What are the signs of ASD?

   The major points, which help distinguish the specific diagnoses used for Autism Spectrum Disorders/Pervasive Developmental Disorders are:

Autistic Disorder - impairments in social interaction, communication, and imaginative play prior to age 3 years. Stereotyped behaviours, interests and activities are exhibited.

Asperger's Disorder - characterized by impairments in social interactions and the presence of restricted interests and activities, with no clinically significant general delay in language. Testing is in the range of average to above average intelligence.

Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified - commonly referred to as atypical autism. A diagnosis of PDD-NOS may be made when a child does not meet the full criteria for a specific diagnosis of autism, but there is a severe and pervasive impairment in specified behaviours associated with autism.

Rett's Disorder - a progressive disorder which, to date, has occurred only in girls. Period of normal development and then loss of previously acquired skills, loss of purposeful use of the hands replaced with repetitive hand movements beginning at the age of 1-4 years.

Childhood Disintegrative Disorder (CDD) - a rare form of PDD. The child is normally developing at birth, but "disintegrates" during their first five years of life. The symptoms include significant loss of language, decreased use of nonverbal gestures (i.e. eye contact and pointing), and fewer social initiations and social responses.

Fragile X Syndrome - Fragile X syndrome is caused by a break on the X chromosome during early cell division. Males are much more susceptible to the disorder, since they have
only one X chromosome. Children identified as having Fragile X syndrome and autism often exhibit behavioural symptoms such as  poor eye contact, a sing-song rhythm to their speech, repetition of another's speech, often in the same tone and intonation, and stereotypes such as hand-flapping.