Types of Autism

Now that you have learned a little about the Autism Spectrum Disorder and the different levels that it is composed of. In this particular room there are different types of Autism that fit into this spectrum. I will touch upon these types brick by brick in a future blog.

The types of Autism are: A Typical Autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, Autistic Disorder, Broad Autism Phenotype, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, High Functioning Autism, Mild Autism, Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD-NOS), Rhett Syndrome, Severe Autism, and probably more that I’m forgetting.

I know that’s a lot to comprehend in the beginning and it will take a while to navigate all those terms and which one would pertain to your child.  I am not a medical professional. Only a medical professional can diagnose and determine which level and/or type your child falls under. Frankly, I don’t particularly care for labels. To me it doesn’t matter what type of Autism Landon has, I always treated him like my oldest child but with some behavior modifications.

When we entered into our Autism Spectrum Room in 1996, there weren’t as many levels or types of Autism as they have now. At the age of 2 Landon was diagnosed with Autism and that was that. I am so glad that I never labeled him because in the beginning he was extremely severe. As an adult, Landon is not severe any more. Once we got his diagnosis of Autism the only thing we concentrated on was getting him early intervention and that was the beginning of our journey.