Asperger's Syndrome To Be Removed From DSM?

[Fawfulfan]

In 2013, a new edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders will be released...and a new proposal will remove "Asperger's Syndrome". If this happens, the diagnosis for such people will become "High-Functioning Autistic Psychological Disorder".

Speaking as somebody who has this psychological disorder, and as someone who has spent a lot of time both with people of the same diagnosis and people with more general autism diagnoses, I feel that this would be a terrible mistake. There are traits specific to Asperger's which would make this new kind of diagnosis too broad for anyone to make heads or tails of it. I think that it will cause people to assume that those formerly diagnosed with Asperger's are more impaired than they are. Indeed, my own psychiatrist, along with the entire AANE, is fighting this.

What do you think?

 

[frozenLake]

I think this is complete bullshit, and the person who came up with this should be immortal, but have an atom bomb droped on them.

Good thing the world ends in 2012.

 

[Jacy]

I have a friend who has Asperger's syndrome and I know a few autistic kids and you're right, the new diagnosis is too broad. Thank god there are people fighting against the new diagnosis.

 

[JEV3]

Speaking purely in terms of semantics, I prefer to keep things from being limited to the broad label. Should we say "Green end of the blue spectrum" instead of "cyan" or "polygon with three sides" instead of "triangle"?

Asperger's Syndrome is ALREADY a High-functioning form of Autism and the only thing that would really be changed is how it is identified. I think it is more efficient to identify it with its own name than to give it such a bloated title. Its also a term that has been in circulation for a long time, so changing it is problematic because people will STILL be using it anyway, regardless of whether or not the DSM covers it.

 

[Digiku]

The funny thing is that not many have really looked at the _biological basis_ of Asperger's, and whether it's truly related to autism. There are two items where this "biological basis" fits in:

1. IS Asperger's really related? If it's not, then that means you should NOT treat Asperger's people similarly to Autistics. Otherwise:

2. Even IF Asperger's biological basis is similar to Autism's, that still does not satisfy _causation:_ What _caused_ the brain structure to be so "Aspergian?" Is it nature-born, or was it nurtured by your parents? Because if it's found to be nurtured, then that changes everything because Asperger's programs do NOT focus on bad parenting.

AFAIK, all links between Autism <--> Asperger's are based on behavioral evidence. Not so much biological. This paper finds that it's too early to say Autism and Asperger's are the same phenomenon.

 

[akirahedgehog]

Autism is a really wide spectrum and it wouldn't surprise me if Aspergers fell perfectly inside it somewhere. However I feel that with Autism being such a wide spectrum that it would be good to have different sections of it divided up better with names like Aspergers to help people get the specific kind of help they would need.

 

[Fawfulfan]

2. Even IF Asperger's biological basis is similar to Autism's, that still does not satisfy _causation:_ What _caused_ the brain structure to be so "Aspergian?" Is it nature-born, or was it nurtured by your parents? Because if it's found to be nurtured, then that changes everything because Asperger's programs do NOT focus on bad parenting.

There's no freakin' way it's caused by bad parenting, at least if you look at my case period. That theory has been discredited, and there is strong evidence to suggest genetics plays a big hand in this. In fact, I credit my having Asperger's in the first place to nature, and the vast progress I've made in fighting it to nurture.

Autism is a really wide spectrum and it wouldn't surprise me if Aspergers fell perfectly inside it somewhere. However I feel that with Autism being such a wide spectrum that it would be good to have different sections of it divided up better with names like Aspergers to help people get the specific kind of help they would need.

The funny thing is, what most people call the "Autism Spectrum" isn't actually just for autism. The actual name for the spectrum is the "Pervasive Developmental Delay" Spectrum, or PDD. This range of psychological disorders includes autism, Asperger's Syndrome, and a much rarer condition known as Child Desintigrative Disorder (CDD).

Merging all of that under autism is arbitrary and misleading, because there are significant differences between all these disabilities. The PDD Spectrum is already designed to incorporate all of them; I don't think anyone who worked closely with autism, Asperger's, and CDD could kid themselves that they are just "high-functioning" or "low-functioning" forms of the same psychological disorder.

 

[Prime 2.0]

Errrm, yeah. Speaking as a person diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, I can say that I'd rather not have it cannibalized by the broader label of high-functioning autism. I had to deal with enough generalizations about me based on the symptoms of my condition without the basis for those assumptions being a blanket term.

 

[Gemini Spark]

Me neither. I don't like this one bit. People with Asperger's, myself included, would be looked at as autistic in general, even if it turns out to be a milder form of autism. Also, if it isn't really autism, then it definitely shouldn't be labeled as such because it would be inaccurate.

Speaking of which, this would be a good topic for the Colosseum.

 

[MascaraSnake]

Speaking of which, this would be a good topic for the Colosseum.

It wouldn't because we have yet to find somebody who disagree. This would be a one-way debate.

 

[Fawfulfan]

There's one thing I've noticed throughout this entire discussion...everyone seems to be view being labeled autistic as the ultimate insult. While I'd rather not be called autistic for the sake of avoiding confusion and prejudice, I actually believe that people with autism are incredibly bright and talented in a variety of areas...it's just that their ability to communicate and connect with other people is so impaired that their gifts aren't apparent.

You know, there are even some psychologists who posit that autism shouldn't even actually be considered a disorder; rather, it should be thought of as a different sort of configuration, almost like homosexuality. Personally, I think that this is a bit extreme, given that the challenges autistic people face directly damage their ability to communicate with other human beings, but I think it's an intriguing idea. Also, consider this: just 30 or 40 years ago, homosexuality was viewed as a psychological impairment as well (and still is, by some intolerant people).

 

[Spirit Dragon]

I think this is complete bullshit, and the person who came up with this should be immortal, but have an atom bomb droped on them.

Good thing the world ends in 2012.

They said the world was going to end in 2000. What happened. It's 2010.

 

[I'll Begin]

I already hate being lumped together with other Aspergers people. I don't want to be lumped together with the entire Autism spectrum too.