Not autistic under DSM 5!

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Just to let you guys know, those who do not fit the classification of autistic disorder under DSM5 will no longer be considered autistic. I study abnormal psychology at one of the most reputable universities here in Australia. I have asked numerous sources: lectures, tutors, colleagues who specialize in various disorders under the DSM and the general consensus in terms of response was that those who were previously diagnosed in the DSM IV will no longer be considered as having the disorder under the DSM5 if they do not fit the criteria.

Last edited by melanieeee on 06 Apr 2012, 7:01 am, edited 1 time in total.

And exactly how are the criteria different?

Jason

I don't consider myself autistic now, due to my belief that AS hasn't been properly shown to be the same as autism. So, my diagnosis is just disappearing, and they're still failing to add NVLD to the DSM-V, so what will I identify with?! Not to mention that the OCD diagnosis I also have is also going to become a farcical shambles. I am mostly angry that the DSM-V is taking so many steps backward and so few steps forward in terms of clinical definitions. At this point, as a scientist, that is what I am most angry about. I've already decided quite long ago that I will never stop saying that I have Asperger's Syndrome, no matter what the DSM decides to call it. At the very least, ridding the diagnosis is ridding Hans Asperger of his accomplishments and findings.

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Last edited by nat4200 on 21 Apr 2012, 2:05 am, edited 1 time in total.

That's an important point, I think, but I'd like to add that considering what Hans Asperger himself wrote about the syndrome he had discovered (and what he said about it), the DSM-IV has it quite wrong on some points already.

Verbal quirks, speech and language impairments as well as a delay, delayed self-help skills and abnormal responses to the environment (other than in social communication) were possible symptoms of "his" AS. He even pointed out that it can co-occur with the disorder that has evolved into what we know as ADHD today.

I have AS according to Hans Asperger's description and according to his students who heard him teach about it but not according to the DSM-IV or ICD-10.

This goes without saying, OP. The question is whether or not the criteria actually mean less people will be diagnosed. The answer, as far as I know, is that they do not.

If somebody used to fit the DSM and was diagnosed AS when they were younger but now older and doesnt fit DSM5....would that mean they never had AS in the first place or that they are "cured"

I have ambivalent feelings toward the upcoming changes in the DSM. A part of me wishes all the adversities now common to people who are dx'd with one label than another at a different clinic would go or at least be less likely to happen. Merging ASDs into one category is a good way to achieve that. For example, I don't think that PDD-NOS is the right dx for me. What I have is more like a mild form of AS or a very mild HFA.

So, I'd welcome if the subcategories would remain and the definitions for them would be made much more accurate and consistent across clinics and countries, plus it could be used for a long time to support everyone's work who uses it. Unfortunately, now we have such vague diagnostic categories as PDD-NOS that tells nothing about the patient and diagnostic criteria is everything but consistent across clinics and countries for different ASDs. With all this, it's still better to have one neat catergory for all ASDs, imho.

There is a lot of talk about people who will lose their diagnosis with the new criteria, but I haven't heard anything from any of these people directly.

Is there anyone reading who has been told by a professional that they fit DSM IV but not DSM 5, or that have read the criteria themselves and think this?

There'll always be Gillberg's Criteria for AS, which is just as official as anything else out there.

Just ask to be evaluated with that, and if "they" say no, find someone who does [use such].

I won't lose my diagnosis, and I'm one of the most mildly autistic people I know of. So I doubt any of you have to worry.

Yes, it has. In fact the main reason they're getting rid of AS is that DSM-IV AS is actually impossible to diagnose.

In DSM-IV, you need 3 symptoms (2 social and 1 about rigid behavior) in 7 to have AS; in DSM-V, you will need 5 (3 social and 2 RB) to have ASD.

The question I wonder about it whether displaying behaviours with which certain symptoms are met does or does not automatically encompass having other symptoms if someone has an ASD and not another disorder that happens to mimic an ASD in some areas.


To start with, I cannot imagine someone being correctly diagnosed with AS by use of the DSM-IV but not meeting all 3 proposed criteria in the area of social interaction and communication in the DSM-V, so I'd like to hear of someone like that to get a better idea.

I can think of one of my old online aspie friends who is a mild aspie. He does not have any rigid behavior or need routines but he prefers them but he won't freak out or get anxious if he can't do them. But yet he has obsessions and very strong interests and I dunno if he stims but one of them was foot tapping. He could meet the new criteria, he could not. He had no sensory issues either he said.

IMHO the gillberg is far better, and anyways, Attwood uses it.

I think Gillberg's is even more narrow than DSM-V.