Terminology discussion: Autism vs AS/AD/ASD

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It seems that some people define autism as a pervasive development disorder (as outlined by a criteria such as DSM IV or ICD 10, take your pick between autistic disorder, asperger's, and PDD-NOS). Others define it as a neurological difference which is either present from birth or at least for as long as people can remember.

I've seen countless discussions here which start off talking about a "cure" for the disorder, followed by a knee jerk "you can't change who I am; it's a neurological difference." One is talking about the disorder and the other is talking about the neurological difference. The communication barriers have broken down.

First, is there is a difference between autism as "neurological difference" and autism as "pervasive developmental disorder"? Is it possible to be autistic in the "neurological difference" sense but not meet enough of the standard criteria to be autistic in the "disorder" sense? Is an "Aspie"/"Autie" someone with the disorder, or just the neurological difference?

Also, where does dysfunction fit into the picture? Some sort of "clinically significant impairment" seems to be a prerequisite for a disorder diagnosis for at least some of the criteria.

Can we all agree that autism refers to the neurological difference, and that an autism spectrum disorder MAY (in many but not all cases) arise from having this difference?

fiddlerpianist wrote:

[quote]Can we all agree that autism refers to the neurological difference, and that an autism spectrum disorder MAY (in many but not all cases) arise from having this difference?



I think so-sometimes people think they are in disagreement when really they are just using different terms for the same thing.

We don't know, because the neurological difference was not indentified yet.

However, there are two cases here:

- One is the case of the people who have the "disorder traits" of autism but not the "neurological difference". If the "neurological difference" will be identified, probably this individual will be de-classified as "autistics" and re-classified as something else

- A different case is the opposite: the people with the "neurological difference" but not the "disorder". In these case, I suspect that... the "neurological difference" will never be identified! After all, if the researchers, after identifying a possible "neurological difference" as the cause of autism, discover that are people with this diference but without "autism" in the behavioural sense, probably they will conclude "We are in the wrong track - it was not this neurological difference that causes autism, after all. Well, perhaps we'll have more luck in the next research".

In another words, I suspect that an identification of the "neurological difference" could only have the the effect of narrowing the concept of "autism", not of broadening it.

It's always been seen as some form of brain damage since it was pathologized.

White matter deficits are the current picture; different areas of deficit equating to a certain symptom cluster and ultimately disorder. More deficits across more areas equates to a more severe picture. Makes sense, especially if the studies done are accurate.

Well I think the point about the difference without the disorder came down to lack of impairment, not lack of autism-spectrum-type behavior. It's possible for someone with aspie-like behavior, particularly given the correct environment, to not meet the criterion about "causing significant impairment in functioning." If someone is an engineer with some geeky friends who accept them, parents who were particularly good at dealing with their quirks, etc, so that little if any intervention is needed, then they would still have an ASD, just not one that would make any sense to diagnose. That doesn't mean they'd be considered NT.. just that they wouldn't have a disorder. (I'm not saying that it's about bad parenting or anything.. but some parents are just better equipped to deal with ASD symptoms than others are. Also, since parents of kids with ASDs frequently have mild ones themselves, that can make it more difficult. If the parent has some sensory issues of their own, it might be more difficult to deal with meltdowns. If the parent has some communication problems of their own, it might be more difficult to navigate school bureaucracies and such.)

When I use the term "ASD" I mean any autism spectrum disorder.. I'm not being specific. I may be including autism spectrum-like symptoms that aren't necessarily disordered as well.. I'm not completely sure. But when I say "ASD" rather than "AS" I'm attempting to use a broader term. When I say "someone with an ASD," that someone may or may not fit the criteria for any particular autism spectrum disorder. But they'd have to have some kind of functioning problem that was autistic or semi-autistic in nature.