It is strongly agreed upon the importance of early detection of autism spectrum disorders, as the early access to effective intervention and treatment dramatically can improve functioning and quality of life for children with autism and their families. In the recent years there has been conducted a significant number of studies focused on this issue. And in the most recent issue of Curren Opinions in Neurology, Zwaigenbaum has published an excellent and informative review of the research, called Advances in the early detection of autism.
Link to the abstract; Advances in the early detection of autism
The revision of DSM to the next version, the DSM-V is in progress. As a matter of fact it has been in progress for about 11 years…. According to the APA web-site this work started as early as 1999. Anyway the draft is now published online, and the discussion has begun immediately. And the on of the hot discussions that has been flourishing online is the new criteria for autistic disorders (autism spectrum disorders).
The new criteria includes only two domains, the DSM-IV had three. The proposal has combined the old communication and social interaction domains into a new one that’s termed “Clinically significant, persistent deficits in social communication and interactions”. I think that merging those to domains int a new one is logical both from a theoretical view and from the viewpoint of a practitioner. To distinguish between communication and social interaction may be possible, but it´s not really useful. Communication is so closely linked and are a integrated part of social interaction, so the impairments in communications and social interactions are overlapping. This new domain seem to give more sense both in the diagnostic process, and in creating understand for the deficits persons with autism spectrum disorders experience.
Probably the most controversial in the new proposal for autism spectrum disorders is to include Asperger syndrome into the autistic disorder, and so Asperger Syndrome cease to exits as a diagnosis. From my point of view this is an excellent development. The core deficits for the spectrum is common, and thereby the term should be common. The long lasting debate on what separates “high-functioning autism” and Asperger syndrome has also been a dead end. In spite of much research and theoretical speculations the separating features of the two is still not clear, and points in direction of a common disorder.
But of course, I see the problem arising for those individuals that has been diagnosed with Asperger disorder. Do they stop having Asperger syndrome? Many individuals has build an identity around the Asperger diagnosis, and are not comfortable with being labeled as having autism spectrum disorder. But of course, they stay the same persons. People do not become their diagnosis. They are foremost individuals, with some deficits that have a label….