Pervasive developmental disorder

Pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) are a group of disorders. There are five disorders in the group. These disorders all slow down the rate a child learns to talk and listen to others, as well as cause other problems.

The five disorders are:National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY) (October 2003) Disability Info: Pervasive Developmental Disorders (FS20).  Fact Sheet 20 (FS20)
 Pervasive disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS)
 Autism
 Asperger Syndrome
 Rett syndrome
 Childhood disintegrative disorder (CDD).

The first three of these disorders are also called autism spectrum disorders. The last two are not common.

A child's parents might begin to notice signs of PDD when the child is a baby, and it usually appears before the child is three years old.

It is now possible to recognise many of these defects before birth.Baird G; Douglas H.R.; Murphy M S. (BMJ 2011 343). Recognising and diagnosing autism in children and young people: summary of NICE guidance. BMJ 343:  That is very important, because in time many defects will be curable in utero. We are moving into an era when
the genetic code of babies may be tweaked in utero. See Nobel Prize awards since 2000 for some clues about this.  

References

Category:Pervasive developmental disorders
Category:Developmental disorders