Posted by Shelly Bower

In Reply to: EXPRESSIVE LANGUAGE DISORDER… posted by MadelineParadis

Well, this is just another mom's opinion but I think its very
important to determine if the child has enough language in order to
interact. If the language skills (because of the
expressive/receptive communication disorder) are so severe that the
ability to communicate isn't there, than the social skills cannot
possibly be expected to be normal. That doesn't mean the child has
PDDnos, just that the deficits in language are so severe that social
skills and imaginative play are delayed.

However, if the child has enough language to interact and choses not
to or actively avoids it ...then you are probably dealing with PDD.

My son is a case in point....a year ago he definately looked like a
child with PDD. There was a severe expressive/receptive communication
disorder and at 2 .5 years old he had NO social skills , NO
imaginative play, poor eye contact and so on....I'm sure this sounds
familar :-). However, he also didn't have any truly functional
language, just a few expressive labels and the ability to use "I
want____".

A year later (he's in an ABA program) we have improved his language to
the point where he can use 4-5 word sentences. Once we gave him the
ability to use words he started to take off in the social areas..
Think about it...a child without language cannot possibly interact
socially with other children, nor narrate an imaginative play. When I
look back I think it was really unrealistic of me to expect that his
social skills and imaginative play should be normal....of course they
wouldn't be!

Other issues that I thought were PDD indicators have also dissappeared
as he gained functional language. The poor eye contact was an
avoidance issue ( his eye contact was only really poor if we were
asking or demanding something of him, still isn't great for that
matter!) Any stims he had turned out to be short lived .....and not
perserveritive in nature...much like kids who suck their thumbs, twirl
their hair... My son also lacked the ability to point to indicate
needs, use expressive gesturing ....but he does it now....and as my
son's psychologist said "It doesn't matter that he didn't do it at the
appropriate age, he can do it now!"

So, really, its impossible to answer the "language disorder" or "PDD"
question until after the child has language...sort of a catch 22
situation. I think probably the best thing for parents to do in
these situations is assume the worst....and do anything they can to
give their child language , whether it be AIT, ABA, diet, ST, OT....
and hope that once the child is able to communicate the social issues
and so on will dissappear on their own. If they do, then you can
assume that it was a language disorder....if they don't then I think
the PDD diagnosis is more appropriate.

I feel very foggy today, I hope this made sense. I know that we are
all concerned that the PDD label not be overused but sometimes I wish
I had the PDD label for my son instead of the "severe communication
disorder" label. Without a diagnosis of PDD I am stuck footing the
bill for ABA and all the other testing .....even though my son is
benefitting tremendously from the treatments more typically used with
children with autism, it just isn't considered standard, appropriate,
or necessary treatment. It doesn't seem to matter that its
working....:-(

Shelly

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• Re: I think its very important to determine if the child has enough language in order to interact. Barbara

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