My thoughts on Asperger’s being taken out of the DSM-V
Written on 3rd Feb 2014 by Alex Lowery
Autism is like an umbrella with so many functioning levels that even if there were 500 category’s to put people on the spectrum in, it still wouldn’t really cover it.
The latest American diagnostic manual DSM V has removed the term Aspergers syndrome and has included all autism conditions under the term Autism Spectrum Disorder. Some people have thought getting rid of the AS diagnoses is a good thing, while others have hated it! Many people who have received a diagnoses of AS don’t seem to want to be put in the same group as those with Classic autism. Currently, this is only in the USA. In the UK where I live, Aspergers is still a diagnoses. However, many psychiatrists/psychologists in the UK are following the American DSM V and giving a diagnosis of ASD. Today, I’m going to be talking about my feelings towards this change, and whether I think it’s good or not. I totally understand why someone would have a problem with this change. However, I personally think it’s a good thing. One of the reasons why I feel this way is that having the diagnoses of Asperger’s just seems to have caused so much confusion. I feel that the difference is between Aspergers and High Functioning Autism doesn’t exist. I know that Asperger’s is classed as a ‘mild‘ type of autism, but when it comes to diagnostic criteria, those who have had a language delay are meant to get the diagnoses of autism, while those who don’t have any speech delay are meant get a diagnoses of AS, but the fact is that there are people who have never had a speech delay, but can still be quite severely effected by autism in their own way, and there are people who did have a language delay that can function quite well in later life. Do you see what I’m saying? It’s not really all that simple. Just because someone didn’t have a speech delay, that doesn’t automatically mean that they should be given the diagnoses of the milder type. There are even some psychiatrists that have given an autism diagnoses (not AS) to a person in later life, because the psychiatrist feels their traits fit better with autism, even if their language wasn’t delayed. Having a separate diagnoses can almost be meaningless in my opinion, because it’s really just a psychiatrists opinion. Autism in general is just a very individual condition, and it effects everyone differently. Placing everyone under the umbrella term ‘Autism Spectrum Disorder’ makes things less complicated. They will likely just be told where on the spectrum they fall. The focus shouldn’t be so much on the diagnoses, but on what areas of difficulty they have, and how much support they need. Even though I overall don’t have a problem with the new criteria, I can understand some of the people who have complained about it. There are some parents who have children who are profoundly autistic who may be non-verbal and require 24 hour care. The parents of these children may not like the idea of someone with AS being placed in the same category as their child. There are also people with Aspergers Syndrome who don’t want to be placed in the same category as those who are non verbal. I understand where these people are coming from. But as I said, what the difference is between Aspergers and autism really isn’t that simple.
Well, that was all my opinion. Please leave me a comment letting me know your opinion on this. If you disagree with me that’s fine, but please be respectful.
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Hi Alex. I agree that speech delay doesn’t mean that someone is affected more, or less by their autism. My son has Asperger`s Syndrome and I would prefer that term is not removed, just because it is a term he is comfortable with. However, both he and I feel that ultimately what he has is autism. He describes himself as autistic, and even though he is highly intelligent I definitely do not feel there is anything mild about his autism – I know it presents very differently to someone who has classic autism, and may be some of the challenges are different, and some are the same, but it impacts on every area of his life and means that it stops him from doing many things, while at the same time it means he can do other things really well. We always try to focus on the positive things about his autism and he has really embraced being autistic – writing and blogging about it like yourself. So, while I would prefer that the DSM keep the term Asperger`s, I completely take your point about why you don’t think it is necessary. I always enjoy reading your posts and learn a lot from them, Jane x
Thank you for the comment & for sharing your opinion.
I think autism can change over a lifetime, there is something called autistic regression and anxiety can make things a lot worse or big improvements can be made a diagnosis of ASD allows for these changes and is more helpful I think.
The DSM 5 is not giong anywhere, the DSM IV is not coming back. The DSM now has 3 levels of based of need for support. Instead of Autism Spectrum Disorder Level 1 I would call it Aspergers-Autism. Those that had early speech delays would be subsumed into Aspergers-Autism because early speech differences don’t mater to the person now. Hans Aspeger should be honored. In Eugenics Nazi Germany he theorized that autistc’s should be useful for society and not exterminated. He was the first Autism Advocate. You could name Level 3 Kanner’s autism etc. ‘Aspies” would get official recognition for their sense of identity that it took decades to get just to have it ripped away. Those Aspie superiority, Aspergers is the next evolution or people that don’t want to be associated with low functioning will have to learn to deal with the fact they are autistic.