs - the IEP would be written to provide services in those needs in relationship to academic needs.

Might need - extended time on tests, might need a quite place to regroup, might need a sensory diet - hard to say - all kids on the spectrum are so different that just because Mary gets some service it doesn't meant that Frank will - it's all dependent on their needs.

If you don't understand ask.

Answer 4

I taught a few students diagnosed with PDD-NOS and for the most part they had what is called SDD - Significant Developmental Delays.  This means they may be behind in growth or hitting typical milestones in development.  One of my students was very intelligent; however, he did not interact well among his peers socially. With each child, behavior varies.  Here's some more information below...

Hope this helps!

Pervasive Development Disorders (PDD)

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Pervasive Development Disorders (PDD)

The term "PDD" is widely used by professionals to refer to children with autism and related disorders; however, there is a great deal of disagreement and confusion among professionals concerning the PDD label. Diagnosis of PDD, including autism or any other developmental disability, is based upon the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), published by the American Psychiatric Association (Washington, DC, 1994), and is the main diagnostic reference of mental health professionals in the U.S.

According to the DSM-IV, the term "PDD" is not a specific diagnosis, but an umbrella term under which the specific diagnoses are defined.

Diagnostic labels are used to indicate commonalities among individuals. The key defining symptom of autism that differentiates it from other syndromes and/or conditions is substantial impairment in social interaction (Frith, 1989). The diagnosis of autism indicates that qualitative impairments in communication, social skills, and range of interests and activities exist. As no medical tests can be performed to indicate the presence of autism or any other PDD, the diagnosis is based upon the presence or absence of specific behaviors. For example, a child may be diagnosed as having PDD-NOS if he or she has some behaviors that are seen in autism, but does not meet the full criteria for having autism. Most importantly, whether a child is diagnosed with a PDD (like autism) or a PDD-NOS, his/her treatment will be similar.

Autism is a spectrum disorder, with symptoms ranging from mild to severe. As a spectrum disorder, the level of developmental delay is unique to each individual. If a diagnosis of PDD-NOS is made, rather than autism, the diagnosticians should clearly specify the behaviors present. Evaluation reports are more useful if they are specific and become more helpful for parents and professionals in later years when reevaluations are conducted.

Ideally, a multidisciplinary team of professionals should evaluate a child suspected of having autism. The team may include, but may not be limited to, a psychologist or psychiatrist, a speech pathologist and other medical professionals, including a developmental pediatrician and/or neurologist. Parents and teachers should also be included, as they have important information to share when determining a child's diagnosis.

In the end, parents should be more concerned that their child find the appropriate educational treatment based on their needs, rather than spending too much effort to find the perfect diagnostic label. Most often, programs designed specifically for children with autism will produce greater benefits, while the use of the general PDD label can prevent children from obtaining services relative to their needs.

Behaviors:

The central features of Autistic Disorder are the presence of markedly abnormal or impaired development in social interaction and communication, and a markedly restricted repertoire of activity and interest. The manifestations of this disorder vary greatly depending on the developmental level and chronological age of the individual. Autistic Disorder is sometimes referred to as Early Infantile Autism, Childhood Autism, or Kanner's Autism (page 66).

A. A total of six (or more) items from (1), (2), and (3), with at least two from (1), and one each from (2) and (3):

Qualitative impairment in social interaction, as manifested by at least two of the following:

Marked impairment in the use of multiple nonverbal behaviors such as eye to-eye gaze, facial expression, body postures, and gestures to regulate social interaction .

Failure to develop peer relationships appropriate to developmental level

A lack of spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment, interests, or achievements with other people (e.g., by a lack of showing, bringing, or pointing out objects of interest)

Lack of social or emotional reciprocity

Qualitative impairments in communication as manifested by at least one of the following:

Delay in, or total lack of, the development of spoken language (not accompanied by an attempt to compensate through alternative modes of communication such as gestures or mime)

In individuals with adequate speech, marked impairment in the ability to initiate or sustain a conversation with others

Stereotyped and repetitive use of language or idiosyncratic language

Lack of varied, spontaneous make-believe play or social imitative play appropriate to developmental level

Restricted repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, and activities, as manifested by at least one of the following:

Encompassing preoccupation with one or more stereotyped patterns of interest that is abnormal either in intensity or focus

Apparently inflexible adherence to specific, nonfunctional routines or rituals

Stereotyped and repetitive motor mannerisms (e.g., hand or finger flapping or twisting, or complex whole-body movements)

Persistent preoccupation with parts of object

B. Delays or abnormal functioning in at least one of the following areas, with onset prior to age 3 years:

Social interaction

Language as used in social communication

Symbolic or imaginative play

C. The disturbance is not better accounted for by Rett's Disorder or Childhood Disintegrative Disorder.

Answer 5

I'm not familiar with pdd-nos. They are refereed to differently in different countries. There are many good website that help people in this situation. For example:

http://www.behavior.org/autism/

www.developing-ability (very fast feed back from experts)

I'll look further into this and try and find some more helpful information for you.

Regards

Stephen

Answer 6

Our son too was diagnosed pdd, aspergers, by one dr. after a 45 minute consultation. After reading 4, 300 page books and educating ourselves as quicly as possible and as best we could for our 6 year old, we decided not to medicate, but to get a second opinion, as well as test him for learning disorders! I am certain that our son is adhd and will need much  help at the school level, but it is really important that you understand there are so many levels of this pdd spectrum! Our biggest problem is the outbursts, which we are finding is caused by the frustration of being behind in reading and writing at the kindergerten level...imagine that!!! We are going to take the route of testing for food allergies, which we know some people don't agree with, but it will be a first attempt! A good scool team /psychologist helps alot!

Answer 7

There are online sites that describe Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified. But your best bet would be to ask for meeting with the special ed teacher, speech-language pathologist, etc. who will be working with your child at school. They will gladly answer any questions you have about your child's diagnosis and how they will help them.

The on-line sites may have support groups for parents of children like yours. These are great ways to learn from others and to find out about resources in your community. If you have a support group locally, I would highly recommend that you attend their meetings. It is comforting to know that we aren't the only ones trying to help our children and you will learn much from their experiences.

Answer 8

PDD-NOS is on the autism spectrum-it is such a wide varirty of strenghths and weaknesses that I can'tr give you a specific answer without knowing teh specific child-

Services can range from a 504 plan for a child that does not need the support of teh special education teacher-I know some children on the autism spectrum that are successful at this level-to an IEP for a out of district placement in a school that specializes in autism.

He can have accommodations within the regular class setting-including a shadow-added time-modified assignments-He could get speech, OT, PT if educationally warranted-there are accommodations on standardized tests--behaviorla allownaces/plans...

He could be pulled out for part of teh day into a special needs class

He could be placed in district in a full day specialneeds class....

www.ivillage.com has a good message board for families with autism/pddnos

also contact the division on developmental disabilities

Autism Spectrum can include people that re indistinquishable or just have quirks (such as Bill Gates) to people that are severely and proufoundly disabled and needed full time care.