Who is wrong and who is right?

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Good Morning,

I have a a child with ASD. They would actually meet the criteria for Aspergers but apparently the don't diagnose that around here anymore, just ASD.
Anyway, we have some professionals that don't appear to agree with each other regarding the diagnosis. Most people he works with one on one don't seem to have a the same issues as we do at home or in the classroom. I'll admit that the paper work from the prior assessments is sparse and things have been missed out.
Are there any other conditions or problems that could have led to a wrongful diagnosis of ASD? I just don't know where to start with this all so any info appreciated, thank you,

Sally xx

Aspergers IS is a subset of ASD (autism spectrum disorders). So saying "not aspergers but is ASD" is kinda like saying "not Nebraskan, but is an American". Its not like the two things are head on contradictions. Aspergers was eliminated from the DSM a couple of years ago. So the folks who give him the ASD label are just using the newer label.

Autism is a spectrum ranging from low functioning folks who cant speak/dress to high functioning (Sheldon Leonard on the Big Bang Theory is the stereotype). Aspergers is a kind of side branch of high functioning autism. Basically the only difference between HFA and aspergers is that if you had a delay in learning to talk when you were a child you were labeled HFA, and if you learned to talk at the normal time children do you were diagnosed with "aspergers".

From what I gather children diagnosed today who would have been labeled "aspergers" the few years ago are now labeled "high functioning autistic with no speech delay" (ie instead of being called "six" they are now called "half of a dozen"). So that maybe the only "difference" in these labels he is being given.

It's tricky business. There are borderline ASD diagnoses, PDD-NOS, or "atypical" ASD, such as Naturalplastic mentioned, where one or more of the criteria is not met. I have heard of many, myself included, who were first diagnosed with ADD and/or bi-polar, when ASD was the actual case. Just because I haven't heard of the reverse does not mean it doesn't occur.

What strikes me most in what you write is the difference you mentioned one on one. People with ASD very often behave very differently in different environments. The classroom, for example, may be overstimulating or filled with difficult social pressures and routines. Also, most of us who participated in another thread about it, acknowledge behaviors very different at home than in public.

The only other thing I can offer is this: Many psychologists and behavior specialists do school visits, where they have a chance to observe him among his peers and responding to the various stimuli. This could be your tie-breaker.

Best wishes. I am sure others on this forum will have more and better insights.

PDD-NOS was elimininated as an official diagnosis well as Aspergers in the current DSM manual. Aspergers as well as Atypical Autism are diagnosis in the ICD manual. A few studies have indicated that out of all the eliminated diagnosis those that would have been diagnosed with PDD-NOS in the previous DSM manual are less likely to be diagnosed with ASD in the current manual compared with the other eliminated diagnosis.

Most everybody has some autistic traits and many Autistic traits are present in other diagnosable conditions. The line is blurred between what is a typical person with a number of autistic traits and a autistic person. Proffesionals can and do disagree on where this line should be drawn.

The idea no matter what the label is to get the proper help for his problems.

Some health professionals just aren't very good. I guess the only way to be more certain is to get a third opinion. One never really knows about ASD unless it's a fairly extreme case. Unfortunately they have this arbitrary threshold below which the client is deemed not to have ASD at all, though objectively everybody has it to some degree. Just my 2 cents.

Hello,

Thank you for all your replies. We weren't even given any terms such as high functioning but his speech development was actually advanced compared to peers of the same age. He scored in very high percentiles for speech and language and cognitive function overall but had noticeably lower scores on literal understanding, make recalling and processing speed. Everything you have all said makes a lot of sense.
I think the disagreement is that it might just be anxiety and the processing speed that cause his difficulties. He does have difficulties in a wide range of other areas however, these include;
•Moderate sensory problems
•Sleeping problems
•Collecting/very consuming interests
•Angry outbursts
•Cries like a much younger child
•Runs off and hides under things
•Refuses to take part or do some activities
•Self harm (I don't believe he wants to hurt himself, I think it's frustration)
•Difficulties seeing someone
else's opinion/feelings

I wasn't expecting him to get the diagnosis if I'm honest. I know several families who were convinced their child had autism and they did not meet the criteria. Having done quite a lot of reading on children in his age bracket with Aspergers/HF A, I do think he presents very similarly and meets enough criteria but I am now concerned it may be something else.
I'm going to try and book another appointment with the team that gave him his diagnosis. Thank you,

S