Report of the DSM-V Neurodevelopmental Disorders Work Group
Thank you for putting this into words. I know exactly what you mean and never could quite express it.
All co-morbidity means is that you have a physical/mental disorder in conjunction with another physical/mental disorder (respectively). It's a medical term, and implies nothing except for what people without qualifications project onto it.
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Averages
AS: 138.8
NT : 54.6
Yes, I don't like it either. I know what it means scientifically, but still do not care for it. Instead, I thing co-occurring makes much more sense even if it does not roll off the tongue as easily.
Anyway, when is the exact release date for dsm5? I wanted to hear more about the updates on it, but don't know where to look.
They can't take away a diagnosis given under dsmiv, can they? I don't know if I would qualify for ASD then. Maybe that social communication disorder that Temple Grandin spoke about.
If you take everybody diagnosed with Asperger's and compare them to each other, you'll probably find what look like "polar opposites" of ability all over the place. The same thing would happen with those diagnosed with Autistic Disorder -- although maybe to a greater extent.
It's not just people diagnosed with Asperger's who can speak -- not everyone with Autistic Disorder is incapable of speech; I have trouble with communicating through speech in many situations, but that doesn't mean I can't speak at all. The dividing line between Asperger's and Autistic Disorder is not as clear as many people think it is.
Personally, I think that lumping all the diagnoses together could be a good thing -- because the fact of the matter is that people with autism (any kind of autism) are all different from one another in numerous ways. A model of the differences in symptoms and functioning among people with ASD diagnoses, if put into a geometrical/visual-spatial form in my mind, looks more like a koosh ball than a thermometer/ladder/ruler -- it's more complicated than a single, two-directional spectrum....I think that lumping all the current diagnoses together might force people to look at more of the dimensions of ASD and look more at individual needs/differences than at how closely someone fits a narrow stereotype.
I could be totally wrong about this, but...I think that even if lumping all the diagnoses together doesn't compel non-autistic people to consider individual differences when meeting or thinking about people with ASDs, I don't think it will make the situation any worse than it already is in terms of people just imagining stereotypes instead of getting to know the person with Asperger's/Autistic Disorder/PDD/ASD...because as it is, there's huge variation between people with the same diagnosis and most people use stereotypes and preconceived notions about autism/asperger's as the basis for their expectations of someone on the spectrum, instead of getting to know that someone as an individual. Stereotypes don't really account for any range in behavior/presentation or functioning at all -- they're a way of looking at people and saying, "because you can be described as A, you must be/have exactly W,x,Y, and z because all people with A are/have exactly W,x,Y and z".... if you're missing x, if your 'z' is drawn backwards, or if your 'W' is actually a lowercase 'w' then you automatically don't match the stereotype and people get confused/upset/angry/argumentative/dismissive or just completely refuse to believe that you don't have 'x', or that instead of a 'W you actually have a 'w'.
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All co-morbidity means is that you have a physical/mental disorder in conjunction with another physical/mental disorder (respectively). It's a medical term, and implies nothing except for what people without qualifications project onto it.
Then why doesn't the DSM talk about "co-morbidity" of cancer with schizophrenia or of cirrhosis of the liver with bipolar disorder?
Language as used is never actually neutral, it always comes with presumptions and assumptions.
Verdandi
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All co-morbidity means is that you have a physical/mental disorder in conjunction with another physical/mental disorder (respectively). It's a medical term, and implies nothing except for what people without qualifications project onto it.
Then why doesn't the DSM talk about "co-morbidity" of cancer with schizophrenia or of cirrhosis of the liver with bipolar disorder?
Language as used is never actually neutral, it always comes with presumptions and assumptions.
Co-morbidity refers to conditions that are correlated or even implicated in causation. No one has cancer with a schizophrenia comorbid because the two are not implicated together. Also, I do not recall that the DSM focuses on physical ailments.
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I received this link in an email from the GRASP general email list. It looks like NIMH is having second thoughts about the DSM 5 in general.
http://mindhacks.com...m_source=feedly
Seems a little more than just "second thoughts".
http://www.science20.com/science_20/blo ... sm5-111138
I read the statements, it was pretty rough on the DSM in general. Coming two weeks prior to DSM-5, the timing could be questioned.
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Which is why I think the DSM is 98% bull feces! Another board I sometimes visit on getting off psychotropic drugs safely under medical supervision, has a real strong bias against the APA medicalizing problems of everyday life. The APA is so beholden to BIG PHARMA, with all the corruption running rampant between those organizations, let alone the FDA and NIMH. The APA has a idea of normal that nt's, let alone those of us on the spectrum, have no idea what the fsck they want.
Informative quote from source cited above. Tells interested parties how they may influence the DSM categorizations.
"All interested parties will have an opportunity to weigh in on the proposed changes. The American Psychiatric Association is expected to post the working group’s final proposal on autism diagnostic criteria on the diagnostic manual’s Web site in January and invite comment from the public. Dr. Swedo and company are bracing for an earful."
The "bracing for an earful" comment makes me suspect input will not be valued highly.
As a physical scientist (geology) I find current attempts at defining by diagnosis various disorders under the umbrella of Autism quite unscientific. Questions need to be asked: on what physical basis are diagnosis made? Anyone with a birth defect, abnormal brain development, damage from toxins or chemicals during pregnancy, premature birth or abuse ought to be treated for those conditions and not be lumped in with people who represent a personality type that occurs naturally in humans that is, individuals who process the environment differently that what is considered to be normal, when normal is defined by the prejudices of the social majority. Where is the scientific justification for claiming that one group of behaviors defines Homo sapiens and that any person who deviates from this narrow prescription is defective? This prejudice against those who are 'disobedient' is a religious notion; not science. In fact there is a long history of religions persecuting the very people who fit the modern diagnosis of so-called Aspergers disorder - people who in fact have created civilization through science, engineering, technology and the arts.
...has been said:
http://thenewinquiry.com/essays/book-of-lamentations/
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Aw, heck! As a neuroscientist (molecular psychiatry), I find current attempts at classification as expressed in the DSM or similar books to be quite unscientific. The DSM began as a purely clinical effort to attempt to bring a little bit of order to a field with no consistency of diagnosis. Until the DSM came out, it was complete chaos in the USA. However, the DSM was issued for and by clinicians, with little reference to biology. It has been updated, but there is still little reference to biology.
The dirty secret is that this is not always due to politicking on the part of clinicians. Truth be told, except for a few disorders (mostly on the schizoid axis) we know next to dink about associated biology. Thus, we have "autism" still used to describe a whole host of conditions that may turn out to be biologically distinct. Likewise, there is the matter that this is a clinical matter, not a pathology manual. Thus, from the point of view of an emergency room physician, it's not immediately important whether or not a broken arm was caused by falling off a chair, running into a wall, an abusive spouse, or other cause, except as that influences symptoms associated with said broken arm. Those are pathology issues, not immediate diagnosis treatment issues.
It's a complicated thing, and the DSM model should eventually be replaced, but neuroscience as such didn't exist until very recently. Holding to the standard of physics is flat-out goofy.
Thanks, I like it!
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DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity
“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman
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