The Autism Spectrum

Autism is a disorder of the brain that happens while child is still growing. It is a developmental disorder because it affects how a child develops. Autism is a syndrome and not a disease. It's not a case of "having it" or "not having" it. There are varying degrees of autism and the different "kinds" of autism appear on what is known as the "autism spectrum".

According to "What is Autism", handed out by the California Regional Center, the 'autism spectrum disorders' are as follows:

Autistic Disorder: Children with this kind of autism have all the behaviors of autism. This kind of autism is also called "classic autism"

Asperger Syndrome: Children with this kind of autism often have good language skills and high intelligence, but they may have problems relating to others and may have only very specific interests.

Pervasice Developmental Disorder- Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS): Children with this kind of autism have some behaviors of autism but not all. Many children with this have fewer difficulties than those with classic autism.

John on the Autistic Spectrum

According to John's evaluation done by Regional Center, they list that "this pattern of developmental challenges meets the criteria for a diagnosis of Autistic Disorder". John does NOT have good language skills, as that was the main reason I took him in, so a diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome would not have been given at the time.

However, they also recommended a re-testing "after he has had sufficient time to benefit from educational services, and when cognitive abilities can be more reliably determined".