Diagnosis - clinically odd

My lovely, strange 3 year old is now officially odd. I took him to be evaluated for some of the wacky things he does and says, and he's been diagnosed with PDD (Pervasive Developmental Disorder) (it can't really be a coincidence that PDD and ODD are only one letter off from each other, right?). PDD is technically on the autism spectrum. The doctor described it as a catchall diagnosis for children with autistic traits who don't fit any of the other diagnoses.

I'm really glad I took him in - I was on the fence about it, because he really does seem okay a lot of the time. The evaluation was very revealing. A lot of my concerns had to do with his strange speech and frequent spells of inattention, and it turns out that a lot of that is attributable to a significant receptive speech delay. The doctor said that he knows that the socially appropriate thing to do if someone speaks to him is to respond, but he's not processing our words normally, so he just spouts back whatever his weird little brain conjures up - quotes from movies, phrases someone said earlier in the conversation, or just random jumbles of words. It's like he's been covering for his own delay and tricking us into thinking he understands us. She said he has a high IQ - isn't it strange that he's smart but has such a fundamental delay? Brains are so strange and complicated.

Because he's going to get intervention early (high order language therapy and some behavioral therapy) he should be able to lead a "normal" life. I'm already seeing a bit of a difference just having him repeat back what we say to make sure he gets it, and it's a relief knowing what's going on in that nutty little head.