This change is going to need a lot of clarifying.
I've been used to saying my daughter has Asperger's syndrome and then having to go on to justify that with saying that she has a type of higher functioning autism. Which does little to nothing in getting more understanding, or erase the confused look on their faces.
Her disability falls primarily with the lack of appropriate social skills knowledge. I myself don't really associate her as having autism, despite sharing just a few mild charactisitics. In fact, at one point I had read that the scientific community was considering separating Asperger's Syndrome from Autism proper and having it stand as it own disorder. This would be a welcome outcome for me; causing
less confusion, at least in my daughter's case. This would also get her away from the stigma of an Austism diagnosis, which a lot of people who don't understand what that is, seeing only the severe form in their minds, seem to understand that as being. I know because this is just how I reacted when I first heard about autism.
As for lumping all of the other various diagnoses under Autism proper to me just confuses the issue even more than it is already is. In fact they are already lumped together so what's the point?
This is my opinion, for whatever it is worth. I am sure some people will be happy about it and some will not. I am not sure if I am, however, if this change does get her more in terms of insurance coverage and school services, grants etc. than I would welcome the change. Time will tell, as one of the authors had himself had stated.
I am very disappointed in this decision. I cannot understand the medical justification for broadening the criteria of autism rather than examining the scientific data already amassed since the DSM-IV was published and making useful distinctions for the DSM-V.
Even with a good health insurance plicy, speech therapy is not covered for children with an autism diagnosis.
An autism label does not "provide more services" and improve a child's education.
Special education teachers, despite legislation, have low expectations for and misconceptions about children with "autism," and this is one of the biggest problems.
Even in an affluent district like the one I live in, services for "ASD" children are poor and inadequate. Speech therapy is given for 15-20 minutes twice a week and OT twenty minutes per week. An autism label usually means placement in an MH class, where the child gets babysitting and a preschool curriculum.
Very few families have the resources to provide the interventions that are necessary to truly effect a their child's development.
My son literally has global developmental delays. He is not autistic, but he does fit the diagnostic crititeria for PDD-NOS. He is very social, and always has been. Sadly, even with family members, children do not want to play with a child with developmental delays. This reality severely limits the potential for social development.
Speech therapists and others capitalize on this problem by providing "social groups," for one hour at a cost of $60-80 and not covered by insurance.
With the criteria being repetitive behavior and poor social skills, virtually all mentally retarded (developmentally delayed) children will now be in the category of autistic spectrum disorder.
Instead of further defining PDD-NOS and Aspergers, including these disagnoses with autism does nothing positive for children in either of these groups.
I am very aware of the traits of autistic children. Supposedly one in 80 children now has autism. No matter the change in statistics, I virtually never see an autistic child ever, and I seriously doubt that most anyone else does either.
Grouping just about every special needs child into ASD does nothing to improve the lives of families of such children. Diagnosing them all autistic makes the situation worse.
When I first read the article, I was puzzled because of some of the changes. Just like our kids, many of us do not like change. I do feel that most of the changes will provide better opportunities for our kids. I have a 12 year old girl who receives services for ADHD (physical) and MH for Bipolar Disorder Spectrum. No one doubts she is bipolar but doctors have a very hard time diagnosing bipolar in kids. My other two children are starting to exhibit the same 'symptoms' that she did, just at a later age.
As for services... I am a SPED teacher. I teach Affective Education. I only have on student with Autism in my class and it's to receive social skills help, learning appropriate ways to deal with situations. I actually work with him one on one each morning. I work with his case manager to find suitable lessons. If you find you are not happy with your child's education, you are your child's best advocate. Speak with the teacher, school admin, or district SPED people. If no one listens, contact advocacy groups in your area.
I am a parent with two children who have Asperger's, ADHD, PDD-NOS, Dysthymic Disorder, OCD, and ODD, along with anxiety, paranoia, and depression. I think I listed everything. I have, since my children's diagnoses, been under the impression that Asperger's was a high-functioning form of Autism. At least that's what all the doctors have told me, and anyone else involved with my sons' cases. I was not aware, until just today, that there were some families denied services for Asperger's because it wasn't defined as being Autism, as is the case for those living in California. I think that is totally unfair to those families. I think that when a family member is diagnosed with having anything, they should receive the necessary help.
My concern with the new DSM edition lies more to do with how it will affect a person receiving such a diagnosis. Will they get ALL the necessary help? Or only certain kinds of help? There are many differences along the autism spectrum and even among those with Asperger's. I think the person who has autism or Asperger's should get whatever help they need regardless of how the diagnosis is classified. Every person presents differently and is therefore unique, and should be treated on an individual basis.
I guess I feel that the diagnosis of Asperger's should not be entirely lost, because it contains a certain set of behaviors unique unto itself. If they would keep the diagnosis, and have it under the umbrella label of Autism, I would like that much better. To lose Asperger's and PDD-NOS completely and just have one all-encompassing label of Autism, I think, would be a disservice. Like I read on another forum, one woman said something about an analogy with cancer, that there are so many forms of cancer, you can't just lump them all together and just call it cancer. Lung cancer is different from pancreatic cancer, and so on. Each one is different and should be treated as such. I would agree completely.
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I for one is delited that the DSM -5 have decided to change the name to Autistic Spectrum Disorder I have two girls diagnosed with Asperger`s Syndrome one in 2001, thwe other in 2004 and my health service board have not as yet recognised this so changing it to ASD maybe they will start now and take notice also including ADHD with ASD is again good for us here in ireland my son has ADHD and also has features of ASD but again my health service dopes not reecognise this whatsoever. hopefully this change will improve services to these children at laong last .