Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified or PDD-NOS is a type of autism characterized by communication and social skills developmental delays. Children with PDD-NOS often display characteristics of autism that are not qualified for one category more than the other. For example, a child with PDD-NOS may display high academic skills like a child with Asperger's syndrome but have challenges with social interaction similar to a child with classic autism.PDD-NOS can impact your child socially by creating common social challenges. It's important to recognize these challenges and learn strategies for addressing these issues to improve social skills development. Consider these common social challenges:
1. Avoiding Eye Contact
Children with PDD-NOS typically and consistently avoid eye contact. However, eye contact is a vital communication skill because it lets others know you're paying attention to the conversation. You can help your child develop this important communication skill by directing them to look at your nose or an area of your face that is close to the eyes.
2. Obsessive Interests
It's common for children to be very interested in favorite subjects, such as toys or a favorite video game. However, when your child shows signs of obsessive interests, it may be an indication of PDD-NOS. For example, your child may have a special interest in the weather so much that it becomes the only topic of discussion whenever he converses. This can impact children socially by restricting them to only one subject and make it hard to maintain friendships with limited conversations. You can help your child by sparking different and new conversations. In addition, you can show how each person takes turns to discuss various interests during the conversation.
3. Sensory Processing Issues
A child with PDD-NOS may also show signs of sensory processing issues, which can impact how they interact socially. This means your child may display unusual reactions to how different things look, feel, smell, taste, or sound. For instance, your child may avoid physical contact, including shaking hands or a pat on the back. This may come off as being mean to others, but you can help your child with these challenges by understanding triggers or enlisting assistance with a team of professionals.
Understanding common PDD-NOS symptoms and how they affect children socially is a vital step to getting them the help they need. When you can identify such characteristics as obsessive interest or avoiding eye contact, you can address the issues with therapies and strategies that best fit the needs of your child. Learn more about how Brain Balance can help students with PDD-NOS. Contact us today!