Unusual mental developments (Asperger's syndrome)

[cheesehead]

As you may have learned from news reports, the American Psychiatric Association's just-released new draft fifth edition DSM removes Asperger's Syndrome as a distinct diagnostic category. Instead, the draft incorporates "traits associated with Asperger's, such as difficulty with social interactions and limited, repetitive behaviors, in a broad category called autism spectrum disorder." (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...33&sc=fb&cc=fp)

Note that this is currently only a proposed change, not a done deal. See http://www.dsm5.org/Pages/Default.aspx, where is stated:

Please note that the proposed criteria listed here are not final. These are initial drafts of the recommendations that have been made to date by the DSM-5 Work Groups. Viewers will be able to submit comments until April 20, 2010.

Judging by what I've heard so far, including an interview with someone diagnosed as having Asperger's, there's going to be a flood of submitted comments opposing that change.

[ewmayer]

Originally Posted by cheesehead

As you may have learned from news reports, the American Psychiatric Association's just-released new draft fifth edition DSM removes Asperger's Syndrome as a distinct diagnostic category. Instead, the draft incorporates "traits associated with Asperger's, such as difficulty with social interactions and limited, repetitive behaviors, in a broad category called autism spectrum disorder."

There's a NYT op-ed on this today:

Disorder Out of Chaos: Considering autism is a condition that runs along a spectrum, there is a scientific case for dropping the misleading diagnosis of Asperger’s.

IF you ask my daughter, Isabel, what autism means to her, she won’t say that it is a condition marked by impaired social communication and repetitive behaviors. She will say that her autism makes her a good artist, helps her to relate to animals and gives her perfect pitch.

The stigma of autism is fading fast. One reason is that we now understand that autism is a spectrum with an enormous range. Some people with autism are nonverbal with profound cognitive disabilities, while others are accomplished professionals.

Many people with milder symptoms of autism have, for the past 20 years or so, received a diagnosis of Asperger’s disorder. Some autistic adults call themselves “Aspies” to celebrate their talents and differences. And many parents have embraced the label because they have found it less stigmatizing, and so it has eased their sense of loss.

This may soon change, however. The American Psychiatric Association, with its release this week of proposed revisions to its authoritative Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, is recommending that Asperger’s be dropped. If this revision is adopted, the condition will be folded into the category of “autism spectrum disorder,” which will no longer contain any categories for distinct subtypes of autism like Asperger’s and “pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified” (a category for children with some traits of autism but not enough to warrant a diagnosis).

The change is welcome, because careful study of people with Asperger’s has demonstrated that the diagnosis is misleading and invalid, and there are clear benefits to understanding autism as one condition that runs along a spectrum.

My Comment: The quotes I've seen from folks diagnosed with Asperger's (e.g. in the NPR article cited by cheesehead above) who object to the new autism-spectrum classification seem to project a kind of misguided vanity in their "specialness" rather than any basis in the science. "I want to people to think Einstein, not adult diapers", that sort of thinking.

[cheesehead]

Originally Posted by ewmayer

My Comment: The quotes I've seen from folks diagnosed with Asperger's (e.g. in the NPR article cited by cheesehead above) who object to the new autism-spectrum classification seem to project a kind of misguided vanity in their "specialness" rather than any basis in the science. "I want to people to think Einstein, not adult diapers", that sort of thinking.

Hence my post's title: "Proposal: Asperger's to be plutoed". I expect a reaction somewhat analogous to the general public's after Pluto's reclassification, but mainly within the Asperger's-concerned community of diagnosees, their family and friends, except insofar as it is publicized more generally.

However, this time objectors have time to lodge complaints directly with the proposing team within the American Psychiatric Association, ahead of the official decision.

[lfm]

Originally Posted by ewmayer

There's a NYT op-ed on this today:

Disorder Out of Chaos: Considering autism is a condition that runs along a spectrum, there is a scientific case for dropping the misleading diagnosis of Asperger’s.

My Comment: The quotes I've seen from folks diagnosed with Asperger's (e.g. in the NPR article cited by cheesehead above) who object to the new autism-spectrum classification seem to project a kind of misguided vanity in their "specialness" rather than any basis in the science. "I want to people to think Einstein, not adult diapers", that sort of thinking.

I wonder what the other autistics think of being characterized as wearing diapers.

[philmoore]

Originally Posted by lfm

I wonder what the other autistics think of being characterized as wearing diapers.

I represent that remark!

[ewmayer]

Originally Posted by lfm

I wonder what the other autistics think of being characterized as wearing diapers.

I took that pretty much straight from the NPR piece ... can't say whether that sort of thinking is common amongst the Asperger's folks:

But the change is going to be hard for some people with Asperger's, says Michael John Carley, executive director of the Global and Regional Asperger Syndrome Partnership in New York and author of Asperger's From the Inside Out. "I personally am probably going to have a very hard time calling myself autistic," says Carley, who was diagnosed with Asperger's years ago.

Many people with Asperger's take pride in a diagnosis that probably describes some major historical figures, including Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison, Carley says. Under the new system, those people would represent just one extreme of a spectrum. On the other extreme is "somebody who might have to wear adult diapers and maybe a head-restraining device. This is very hard for us to swallow," he says.

One of the ramifications I heard discussed on the evening news last night which might prove beneficial for folks with Asperger's (but of a less-functioning flavor than the Einsteinian or Edisonian, i.e. folks who suffer some genuine social and/or learning impairment as a result) is that the proposed ASD diagnosis might make it easier for them to obtain help and insurance coverage for e.g. special educational needs related to their condition.

[joblack]

Originally Posted by Fusion_power

I thought about this and decided to post to open up a question that may be taboo to many.

I have noticed that many of the people who frequent this message board exhibit behaviors that resemble Aspberger's syndrome. It is characterized by social ineptness, tendency to focus exclusively on a fixed subject, inability to interact effectively with other people, failed relationships, lack of close friends, and a tendency toward outstanding achievement in some specific field such as mathematics.

I'm impressed. You could see that in a few forum entries. Wow - we don't need personal contact with the doctor - you can just read some entries and it's fine.

I think you are kind of biased because you're son has it. I doubt that there are a lot of cases (somebody suspected the TV figure 'Dr. House' has it - but he's just an ass ;=).

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