JoelFan wrote:
I guess what I am trying to get at is what is the cut off point where one can not be labeled as having Aspergers and it "defaults" to Autism? what was criteria one had to meet in order to be diagnosed as having Aspergers Vs being diagnosed as (classic) Autism?
Required for Asperger's diagnosis:
Quote:
(IV) 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)
(V) 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.
Required for Autistic Disorder diagnosis:
Quote:
(B) qualitative impairments in communication as manifested by at least one of the following:
1. delay in, or total lack of, the development of spoken language (not accompanied by an attempt to compensate through alternative modes of communication such as gesture or mime)
2. in individuals with adequate speech, marked impairment in the ability to initiate or sustain a conversation with others
3. stereotyped and repetitive use of language or idiosyncratic language
4. lack of varied, spontaneous make-believe play or social imitative play appropriate to developmental level
The number of symptom boxes that needed to be checked off was also different (for an Autistic Disorder diagnosis a total of 6 "manifested by at least [x] of the following"-symptoms was required, for an Asperger's diagnosis a total of 3 "manifested by at least [x] of the following"-symptoms was required.)
In actual clinical practice, the way the two were differentiated varied from one professional/clinic to another and didn't necessarily follow the DSM criteria. That was part of the argument for getting rid of the separate diagnoses.
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12 Jan 2015, 7:07 pm
