Is it autism? Asperger’s? How to tell the difference
This is specifically for several people who have asked…
Is it autism? Asperger’s? How to tell the difference [Times Herald Record]
Autism spectrum disorders fall into a category of conditions called pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), which are characterized by delayed communication and social skills. Some of the disorders on the spectrum include:
- Autism: The most commonly diagnosed PDD, autism makes it very difficult for a person to communicate, form relationships and interact with others. Unusual and repetitive behavior is normally present. Symptoms of autism can vary from mild to severe.
- Asperger’s syndrome: Sometimes referred to as a high-functioning condition, children with this often have above-average IQs but lack social skills. They may also have an obsessive interest in a topic and display repetitive behavior. There are no clinically significant delays in language.
- Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified: These children exhibit some symptoms of autism or another developmental disorder, but don’t fall into any particular category.
- Childhood Disintegrative Disorder: These children appear to develop normally until about the ages of 2-4, when regression starts to occur. Skills learned prior to the regression are lost.
- Rett’s syndrome: Occurring only in females, it involves a period of normal development and then a loss of previously acquired skills. Normal use of hands is replaced with repetitive hand motions from ages 1-4.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, The Children’s Annex of Kingston and Ellenville.
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November 8th, 2006 at 2:30 pm
The DSM-IV apparently makes a diagnosis of Asperger’s impossible. See here. So there really is no Asperger’s, just autism. To be clear, we’re autistic, not Aspies
November 8th, 2006 at 2:50 pm
I’m not sure if it makes it impossible to diagnose, per se, but it doesn’t give any clues as to how the criteria should be interpreted in order to make any meaningful distinction.
I never use DSM IV or ICD 10 criteria for this reason: neither was actually operationalised from Asperger’s reports. The Gillberg & Gillberg set were, and the ASDI which is born out of them is the main instrument I use in psycho-educational diagnosis.
However, Gillberg himself points out in his 2002 text (’A Guide To Asperger Syndrome, CUP) that the interview will in fact pick up autism generally, as opposed to ‘just’ Asperger syndrome.
November 9th, 2006 at 7:45 am
That’s why Gillberg’s criteria gives a prevalence of Asperger’s of about 36 in 10,000, whereas the DSM-IV criteria gives something like 5 to 10 in 10,000 — and some would argue that’s simply due to diagnostic error. The real prevalence of DSM-IV Asperger’s should be about 0 in 10,000 apparently.
November 9th, 2006 at 8:24 pm
Oh, and this…
http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=2829734
“This paper examines the four cases Asperger originally presented in his seminal paper (1991/1994), using DSM-IV criteria to determine whether a diagnosis of Autistic or Asperger Disorder is most appropriate. We found that all four cases met DSM-IV criteria for Autistic Disorder, rather than Asperger Disorder. This suggests that the syndrome Asperger originally described may not be captured by present diagnostic criteria.”
Hmm…
Indeed…
DSM sucks….