Similarities & Differences: Why the DSM-V Makes Sense

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I am currently in the process of getting diagnosed, so feel free to take everything I say here with a grain of salt.

When I first learned about the DSM-V changes, I was shocked and upset. I'd finally found something that really explained me, and I didn't know how to react to the idea that, a short time from now, that definition of me will no longer technically exist. Still, I went forward with seeking a diagnosis, because I wanted to know for myself, regardless of what some piece of paper said; I worried, though, if it was all for naught.

A week or so ago I was watching a video on Youtube of a young adult male with classic autism, who was laying on the floor, curled up in a small square of sunlight. I then watched a video of him hitting himself repeatedly, until he was led into the pool in his back yard, which calmed him immediately. I found myself connecting more with him than I do with most of the people around me, but I don't look or behave like him. My outward symptoms are quite mild, so I probably seem like an NT to most people, but on the inside, my symptoms are raging and suppressed. I almost felt a level of jealousy of that young man, who clearly has it much, much tougher than I do, but who is free to release what he's feeling on the inside, because no one expects more from him. They expect him to 'act autistic'...to seek out comfort by any means necessary. I want to curl in a ball in a square of sunlight on the floor, but I can't, because I seem too 'normal,' and it wouldn't be accepted.

This is relevant because, from time to time, I'll begin to doubt myself. I'll read about some other Aspies here who are unable to live on their own or drive or get a job, and I think, "did I make a huge mistake?" - but then I find myself connecting more on a base level to someone who is clearly autistic and 'low-functioning,' and I realize that I'm the same...I've just got it 'easier.'

It's still difficult, though, when you see 10 people with the same diagnosis - Aspergers - and no two are alike in their ability to function in outside world. Some, like me, can hold jobs, drive a car, live on their own, and pull off appearing like any NT, at least most of the time. Others are stuck in their homes, unable to function well outside of their safe haven. The only thing telling these people who function so very different that we are the same is a list of difficulties (with no regard to severity) and the fact that we learned to speak on time.

I saw a poll recently on here regarding the levels of severity proposed in the DSM-V, and for those diagnosed with Asperger's, the responses were all over the place, from needing daily support in their lives, to not needing any support. As it is now, the Asperger's diagnosis doesn't even consider how well you function, only if your traits cause you 'difficulties.' Yes, my traits cause me difficulties...I'm made fun of and misunderstood by my family, people think I'm a know-it-all or am manipulative when I only want to understand a situation to its fullest, by asking questions...my new boss thought I was defiant and a trouble maker because I kept forgetting to wear an 'approved' pair of shoes to work, because the shoes I'd been wearing there for 9 years were no longer permitted. My boyfriend thinks I'm clingy and controlling...when I just have a lot of trouble handling change. If I have to place a phone call instead of send an email to resolve an issue, that issue will go unresolved until I can't ignore it anymore. These are all real difficulties that I face...but they aren't nearly as bad as some others of you face.

Basically, what I'm saying is...despite feeling some doubts because I don't have as many difficulties of some others here, I've realized, without doubt, that I am autistic. Mildly, yes, but none the less, it describes me. It fits me. Autistic is what we all have in common. It's the level of difficulty we have that sets us apart. So, really, the DSM-V makes a lot of sense. It's maybe hard to lose a sense of 'identity' or a label that you've associated yourself with for such a long time...but we'll all still be the same, no matter what our title. It's just that, those who really need the help may be more likely to get it now, because instead of having Aspergers, which is considered 'mild' inherently, they'll just be considered Autistic, with 'x' amount of difficulty, and isn't that what is most important?

Now even more people who only have a few arbitrary things in common are being lumped together.

That "lumped together" thing is happening already, and I think it's as bad as it's going to get. The DSM-V can only really make it better, at least as far as I understand the matter.

Like, the people diagnosed with AS, but who need a lot of help, are "lumped together" with the people who have AS and need very little help; so it's hard for them to get the help they need--or hard to get help that the psychologists think people with AS shouldn't need.

And the people diagnosed with "autistic disorder" are getting stereotyped as needing certain sorts of help, and they get that relatively easily; but then people think that because they are diagnosed with "autistic disorder", they will not be capable of things that they think that "autistic" people are not capable of; like they'll assume that someone diagnosed with autistic disorder can't work, or they'll assume that they can't go to college, that sort of thing.

I understand the fear about combining AS and autistic disorder--that it'll lead to people assuming we're all the same, that someone with autism spectrum disorder can't be this or can't be that. But we already have that problem. I think that having just one category may be a positive thing for that "lumped-together" problem, because having one category for people who are non-verbal or verbal, social or withdrawn, routine-oriented or detail-oriented or hypersensitive or hyposensitive, will force the medical profession to face up to the extreme diversity of the autism spectrum.

If things go the way I hope they will, that will lead to professionals saying, "Yes, I know he has autism; but I have to look at this particular case to see how it specifically affects him." Because the definition is now broad enough that it can't be used as easily to try to globally predict everything about a person based on his diagnosis, professionals may be forced to take autism on a person-by-person basis.

The more I think about it the worse the DSM 5 looks. There is a huge outcry in the medical community right now because they feel that, in the words of one professor, 'the dsm 5 will take us back to the dark ages of the DSM 2'. The whole thing is a train wreck. For us specifically the DSM 5 is going to hurt, especially for people with a PPD-NOS DX. When PDD-NOS is removed what will they fall under? It's not going to be autism. Many people with AS will not fall under autism as well. And sadly, some people who now have a DX of classic autism will no longer be autistic. All of this means that these people will lose access to programs that they desperately need. I'm 39 and I know what it was like to grow up without any help. I realize now I had 2 friends when I was young who had undiagnosed AS because AS didn't exist back then. Both of them ended up committing suicide. That's where we're headed if the DSM 5 comes out. The people putting the thing together are worried about the "epidemic of autism", well they need to start worrying about the epidemic of suicides that will occur if they don't fix the DSM 5 criteria for autism.

I'd like for you guys to read this article. Everyone on this forum should read it. And read the comments to the article.

http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/blog/frances/content/article/10168/2024394