Abstract
Children who do not meet strict criteria for autistic disorder or Asperger syndrome and who show less severe, but clinically relevant, social interactive and communicative problems, are often described as having a pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS; DSM-III-R (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 1987; DSM-IV [APA], 1994). In both DSM-III-R and DSM-FV, the criteria for this category are broad and mainly negatively described. The lack of specific and positively formulated criteria seriously impedes research on this clinically relevant group of children. Several groups described in the literature might meet DSM-IH-R or DSM-IV criteria for PDD-NOS, namely, the "over-formal, stilted" group described by Wing (1988, 1996), a group of children with problems in motor control, attention, and perception (DAMP) described by Gillberg (1983), children with Multiplex Developmental Disorders (Cohen, Paul, & Volkmar, 1987), or children with nonverbal learning disabilities (Rourke, 1989). Children in all these groups may differ in the range of associated symptoms shown (motor or perceptual problems, attentional deficits, anxiety, or specific learning problems), but seem to have in common that they all experience autistic-like problems in social interaction, verbal, or nonverbal communication. Recently, several authors have assumed, that the social-interactive and communication problems of children with "autistic spectrum disorders" (including
Published Version
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