Mon Dec 3, 2012, 09:31 AM

TrogL (31,269 posts)

Asperger's Syndrome to be dropped as a diagnosis in DSM-5

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/dec/02/aspergers-syndrome-dropped-psychiatric-dsm

Asperger's syndrome is to be dropped from the psychiatrists' Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) of Mental Disorders, the American publication that is one of the most influential references for the profession around the world.

The term "Asperger's disorder" will not appear in the DSM-5, the latest revision of the manual, and instead its symptoms will come under the newly added "autism spectrum disorder", which is already used widely. That umbrella diagnosis will include children with severe autism, who often do not talk or interact, as well as those with milder forms.

...

Full details of all the revisions will come in May 2013 when the American Psychiatric Association's new diagnostic manual is published. The changes will affect the diagnosis and treatment of millions of children and adults worldwide, as well as medical insurance and special education services.

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10 replies	Author	Time	Post
Asperger's Syndrome to be dropped as a diagnosis in DSM-5 (Original post)	TrogL	Dec 2012	OP
Maybe eliminating the separate Asperger's diagnosis	SheilaT	Dec 2012	#1
It may not be so bad to look at it as a spectrum. This has also been	GreenPartyVoter	Dec 2012	#3
While it is certainly clear to me	SheilaT	Dec 2012	#4
I do agree with that understanding of it. I guess the question is, will	GreenPartyVoter	Dec 2012	#5
Are bipolar mania and unipolar depression	SheilaT	Dec 2012	#6
Yes, separate diagnoses, but understood to be part of a spectrum of disorder. I guess my feeling is	GreenPartyVoter	Dec 2012	#7
The new DSM does away with Asperger's as a separate diagnosis.	SheilaT	Dec 2012	#8
I don't agree. It seems arbitrary.	lumberjack_jeff	Dec 2012	#9
I have a child diagnosed with A/S at 4 or 5 (too old too remember exactly)	AAO	Jan 2013	#10
This message was self-deleted by its author	AAO	Dec 2012	#2

Response to TrogL (Original post)

Mon Dec 3, 2012, 01:34 PM

SheilaT (12,453 posts)

1. Maybe eliminating the separate Asperger's diagnosis

and just lumping everyone together on the Autism Spectrum Disorder thing will actually help, but I'm not convinced.

Asperger's is so very different from severe autism that it truly deserves its own separate category.

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Response to SheilaT (Reply #1)

Sun Dec 16, 2012, 03:11 PM

GreenPartyVoter (64,722 posts)

3. It may not be so bad to look at it as a spectrum. This has also been

the case with depression and bipolar, if not in the DSMV then at least in the books and on websites where I have tried to research my own illness. In that case the spectrum tidea did make sense.

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Response to GreenPartyVoter (Reply #3)

Sun Dec 16, 2012, 06:35 PM

SheilaT (12,453 posts)

4. While it is certainly clear to me

that many illnesses or conditions occur along a spectrum, Asperger's is so incredibly different from severe autism, that it's as if they aren't even the same condition.

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Response to SheilaT (Reply #4)

Sun Dec 16, 2012, 07:59 PM

GreenPartyVoter (64,722 posts)

5. I do agree with that understanding of it. I guess the question is, will

adding it to the spectrum change the way it is treated. If not, then I guess I don't see the problem. My son is PDD, I am not even sure where they list that in the DSMV.

Going back to the spectrum I am more familiar with one wouldn't say that bipolar mania and unipolar depression are anything alike, and yet they are somehow related enough to be plotted out on that spectrum.

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Response to GreenPartyVoter (Reply #5)

Sun Dec 16, 2012, 09:18 PM

SheilaT (12,453 posts)

6. Are bipolar mania and unipolar depression

two separate diagnoses? I believe so. Asperger's will no longer be a separate diagnosis. This might matter for purposes of treatment or accomodations in school.

I do believe that PDD is -- or at least was -- a separate diagnosis.

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Response to SheilaT (Reply #6)

Sun Dec 16, 2012, 09:51 PM

GreenPartyVoter (64,722 posts)

7. Yes, separate diagnoses, but understood to be part of a spectrum of disorder. I guess my feeling is

that if they throw Asperger's and PDD under autism, they should keep their own names and diagnostic criteria under that umbrella. (If that makes any sense?) Acknowledge the relationship but maintain that there are differences.

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Response to GreenPartyVoter (Reply #7)

Sun Dec 16, 2012, 11:15 PM

SheilaT (12,453 posts)

8. The new DSM does away with Asperger's as a separate diagnosis.

I don't know about PDD.

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Response to SheilaT (Reply #1)

Thu Dec 20, 2012, 11:11 AM

lumberjack_jeff (24,537 posts)

9. I don't agree. It seems arbitrary.

It is a spectrum in which different people are affected in different ways. Diagnosicaly, there is no definitive way to determine whether a person has aspergers or high functioning autism... because they are the same thing.

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Response to SheilaT (Reply #1)

Tue Jan 1, 2013, 01:46 AM

AAO (1,494 posts)

10. I have a child diagnosed with A/S at 4 or 5 (too old too remember exactly)

but he's 22 now. I think it's fine to talk about an autism spectrum, because that's what it is. There are the same limitless facets as there are with human personalities.

Love to you all and HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2013 will be the best year yet!

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Response to TrogL (Original post)

AAO This message was self-deleted by its author.

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