Not autistic under DSM 5!

Post Reply New Topic

There are environmental agents/toxins that causes hormonal changes in human beings as well as the potential of triggering differences in the expression of genes, that are being studied as epigenetic factors in autism, by researchers.

And there are cultural factors, as well that are being studied as potential environmental factors.

Many of these factors have the potential of affecting human behavior, some of which are similiar to some of the criteria associated with an Autism Spectrum diagnosis. In some cases they could make a difference in whether or not an individual is diagnosed, and in others cases the severity of symptoms.

Too many unrelated factors have been identified with different expressions of autism spectrum disorders for there to be any realistic hope to identify all individuals diagnosed as such with one physiological test, or one identified cause.

However, if environmental factors are determined and they can be avoided it is a step in the right direction.

Actually it's not autism speaks that does the research. Independent researchers across the country compete for available grant money that autism speaks provides for selected research topics from their science advisory board.

The concern over losing one's diagnosis is not an Autism Speaks organizational specific issue or concern; it is a concern of other organizations including ASAN, and the Autism Society of America, as well as respected researchers that have studied the issue.

The research below is what generated the most concern nationwide.

Autism Speaks funded researchers are working with the previous data from the South Korea study, to determine how the criteria in the DSMV affects the more than 50,000 individuals they have data on that were studied with DSMIV criteria.

The research is vital in providing input to the DSMV from as many demographic environments as possible, so the organization can make informed tweaks to the final revision of the DSMV

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120410163650.htm



In real life it's not likely one is going to lose a diagnosis if you they have one, unless there is a third party sourced need to be re-diagnosed for some type of support, or a mutual decision between patient and professional for a rediagnosis. If one is applying for some type of support it could be an issue, as a current assessment is often required as part of the application process.

I personally cannot lose any diagnoses as I don't have one, but from what I've seen of the DSM-5 criteria I would still fit in the autism category. But yeah it is hard to apply for support if you don't have an official diagnoses.

All of the research on the DSMV vs DSMIV criteria are DSM specific. There are no other guidelines being considered, at this point in time.

The DSM is the commonly used standard for diagnosis in the US. The criteria between the DSMV definition for Autism and the DSMIV definition for Aspergers is significantly different at this point in time, particularly in that some criteria is mandatory in the DSMV whereas the criteria is not currently mandatory in the DSMIV, for example, non-verbal communication difficulties and difficulties developing and maintaining friendships.

If I remember correctly those issues have been covered earlier in this thread and in others threads in detail, on a point by point basis.

The ICD10 and the Gillberg criteria are standards commonly used in other countries.

Some doctors do use extensive testing for ASD's, but others do rely on observation, in regard to the DSM standards. A neuropsychiatrist is more likely to provide extensive testing than a licensed social worker, psychologist, or psychiatrist.

The social security administration and public school systems will no longer consider Aspergers and PDD NOS as a valid diagnosis in the US, after the new criteria go into effect, for those that seek support through those avenues that require re-assesment.

If at some point you need to apply for SSI, the government provides doctors to assess your mental health issues if you are not able to afford a private doctor. However an established medical record of treatment is helpful in getting approved.

From what you have reported here, it's probably more likely that you would be approved for your ongoing reported issues associated with Depression, if they continue as they have in the past, over and above a diagnosis of Aspergers or the new Autism Spectrum Disorder; depression is the most common reported disabling condition by the World Health Organization worldwide, and the source of the majority of cases of disability in the US.

Not suggesting you wouldn't be diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder, but it's often not considered to be disabling enough to qualify for actual financial support from the government, for those that have milder cases, in the US, although I understand this is not the case in some other countries, where aid is much easier to gain.

Your case could be serious enough; that would depend on the professionals designated to assess your condition.

I'm sorry to hear that, I hope that you feel people are treating you nicely here.

Pretty much all through middle school, I felt like my dog was my only friend.

I had thousands of acquaintances I've had cordial relationships with through the rest of the course of my lifetime; but close friends I did without for decades, other than my family.

I was honestly too busy working, to even think about it most of the time, and I was around so many people constantly, literally coming into contact with over 100 a day for decades, that I looked forward to being alone in my backyard, more than anything else in life. I enjoyed mowing grass more than any other leisure activity in life.

I worked with many of the same people and around the same customers for over two decades though. The acquaintances really felt like family, although I never did anything with them after work.

It was a military installation, so maybe that makes a difference in how people accept people. There was rarely any discrimination of anyone. Everyone was a shipmate regardless of minority status or difference. People really looked after people no matter how different they were.

I was really shocked to come here and see that people didn't like what they called NT's. Doesn't come close to the way I see people, but it was a very disclipined and controlled environment that I was part of most of my life.

After I left that workplace after over 23 years, it felt like a family of 1000 people disappeared into thin air; The routine went on for so long, I didn't think it could end. I was faced with the reality that a friend and an aquaintance at work, are two completely different things.

It was the first time I really came to the realization of just how socially inadequate I was, as a human being, since the time of middle school, and the transition between high school and college.

If I wasn't married, had a sister, and a mother, I would be completely socially isolated at this point in my life. I miss the faces and contact with so many interesting people.

Life can get better, if one finds somehwere where to fit in. I was lucky in that respect, on the level of a lottery winner, and wish you the same fortune in life.

This is my point and thank you for summarizing it so well.
AS requires having no speech delay, classical autism requires having a speech delay,
but speech delay (it is not written "mutism") means that speech can/will appear later, so being "non-verbal" is a trait, which can/will dissapear.
Sensory issues for example are permanently there and do not dissapear, but this is hardly taken into diagnostic consideration that it does exsist.


http://www.frontiersin.org/human_neuroscience/10.3389/fnhum.2010.00224/abstract

In my understanding the Intense World Theory deals with these sensory issues (external and internal), as they are the result from a hyper-perception, hyper-attention, hyper-memory and hyper-emotionality, thus the hyper-functioning of the brain.

Classical autism does not require a speech delay. It allows a speech delay. So, some (many?) people with classical autism had a speech delay but some people with classical autism spoke on time and did not have a speech delay.

Either that or they would diagnose me with something that sometimes gets confused with autism but whatever.

Thank you for clarification.
[edit: I see it got clarified before by Verdandi, but I guess I was too unattentive, sorry for that mistake]

Last edited by Eloa on 15 Apr 2012, 6:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.

http://foa.sagepub.com/content/21/1/2.abstract

It's testing to see how they function, in regard to Neuropsychiatrists.

I agree that it is possible that a person can be qualified for SSI/SSDI disability benefits with mild forms of autism, like aspergers, but it usually is the co-morbid conditions that make the difference, along with many other factors, like work history, age, and financial resources as well with SSI.

For those seeking to be defined disabled under the ADA, and receive protection there, it is common practice that people are qualified, diagnosed with milder forms of ASD's like Aspergers, as long as they meet assessment criteria.

PDD NOS, is definitely being subsumed into Autism Spectrum disorder per the current revision of the DSMV, as Aspergers is.

There really is no guarantee that a person currently diagnosed with Aspergers or a person currently diagnosed with PDD NOS will retain a diagnosis under the new diagnosis of ASD, depending on their symptoms and the diagnosing professional, if re-assessed.

Some will be re-assessed having completely different disorders, such as Social Communication Disorder.

http://www.dsm5.org/ProposedRevisions/Pages/proposedrevision.aspx?rid=98

I DVR-ed this 2010 documentary called "Decoding Autism" on PBS the other day. I watched it last night, and one point they kept driving home that really irks me relates to our conversation on here. So, I thought I'd post about it. I realized that one reason I don't connect much with the label of autism is because of the "warning signs" I get sick and tired of hearing about in the news and pamphlets. Both the media and psychology organizations keep harping on the "red flags" of children not talking before age 2, not responding to their name, not pointing at objects, etc. I never had ANY of these so-called "classic" signs. I had AS signs since birth, but they were things like sensory issues, special interests from toddlerhood onwards, and hyperlexia.

It really annoys me that, in one breath, these "educational" programs say that autism is a spectrum of all different abilities and symptoms, but in the next breath, they keep reinforcing that an autistic toddler is going to show stereotypical Kanner's symptoms. Does this bother anyone else? If I'm really supposed to be considered autistic, why are there no "red flags" for AS-type development being listed? I clearly had "red flags," but they are NEVER the ones you hear about in society.

Well, those red flags you mentioned that you had are also red flags for autism, or should be. Hyperlexia, for example, is apparently something 10% of autistic children do, regardless of diagnosis. And the majority of autistic children have sensory issues of some kind or other.

It is problematic that they constantly focus on the most stereotypical symptoms as the only red flags to watch out for, but I don't take it personally. It would be helpful to provide a longer list.

It's also problematic that people assume a certain list of traits = Kanner's when Kanner himself identified a wide range of abilities and impairments in his patients, and some of them would have fit in perfectly with Asperger's patients. All of Asperger's patients would have fit in perfectly with Kanner's patients, for that matter.

Yes, I wish they would have a longer list of symptoms or, at the very least, a list of red flags for different subsets and different severities. As for Kanner's type, I use that nomenclature to describe what Kanner's autism is described as today (mainly the type described in the stereotypical red flags). I realize that both Asperger and Kanner studied many patients of many skill levels in their original papers.

I had almost all of the stereotypical red flags of Kanner's when I was a kid, but by the time I was ten or so, after I had learned to communicate, some of the red flags had switched over to the stereotypical red flags of Asperger's, e.g. now that I can speak, I will respond to my name, then go on and on and on about my special interest, e.g. now that I can understand what I am reading, I will spend all my time researching topics instead of stacking objects, e.g. now that I know what pointing means, I will eventually remember to look in the direction of the point instead of at the finger, and I will even use my own finger to point at things for other people to look at. This last one is a red flag of both Asperger's and Kanner's, of autism in general. It's like each new thing that I learned, with a large delay compared to when an NT or stereotypical Asperger's child learned it, removed one of the stereotypical red flags of Kanner's, and I went from having mostly traits associated with one group in childhood to having a mix of traits in adulthood - stereotypical Kanner's traits, stereotypical Asperger's traits, my own traits, and a few NT traits too. So I favor the DSM-V because I don't see the spectrum as that group and this group. I have been in various groups during development, and now I just give up the groups altogether.

Well considering what has been posted of the new criteria, why would people with AS or PDD NOS not retain a diagnoses....considering most people with AS and PDD-NOS fit enough of the criteria to still receive an autism diagnoses. Though It would not make sense to lump PDD NOS in with autism as that would be like lumping all the PDDs into autism which I doubt is their plan. So what makes you so sure they're lumping PDD NOS in with autism in the new DSM?