Asperger's and PDD/NOS

My son is 11. His pediatrician and a local child psychiatrist diagnosed him with PDD/NOS a few years ago. To the layperson, that is pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified.  

When this child was an infant, he seemed relatively normal as infants go.  He never really made eye contact, however, not with me or any member of my family.  Even forced to turn his face towards someone he would divert his eyes to avoid what seemed like painful eye contact.  

He had language development problems and did not speak until he was 2.  His language then was comprised of a lot of run-on words that made very little sense.  At the time we joked about it, but in retrospect it was a symptom of his ever-growing developmental disorder.

From the beginning of potty training we had problems with him smearing fecal matter on the walls beside the commode, on the commode itself and on his own body.  Again, it was something that was socially unacceptable and just pain "gross" but we thought perhaps it was just a phase.

He has always been clumsy, and we joked saying he was the only person we knew who could stand flat-footed and fall down.  He cannot run, jump or do anything in sports with any coordination.  He does not play well with other children, though he makes friends easily, his alarming behavior soon alienates the other more "normal" children.

In a fit of rage at school, he took a bowel movement in the restroom and painted the stall with it.  In yet another incident, he screamed profanities as he attacked another child (who had struck him first, but really!).  Recently, he had a bowel movement in a cup and hid it behind my sister's toilet.

He never played with his toys appropriately, instead of rolling a truck for example he would pile them up or sit them in a line.  He would take the tires and wheels off and stack them or lay them in a line. He would take batteries out of everything in the house simply to lay them out in a straight row in the floor.  Batteries were his favorite plaything, to my chagrin, even the ones out of our remote controls.

He has always been hypersensitive emotionally, cries at inappropriate times, laughs outloud at inappropriate times, is very sensitive to sounds, overreacts to everything and sarcasm is lost entirely on this child.  He takes everything seriously.  He is very destructive, often taking apart toys and objects around the house lacking the ability to put them back in one piece.

He is also a thief.  He will steal even when it doesn't make sense.  Even when he knows he's going to be caught and punished, he will still steal other people's belongings.  He is aware that it's wrong, yet he just does not seem to be able to stop himself.  Then he lies, says he can't remember why he stole the things, says he can't remember why he wiped fecal matter all over the place, or that he didn't do it at all.

He has been seen by several local counselors and medical professionals and aside from medicating him into a stupor, I'm afraid his odd mannerisms are just something with which I am stuck!  


This discussion is related to Twelve year old son - Asperger's?.

[Sally44]

It sounds to me like he is on the autistic spectrum.  PDD NOS is part of that, but is usually used as a diagnosis when the child does not fit all the criteria.  Can you tell me why he did not fit the criteria for Aspergers or Autistic Spectrum Disorder?

Is he in a school for children with a similar diagnosis?
Many of the problems you mention are things that he will need to be taught explicitly.  He won't learn them or just pick them up like other kids do.  He will need to be taught them and how to do things appropriately.

Many problems are just down to it not being obvious to him.  Don't assume anything.  Chances are he does not make connections between things or understand what he should say or do in most situations.  There is alot that can be done, but professionals have to be involved.

Has he been assessed by a Speech Therapist.  What were their finding and recommendations on the programme he needed and the difficulties he had.  My son has a whole list of difficulties that the speech therapist is going to be working on for the duration of his school years.

Google Semantic Pragmatic Speech Disorder as that is usually how their language comprehension is.

Has he also been seen by an Occupational Therapist.  They can give exercises regarding clumsiness.  Does your child also have sensory issues.   Sensitive to sound is one of them.  He may have sensory integration disorder.  Most people on the spectrum have some sensory issues ranging from mild to severe.  That can make certain environments (such as school/classrooms) unbearable or the child is unable to concentrate or learn in that environment.

You also need to consider any other difficulties such as specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, auditory processing delays, auditory processing disorder, executive function disorder on top of those I'lve already listed.

Regarding being impulsive, that can also be part of an ASD.  He needs to be taught using something like Social Stories about not taking other peoples property.  My son went through a phase of stealing DVDs from shops because he wanted to watch them.  

There can be a different brain function with children on the spectrum.  This is proven.  There can be less control regarding emotions, impulsiveness etc because they don't have the same level of constraint or control as we do.  They can frequently say or do things when they are in a high emotional state, and then be mortified by their actions afterwards.  My own son can get very angry or upset, and then he gets very angry and upset with how he has behaved because as he says "I can't control it and I can't stop it."  So I just take the line that yes I understand that you are feeling very angry/sad etc so you need to go somewhere quiet to calm down.  It is not an excuse for bad behaviour.  But they need to be taught what is acceptable and what to do to help themselves.  

My own son used to get very upset if we went into a toy shop.  We would discuss it beforehand that I was not going to buy him anything, and he would be happy with that.  But once we were inside he would see something he wanted and would ask for it and then have a tantrum when I said we had already agreed that he wasn't getting anything.  My son's answer to this difficulty was to stay in the car and not go into the shop because once inside he said he would not be able to control his feelings.  That was very insightful for him to acknowledge and understand that, and he also came up with a good way to deal with it - avoid temptation!  But he does also have to get used to those types of situations.

No real easy answers.  Just as much professional help and input as you can secure.  The right educational environment.  And join a support group so that you meet with other families in the same situation.

These children do grow up and what is a difficulty now will diminish and something else will become an issue eg. relationships etc.