rdos wrote:
I'm not much interested in differentiating various DSM-diagnoses anymore. Neither diagnoses on the ASD-spectrum, nor related diagnoses either. I tried this concept a few years ago, and they cannot be separated on the personality-dimension. Rather, people will either get none of them or a long list of them. I've also tried various professional tests, and they all correlate to ASCs. About the only way to differentiate between ASD-diagnosis and non-ASD-diagnosis is to use dysfunction descriptions in DSM, and that is not the aim of Aspie-quiz.
I have also asked for diagnosis of much more than AS/HFA/PDD, ADD/ADHD and Social Phobia. There have been questions for autism, PDD and a dozen other DSM diagnoses, and autism and PDD has similar scores as AS/HFA/PDD, and the other DSM diagnoses all score considerably higher than the NT control group. The reason that these remain is because it is the most interesting ones to follow-up consistency.
PDD is not a diagnosis, it is an umbrella term for the five disorders listed under Autism Spectrum. In other words "PDD and Autism Spectrum" are just different names for the general category that the following five disorders fall under:
1. Autistic Disorder
2. Rett's Disorder
3. Childhood Disintegrative Disorder
4. Asperger's Disorder
5. Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, or PDDNOS
The label High Functioning Autism is also not a recognized diagnosis but a descriptive term for those diagnosed with Autism that generally have an IQ of above 75, function independently in society, and have speech functionality. A speech delay in childhood is still required for a person to be labeled with HFA.
In the introduction you state, "the goal of this test is to give a reliable indication of autism spectrum traits in adults." It seems like a reliable way to indicate the difference between Asperger vs.Neurotypical traits; this seems to be the logical goal from how you present the title of the test, the presentation of the test, and the results of the test.
When you ask the question suspect/self diagnosed or received a professional diagnosis of Asperger/HFA/PDD this does not match the goal of the test to give a reliable indication of autism spectrum traits in adults. In this context PDD makes no sense because Aspergers and HFA(a limited percentage of those with Autistic Disorder) fall under the umbrella term PDD. In effect "Asperger/HFA/PDD" only addresses those people under the general umbrella of the terms "PDD or Autism Spectrum" that are considered to have Aspergers or HFA.
What does PDD mean to you? Are you referring to PDD NOS?
Asperger/HFA is logical but Asperger/HFA/PDD is not logical.
I can understand your interest in collecting information specific to Aspergers/HFA. My understanding is that in your Neanderthral Theory you propose that Autistics are fully functional. Is this limited to Aspergers/HFA or does it also include Autistic people that are considered lower functioning without the ability to speak, people on the Autism Spectrum that have Rett's Syndrome, PDD NOS or childhood disintegrative disorder?
If you want to get reliable information I suggest you list it as Asperger/HFA or Asperger/HFA/PDD NOS. Otherwise the question is confusing to the people on the Spectrum that don't identifiy themselves as HFA or Aspergers and don't understand what you mean by PDD. I'm not sure what you mean by sanity check, if the question doesn't give you reliable results.
09 Jan 2011, 7:25 pm
