Ana María Rodríguez

Excerpt: "He energetically flapped his hands [like a bird] and spun around, eyes wide open, face tilted toward the sky. He never seemed to get dizzy. He would spin around and around and stop and flick his fingers as if trying to remove dirt. Then he would begin his bird routine again. If other children tried to join him, Peter ignored them. Juliet [his mother] assumed Peter did not pay attention to the other children because he was so focused on his own activity. Soon the other kids began to leave him alone." When another mother suggested Juliet looked up "PDD" on the Internet she was surprised at what she found out. "PDD" refers to Pervassive Developmental Disorders. These disorders affect the child's development in areas such as speech and social skills. Juliet recognized her son rigth away.