What is Aspergers?
Now I'm just confused.
(1) marked impairment in the use of multiple nonverbal behaviors such as eye-to-eye gaze, facial expression, body postures, and gestures to regulate social interaction
(2) failure to develop peer relationships appropriate to developmental level
(3) a lack of spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment, interests, or achievements with other people (e.g., by a lack of showing, bringing, or pointing out objects of interest to other people)
(4) lack of social or emotional reciprocity
B.Restricted repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, and activities, as manifested by at least one of the following:
(1) encompassing preoccupation with one or more stereotyped and restricted patterns of interest that is abnormal either in intensity or focus
(2) apparently inflexible adherence to specific, nonfunctional routines or rituals
(3) stereotyped and repetitive motor mannerisms (e.g., hand or finger flapping or twisting, or complex whole-body movements)
(4) persistent preoccupation with parts of objects
C.The disturbance causes clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.
D.There is no clinically significant general delay in language (e.g., single words used by age 2 years, communicative phrases used by age 3 years).
E.There is no clinically significant delay in cognitive development or in the development of age-appropriate self-help skills, adaptive behavior (other than in social interaction), and curiosity about the environment in childhood.
F.Criteria are not met for another specific Pervasive Developmental Disorder or Schizophrenia.
(at least two of the following)
(a) inability to interact with peers
(b) lack of desire to interact with peers
(c) lack of appreciation of social cues
(d) socially and emotionally inappropriate behavior
2.All-absorbing narrow interest
(at least one of the following)
(a) exclusion of other activities
(b) repetitive adherence
(c) more rote than meaning
3.Imposition of routines and interests
(at least one of the following)
(a) on self, in aspects of life
(b) on others
4.Speech and language problems
(at least three of the following)
(a) delayed development
(b) superficially perfect expressive language
(c) formal, pedantic language
(d) odd prosody, peculiar voice characteristics
(e) impairment of comprehension including misinterpretations of literal/implied meanings
5.Non-verbal communication problems
(at least one of the following)
(a) limited use of gestures
(b) clumsy/gauche body language
(c) limited facial expression
(d) inappropriate expression
(e) peculiar, stiff gaze
6.Motor clumsiness: poor performance on neurodevelopmental examination
(All six criteria must be met for confirmation of diagnosis.)
B.Qualitative abnormalities in reciprocal social interaction (criteria as for autism).
C.An unusually intense circumscribed interest or restrictive, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behaviour, interests and activities (criteria as for autism; however, it would be less usual for these to include either motor mannerisms or preoccupations with part-objects or non-functional elements of play materials).
D.The disorder is not attributable to other varieties of pervasive developmental disorder; schizotypal disorder (F21); simple schizophrenia (F20.6); reactive and disinhibited attachment disorder of childhood (F94.1 and .2); obsessional personality disorder (F60.5); obsessive-compulsive disorder (F42).
WTF? They have three different criteria? And then people like Baron-Cohen have to muddy the waters further by modifying the criteria they use! Which ones correct? I've heard Gillberg's is closest to Hans Aspergers criteria, but...
The ICD stand for 'International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems' and is from the WHO, the World Health organisation.
See here:
The ICD is the international standard diagnostic classification for all general epidemiological, many health management purposes and clinical use.
and here http://apps.who.int/classifications/apps/icd/icd10online/
The DSM is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders from the American Psychiatric Association. According to Wikipedia, it is used in the US but also in various other countries. Apparently the DSM too is valid for insurances and governments.
Gillberg's criteria are... well, the criteria written by the Swedish Professor Christopher Gillberg who is known for researching autism along some other disorders.
Which one is correct?
They all are just an attempt to describe a phenomenon (or several similar phenomena) of atypical behaviour that in many cases is clinically significant enough to be a disorder.
There's no correct set of criteria. There's no explanations to all cases of autism despite it's glaring obviousness so there's no correct set of criteria.
_________________
Autism + ADHD
______
The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it. Terry Pratchett
I think Uta Frith did a translation.
Yes,s he did. However, I don't see why a current description needs to Match Hans Asperger's. Kanner's autism isn't described the same way as it was in 1943, either.
As for which criteria are correct, it depends on where you live. America uses DSM, Europe uses ICD (though in the Netherlands DSM is used). Gillberg isn't used as far as I know (maybe in Germany some, or wherever that guy is from). ICD and DSM are similar enough that it isn't like we're discussing two different disorders.
I don't like Baron-Cohen's definition, but that may be cause I wouldn't meet his criteria (due to neve rhaving been depressed, I do meet all other criteria).
Kanner's is the same. Social/autistic aloofness/aloneness and insistence on sameness under the age of three is no different to the current DSM-IV-TR definition of Autistic Disorder (Kanner saw that if these two things were there, all of the other things would be there too. As per the DSM-IV-TR, they're all listed, and in the expanded text, it's no different to Kanner's at all).
Hans' is close to Gillberg's, which is used by the ever popular Tony Attwood.
Peh. I prefer my criteria to be bullet pointed like Gillbergs or the DSMs, not set out like the ICD. It makes comparison easier.
I just can't understand why they need more than one. I'm sure I fit Gillbergs criteria but not the DSMs, so do I have Aspergers or not? On top of that I don't fit Baron-Cohens criteria.

Because someone feels like they have to improve on what the DSM says, or cover a larger demographic. Most of what Gilberg says about speech doesn't apply to me at all. My voice isn't that odd, I don't have strange inflections although people have commented I talk like a "snob" and have that kind of voice and accent. I don't know if that's what Gilberg was talking about. I had no delay in speech. Gilberg contradicts the DSM when he says speech is delayed. The DSM says it isn't in cases of AS.
You have to remember that criteria are not to look a certain way or to be understood by a single glance but that they are supposed to be valid and precise. The ICD-10 (and DSM-IV-TR too, I have to admit) does an excellent job with that.
Germany really does use the ICD-10.
_________________
Autism + ADHD
______
The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it. Terry Pratchett