the autism/aspergers merge is looking better & better

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My therapist (*my* therapist!) is obsessed with whether my son "has" autism or Aspergers. Every time I talk about him, she goes "That sounds like Aspergers... but that other thing you said sounds more like autism..." and so on and so on. It's like she can't relax until she has him pigeonholed with some label!

She's been helpful in other ways, and is covered by insurance, but that is driving me up the wall!

Maybe she feels that she won't have done her job fully until she comes up with a positive diagnosis...whatever that means.

Um...correct me if I'm wrong...

isn't Aspergers a mild TYPE of Autism?

i think the therapist is differentiating between aspergers disorder and autistic disorder, which are separate disorders but are both under the umbrella of autism spectrum disorders. while aspergers is often called a mild form of autism, that can be incorrect as the difference between the two can be as simple as delayed language acquisition and they can be indistinguishable once language is acquired.

her error is in thinking that one can fit only criteria for one. while technically that is true, it is only true because one criteria for aspergers is that the individual does not fit the criteria for any other asd. so one can fit the observational criteria for both, but not fit the aspergers further criteria of not fitting criteria for another asd. someone in that situation should therefore be diagnosed autism disorder and not aspergers disorder.

and i, too, will be thankful when this kind of thing is in the past heh.

It is very confusing. I too keep wondering if my son fits more of the Asperger criteria or autism criteria. I think it makes a difference when trying to decide what type of educational plan is most beneficial for them. I don't know though, maybe I am wrong.

I just use whatever terms comes to mind or that I think will be most appropriate to the circumstances. I've never found it made a lick of difference, other than that having an official autism diagnosis is very useful in terms of getting services for him.

The folks in our school district that we are dealing with said they don't use the term Asperger's anymore, they just use the autism spectrum disorder term and put all kids in that same category. I don't know if this is good or bad. I don't really care if they label him ASD, HFA or Asperger's, I'm just glad we are able to receive the services he needs.

I spent WAY too much time pondering this same question with regard to my daughter: HFA or AS? She was dx AS by a very qualified center but through my own research I believe she is HFA.

Really, all that energy trying to find the "correct" dx is wasted energy. No dx is going to describe your child 100% and no 2 people on the spectrum are the same.

For a "black and white" or data driven thinker (like myself) it's pretty easy to get caught up in the EXACT dx but in the end it's not that important! A label won't change your child.

And the "official" Autism dx isn't very helpful in getting services here-the school can override a medical dx. The school systems really SUCK here.

Why do they call it a spectrum if they're only going to recognize three or four specific points on it? </rhetorical question>

Asperger's is on the autism spectrum, and is commonly referred to as a "mild" form of autism based mostly on stereotypical behaviors, and by comparing extreme examples. I am diagnosed AS, and my particular issues are disabling - not "mild".

Since autism is a spectrum, and where one falls on that spectrum varies over time, any label will not be accurate for long, and may not be useful at all in a practical sense. Services for any individual should be determined by which the issues a particular individual is having difficulty with. Labeling a spectrum individual as Fixed Point X and providing a generic set of services whether or not they apply to that particular individual is neither logical nor helpful.




Yes, I look forward to a day when I and all spectrum kind are seen as human beings, not a "disorder" or, worse, a "disease".

The only problem with just labeling it all one thing, is that there are varying levels of functioning, so there has to be some determination as to what classroom a child should be placed in. I agree that my son is autistic, but there is a difference in the levels of functioning, so how are the schools going to this? Will they just call it mild, moderate, severe ASD?

Well, hopefully they will look past labelling to the individual child and make decisions based on the particular child's strengths and weaknesses.

I'm in Scotland, and my experience so far, and actually articulated the other week by my son's OT, is that the label is a means of being pointed in the right direction and from then on in, the professionals involved look at the child as an individual - not as a "type".

I do, however, understand that our experience seems to be unusual.

On my son's IEP, the language in regard to functioning is not about the diagnosis but about how severely his disability impairs his ability to get an education - I don't remember exactly the wording, but "severe" has always been checked for him. I suspect it is more his ADHD than his autism that causes him to be "severe", since he is very "high-functioning" by most measurements.

Maybe since my son is still so young, (5) I am not real sure how his education plan is going to pan out. He started in special needs pre-k when he was 3 and attended it for 2 yrs. He also went 2 days a week to a "regular" private preschool. He did okay there, he didn't really play with the other kids, but he did okay. The last 2 yrs my son's language has improved dramatically. He had been in a class with mostly non-verbal kids. The school tested his IQ, and it came back on the lower end. I am just having a real hard time believing that my son has a low IQ, because he seems to be improving in most areas (except social). I feel that my son just doesn't test very well---not sure why, but I just think he is not performing to his full ability on these tests. Compared to what I know that he can do.

Anyway, I think I am getting off of the topic, but I am just concerned that my son will get placed in lower functioning classes. I guess I will have to really keep my eye on it.

Angelbear, that's why you need a full and geniune inclusion policy.

I am still very unsure about the merge. I have zero concerns about losing the 'elite' label, but many concerns about being able to target information, resources and services to families. The stuff I needed to find out to help my son (with Aspergers) is vastly different from many of the things families with a child in a different place on the spectrum would need. I also worry about this being a setback in terms of autism awareness. I want people to become aware that there are many different forms of autism on the spectrum, and depending on how the DSM does the merge, we may lose a lot of the nuance. I guess only time will tell.

Well, maybe you should just suggest to her that she settle on PDD-NOS...lol

Caitlin, what is a full and genuine inclusion policy?

Yes, it will be very interesting to see how this all plays out.