NEW CATEGORY IN DSM5!Social communication disorder

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that is exactly what i thoiugh! Why can't autism be acceptable enough? Whats the friking stigma?

Just been reading on NVLD, can relate to a lot of that also

It's a good change, cleans up everything nicely from the ambiguity that was autism before.

Hi alan78.

Social Communication Disorder is what brought me back here after things didn't work out with the Aspie I'd been dating, because people had mentioned my similarities to the autism spectrum. I was also diagnosed with ADD in the 90s, and I thought it fit well enough at the time, but as an adult I didn't see it as much anymore, and I felt like it couldn't quite explain everything. In particular, it didn't explain aloofness and disinterest in fiction, trouble making sense of lies and tact, or why I tended to take things literally or too far when I was a kid. That plus the more ADD-ish stuff like not taking turns in conversation, saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, and poor executive function (disorganization and lack of self-control) seems to fit better with Pragmatic Language Impairment, kind of a precursor of the Social Communication Disorder concept, than it does with ADD. And I ruled out Asperger's or high functioning autism due to the lack of repetitive behaviors or sensory issues, and I ruled out NLD due to the lack of problems with motor skills or visual-spatial skills.

So, not everyone with problems learning social interaction is necessarily autistic.

I've gotten a lot better over time, but my social skills are still probably toward the low end of "normal" (especially for a woman), and I still tend to have moments of bad manners and that natural aloofness/disinterest which can make it a little trickier than it ought to be to make new friends. I've been taken as snobby when I just didn't know what to say to the new people, though the people who thought me possibly snobby came to like me more after seeing me more relaxed and open with my new boyfriend around. (My new boyfriend is not on the autistic spectrum nor does he have a history of social skills problems, but he has his own neuro/psych quirks and so knows what it's like to not be able to just roll with the punches like most people.)

Hey

Thanks for the reply GITW

It seems a nod in the right direction. I have always been convinced i have some autistic traits. As i say i find social communication really hard verging on impossible, especially with people i dont really know. I feel mentally inferior and when comparing myself to most people, they seem to cope far more easily in everyday life, and can hold down jobs and relationships, while i can do neither.

Also when people are in my social space i feel uneasy, i can go out and socialise, but its very minimal and only in situations i can control and leave at will. I am lucky i have good friends and they understand me.

When i am put in social situations i have no social control over, thats when the anxiety and real problems kick in.

As i say i have coped to now by having a really limited social life, but spending the majority of time on my own. Since last friday i have maybe spent about 6 hrs in the company of others, and half of that was with my mum. I have probably been in doors about 90% of that time, i have been out to the gym and shopping etc but i tend not to go out unless i need to or have something to do.

This year i have decided to try and help understand myself, as i say i have read a lot in this thread i can relate to, i seem to have severe social problems but can function socially but on a severly limited basis.

I can relate to a lot of what your saying, whatever i have is far more severe than ADD and Social Anxiety. Its just trying to find the right fit, thanks

Hi again alan78.

I hope you can understand yourself better and get help for your social issues. I wouldn't be surprised if stuff like your sense of inferiority ultimately came from living with your SCD symptoms as a kid. I think they call that secondary effects. In my case, I think the frustration of not being able to catch on to "common sense" and social skills and understand some of the ways that my family expressed love and acceptance (I had trouble with hugs) contributed to various neurotic attitudes such as perfectionism and pessimism that made it even harder for me to get along with people as a kid than simply not being able to figure out on time how to act.

In the process of pursuing dreams and finding other quirky people to have friendships and relationships with, I found that I've been doing a lot better as an adult than probably anyone imagined I would as a clever but backward and neurotic kid. So being a slow learner at social skills is not a death sentence. It's that we can't learn it the same way and/or the same rate as most other non-autistic people. Getting some help might set you on a good path, but if you want some books, you can try "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie, which basically describes how to act less self-centered and reach out to people (and it isn't only people with autism or SCD who need it!), and for intimate relationships, the books of John Gottman. I really like Gottman's books when I worry about screwing up my romantic life, because he spells out the most important relationship dynamics in a logical, scientific (if occasionally arrogant in his earlier works) way, so I don't feel like I have to leave my relationship up to whatever factors those who learned social skills more intuitively resort to.

Good luck!

Thanks again

Just joined this site today and its a wealth of knowledge, feel i fit right in and i'm learning so much. I went to get diagnosed for autism 2 years ago, I was told that because i didn't display repetitive behaviour then i didn't qualify for autism. I have since found out about Social Communication Disorder and now found out about PDD-NOS, basically both conditions say you dont need to have repetitive behaviour to have autistic traits. I suffer severely in the area of communication, so i believe i could still qualify.

Thanks for the the feedback and book ideas, i will check them out.

Glad i've joined this site because i'm learning so much

Just out of curiosity can people with autism still hold friendships and be social? I am not the most social person, but i have had friendships throughout my life, my previous Dr said i couldn't have autistic traits because i've had friends, he said autistic people aren't able to socialise or have friends, thus ruling me out.

I spoke to an an autistic charity today, and the advisor said that autistic people can have friendships and be social. Can anyone shed some light on this?

Thanks

From what I understand, autistic people can be social and have friends if they manage to find other quirky people and/or group activities which center more on shared interests than the elaborate social dances of certain non-autistic people. Temple Grandin, the famous high-functioning autistic, says that autistic children can and need to make friends through their interests. The Aspies and other autistic spectrum people of the board might have some more personal perspectives on this.

That's not the way I interpreted it. I don't believe it has anything to do with autism being unacceptable.

As AS has become more widely known, there has been massive public misunderstanding of it, due to the way it's talked about in the media and its most obvious outward symptoms. It's basically popularly understood as a social interaction deficit, people who are rude or aloof and not able to interact with others appropriately. Scarier still, there even seem to be therapists/counsellors/other lower-tier mental health professionals who are under this impression and suggest that people may have AS just because they are an introvert or have social difficulties. This is a very damaging misunderstanding, because people who are diagnosed on the autism spectrum have many other difficulties not related to social interaction (sensory and overstimulation problems, emotional overwhelm, obsessive behaviour, motor difficulties, and potentially numerous other things) which cause them to have special needs.

I actually think this distinction is a very clever move, because it ensures that people who present with social difficulties are screened for autism, those who don't display any other evidence of autistic thinking patterns are not erroneously diagnosed as autistic, and it breaks off the damaging public perception of AS, because everyone diagnosed with autism is just autistic. The people who currently mock AS no longer can, because in doing so they would mock people with more severe autism as well, which is clearly socially unacceptable.

While it may seem to some like unwarranted messing about with the diagnoses, I believe there is careful thought behind it.

I agree with Jinks about the necessity of distinguishing between genuine cases of autism spectrum conditions and other social communication disorders. I come to this conclusion from the other side of the fence, as someone who is non-autistic by all sensory and motor indications but who is commonly perceived by people who know my social history as "Asperger's." I've read lots of books, blogs, and forum threads about Asperger's and other ASDs, and many people on the spectrum say that their sensory and motor issues are a much bigger problem in their adult lives than their social learning delays. Whereas I feel that now that I've done a lot of catching up in the social department, I can't really be diagnosed with any disorder as an adult, though Social Communication Disorder would explain my younger years wonderfully.

I think care has to be taken so as not to miss any genuine cases of autism by, say, allowing the sensory and motor issues to have been present in childhood even if they're not as fully manifest today, and also to make sure that there are resources for non-autistics with Social Communication Disorder, such as the Social Stories programs used for kids with Asperger's and pragmatic language impairments in places such as Australia.

I am no longer going to describe myself with DSM-V traits.

I will just say 'excuse me, but I am a human bio-computer that was not pre-installed with all the standard human softwares'.

Now all the people who keep saying "It's just social awkwardness" can have their very own category.

This.

You're awesome.

So is this a neurological disorder? That cannot be "cured" just like aspergers?