PDD-NOS is a diagnostical criteria that is given to a person that presents some, but not, all characteristics of a pervasive developmental disorder such as Autism, Retts Syndrome, or Aspergers. Aspergers, like Autism, has a specific set of diagnostical criteria that must be met in order to be applied. Those disorders, as well as others, all fall along the spectrum of Pervasive Developmental Disorders. A person may present some characteristics of Aspergers, but not all or not to the intensity necessary for a full diagnosis. Therefore, they will be diagnosed under the more generalized PDD-NOS. With this, people can still receive services specific to their particular needs.

This is a great discussion. I would like to add another perspective. I am raising my great grandson. We have had him since he was 18 months. He is now 3 1/2. His first diagnosis was mild Aspergers. We started OT for behavior. It worked well. OT said she saw sensory prossesing disorder. I read the book "the Out Of Sync Child". Highly recommend it. It helped me understand my grandson. Next screening they said that on the "check list" he was "very likely" Autistic but he was too social to be labeled Autistic. (In my experience many Autistic children are social) Then they qualified him for services because he is A "Drug Baby" and DD in Social Skills and Fine Motor. I think that this very discussion thread reinforces that "They" are still trying to figure these kids out. I agree with @A MyAutismTeam Member that what matters is finding the interventions that work for your child. I have been an Elementary music teacher for 24 years. I work with all of the kids in my school including my "special needs" kids. Autistic, SPD, ADD, ADHD, Drug Baby, difficult home environment, homeless; the labels go on and on. It helps me to know what label has been given. It gives me a starting point. But I have to figure out what works and what doesn't work for each child.
You are all my heroes. You stand by and fight for your kids. I wish more parents did that. Let's keep talking, sharing ideas, expressing concerns and frustrations. It can only help our children whatever their label.

I agree with Climorome, my son is now 12, diagnosed at 3 w PDDNOS, the doc said he may get rediagnosed after puberty as an Aspie depending on how he develops. I don't know the official definitions, but I"ve noticed that my son - while he can have moments of clarity and a conversation, he is most comfortable when he explains things his own way - which can be a bit non-sensical. Ie: "I love how that chocolate liquid boils my throat." instead of "warm hot chocolate feels good going down." An older example - he would script movies with the right context but the wrong words. When he wanted empathy he'd say "But Mom, your dad is at the pet store." (Nemo in the dentist aquarium, the starfish empathizes and says it's ok nemo, your dad is probably at the pet store.) The Aspies I know can communicate clearly, but they are literal and blunt.

Technically, Aspergers is no longer used for the purposes of classification/diagnosis (but it is useful for descriptive purposes)- it now falls under Autism Spectrum Disorder. My son used to be classified as PDD-NOS because he had Aspergers and lots of other things like anxiety, OCD, ADHD, etc. HOWEVER, he is now classified solely as Autism Spectrum Disorder in school and gets a lot more accomodations and understanding from teachers. Teachers often have no idea what PDD-NOS really means. Because it's different for everyone, they sometimes ignore it. If you are classified as Autism, teachers understand right away that things like anxiety, executive function, adhd, pretty much fall into the category, so they will know what your child needs.

As an Asperger person I could not care less about the DMV-V or the DMV-IVV for that matter, I have Asperger, not ASD. My son also has Asperger.

He was diagnosed at 2. We came back to reevaluate him at 3 (our idea) to make sure it was indeed Asperger and not PPD-NOS or high functioning autism. The psychologist reaffirmed that it was Asperger. One of things he said was that his speech made sense and that is one of the reasons it could not be PPD-NOS, from what I undrstand children with PPD-NOS tend to repeat words out of context.