DSM-V to potentially eliminate Asperger's dx

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No need to feel horrible. I guess I've never run into misconceptions of Autism. Not offline anyway. I have seen it on forums on occasion, but not that much. I've never had reason to feel any reason to deny I have Autism. If I had, I might feel more as you do.

Maybe part of the reason is that I have always been pretty forthright and felt no qualms about explaining it to people. I've not yet run into anyone who didn't realize it that had a problem with it once I explained it to them. It's probably our age difference too. If I had learned about this at your age, I probably would have encountered some of the same experiences, and felt the same way you do.

Don't worry, you, and those around you who misunderstand Autism, will outgrow it I'm sure. Besides, once the DX's all become just plain "Autism" (not that Autism is plain), and has been that way for a while, the stigma attached to it now will slowly lessen. It will lessen, because those that don't know will hear "Autism" associated more and more often with high functioning as well as low functioning Autism.

Like I said. People will learn, and I think they will become more aware faster once the DX's are changed.

He's been encased in Autism!

Hey wait...

Carbonite causes Autism?!

I'm still wondering if someone previously diagnosable (not previously diagnosed) with PDD-NOS would be considered on the spectrum. Also, is this a done deal or are they still hammering out the details?

I don't like the idea of being "autistic" because that is for people who are more impairments than me and I feel too normal so I will keep using the word Asperger's until I get rediagnosed, if I ever do. Heck I even have a hard time seeing people in my autism groups as autistic because they seem too normal. But then again I don't know their impairments because I don't see them and I am only seeing them for several hours or an hour and a half so I am not going to be seeing their struggles. I even joke about how they can sustain conversations so does that mean they failed the ASD criteria? But I am serious too because I really want to know because I don't understand it.

I also don't like the idea of diagnosing myself with social communication disorder because I am not fond of self diagnoses. I can say "I have Asperger's but social communication disorder seems to fit me better since I don't see my other ASD traits as impairing." I'm afraid I might be in the gray again. Rule out ASD to have SCD but if they can't rule out ASD, I don't have SCD but yet I might not meet the ASD criteria since I might not be impaired enough since it has to be everyday, not off and on like I am so there. I am in the gray.

No, people won't learn. Not people in general. People in general, by a big margin, are too stupid to properly learn. Just look at how the world is; the past tells the future, the future tells the past. Negative, I know, but looking at humanity - today, in the past and the distant past - one should be very pessimistic on matters of these sorts.

I also think Asperger's is more tilted towards being on the schizophrenia spectrum than on the autism spectrum, so I am very negative to this (yes, I know that schizophrenia isn't considered to have its own spectrum, currently).

I actually know a couple people who have been officially diagnosed with autism who are much less impared (and seem much more normal) than I am with a diagnosis of asperger's... I think that's one of those stereotypes.

I feel the same way. I also think that if schizophrenia treatments were modified to accommodate co-morbid autism symptoms there would be better outcomes for people who are worse off right now.

Why do you consider AS to be more on the "schizophrenia spectrum"? That makes no sense to me. I'm nothing like a schizophrenic, but I can see similarities between myself and even some low functioning autistic people.

~Kate

Autism was originally labeled as childhood schizophrenia. Also because there is a high co-morbidity rate. I have schizo affective and Aspergers, and I've meet a lot of people with mental illness who also have many learning disabilities, almost enough to warrant an ASD DX. Higher functioning people with Autism/Aspergers syndrome are still being misdiagnosed. I had a friend in the US DXed with schizo affective and I helped him get that completely changed to Aspergers. The similarities and co-morbidity is astounding. In Canada a psychiatrist would give an Aspie a Schizoptypal or schizophrenia DX, while a developmental psychologist would give them an ASD DX. This is still going on and I'm fighting to raise awareness but along the way I also noticed the high co-morbidity rate in myself and others.

My main opposition to it is that with eliminating the Asperger's diagnosis, there raising the threshold for getting an initial diagnosis. It'll be harder for people to get diagnosed. In category I, you need all the social criteria whereas in the aspergers dsm 4 you needed half. In category II, you need 2 out of the 4 whereas in the dsm4 you needed only 1. I don't need the criteria for the dsm5 autism. However my question is, once the dsm5 comes out, are we gonna be all consider autistics for those who have the aspergers diagnosis?

I was told yes.

This bizarre confusion between AS and anything on the schizophrenia spectrum is one of the reasons why AS should be eliminated and all autistics diagnosed with ASD according to the DSM-V.

I have similar concerns, besides issues with government and support. While in itself the proposed changes are logical, I'm not sure all the possible consequences that might arise have been properly taken into account.


Let it be.

Can anybody answer my question about PDD-NOS ?

If a person diagnosable with PDD-NOS meets 3 of 3 social communication and interaction criteria and 2 of 4 restricted and repetitive behavior criteria, then that person will be diagnosable with ASD. If not, then I guess not.

The person would probably be diagnosed with Social Communication disorder along with ASD traits. Maybe be told they have autistic tendencies but not enough to meet the ASD criteria. Maybe be told they would have been diagnosed with PDD-NOS if they were still using the DSM-IV criteria. Just like some of us would have been diagnosed with schizophrenia in the 70's or 60's or 50's. But they changed the criteria and doctor understand autism better.