Pervasive Developmental Disorder

My cousin was diagnosed with this disorder. He had delayed speech, he would spin around in circles, etc.

He had many home tutors who would work with him almost every day of the week. He also goes to a speech pathologist.

Right now he is 5 and my aunt and uncle decided to keep him in Pre-K for one more year. He spends half the day in the "special" class and half the day with the "normal" class...I HATE those terms. But in any case he has come a long way and is doing so well! He speaks in sentences now and is able to express himself in ways other than screaming. He is an absolute sweetheart!

PDD is actually an umbrella term that encompasses the whole range of pervasive developmental disorders. It sounds as though the child you're describing may have a dx of "Pervasive Developmental Disorder- Not Otherwise Specified" which is kind of a parking lot designation for symptoms that don't quite fit the criteria of the named PDDs. My son had that dx before being dxed with autism (and his pediatrician still maintains that he has PDD-NOS rather than autism) As far as the home, I'd have to see it for myself, but let me tell you something. It is so so difficult when your child starts presenting these symptoms early in childhood. It is really hard to find anyone who takes your concerns seriously, and it breaks your heart to see one child after another hit milestones that your child is months or years behind. The parents may have serious depression that needs to be addressed rather than having CPS get involved.

Hello! I am the Original Poster and since I still receive updates via email I thought I would follow up on my personal story-

I reported the family to CPS simply for the unsanitary state of the house. I stopped working for them because I came to the house at the time the mother and I had agreed upon but no one answered the door- I heard the child inside playing with his trains, rang the bell and knocked for 20 minutes then I left. The mother called me later to tell me she also had just been diagnosed with something that I had never heard of, but that's the reason she was sleeping and couldn't be woken up when i came by at 2 pm.

Ultimately, I think the mother has many of her own issues, and her son, unfortunately, just won't get the treatment he needs and deserves because of her. I only nannied with them for about a week and a half but when a counselor came for a session, the mother asked me to sit in on it so it was the PDD life coach, the father, mother and I- talk about Awkward, I barely knew this family and didn't have any plans to stay with them long-term. Anyway, About every three minutes the mother would interrupt the counselor, started being argumentative with her and finally I walked out of the room when she started cursing at the counselor and crying.

I haven't had any contact with them since August. The most immediate concern I had was the unsanitary state of the house/kitchen/fridge, it was attrocious and I wouldn't feed a child out of it.

The CPS contacted me a few weeks later and said that after a follow up with the family, it was decided their help wasn't needed, so that's good. I assume after the first trip the parents finally took care of the mess.


Thank you everyone for sharing your story.. I can't believe I hadn't heard of PDD before this, but as I listen to your posts there seems to be a lot of confusion and misdiagnoses, so hopefully with time there will be more understanding of the disorder and the precious little ones it effects.