My child has PDD/Aspergers/Hyperlexia, not autism. Does he really need all this ABA stuff?
The different labels used to describe the pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs) have little use other than to confuse parents and muddy their children’s legal rights. There are occasionally reasons why a qualified diagnostician may use one term rather than another, but for the most part the label really doesn’t matter. What counts is effective treatment. The term “autistic spectrum disorder,” while not ‘official,’ does make the situation clearer. Individuals with PDDs vary widely in their degree of disability. The greatest mistake you can make is to believe (or not challenge the opinion) that because your child “just” has PDD then he or she does not need a high-quality, intensive program to help him or her “catch up” as quickly as possible. It is true that more severely disabled children will typically require more hours than those on the less severe end of the autism spectrum, but that is a judgement to be made by a qualified professional. The range is likely to be from 10 to 40 ho
