I am posting this (new) thread in News and Media because This is currently (for the last year and a half) arguably the most reputable source for how people on the autistic spectrum are being described/portrayed.  (I say reputable meaning as opposed to wikipedia or aut sqks and the like - meaning in court, whose descrption would be believed as most accurate/correct - the DSM )

What do you all think?  Do these words (below) accurately describe many of your nuerologically based differences?

If you have various dx's and one of them is aspergers or HFa or autism, do these words fit you?

Are any of you worried that the wording - as it stands now -where one must have A, B C & D will actually take YOU (or someone you know) OFF of their the spectrum diagnosis?

or lose benefits due to this ?     /- in my country their are none)

Does it feel like you would lose your identity in some way?

Me? I am pleased with the version that is out there this past year and a half. I do not see any negatives - things that make someone dx'd as ASD seem unuseful or a drain etc., Do you?

How about you? Read the below (I am sure you all have already actually) But please read it so it is fresh in your mind...Your thoughts please?


Revised January 26, 2011
Autism Spectrum Disorder

Must meet criteria A, B, C, and D:

A.    Persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across contexts, not accounted for by general developmental delays, and manifest by all 3 of the following:

1.     Deficits in social-emotional reciprocity; ranging from abnormal social approach and failure of normal back and forth conversation through reduced sharing of interests, emotions, and affect and response to total lack of initiation of social interaction,

2.     Deficits in nonverbal communicative behaviors used for social interaction; ranging from poorly integrated- verbal and nonverbal communication, through abnormalities in eye contact and body-language, or deficits in understanding and use of nonverbal communication, to total lack of facial expression or gestures.

3.     Deficits in developing and maintaining relationships, appropriate to developmental level (beyond those with caregivers); ranging from difficulties adjusting behavior to suit different social contexts through difficulties in sharing imaginative play and  in making friends  to an apparent absence of interest in people

B.    Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities as manifested by at least two of  the following:

1.     Stereotyped or repetitive speech, motor movements, or use of objects; (such as simple motor stereotypies, echolalia, repetitive use of objects, or idiosyncratic phrases).  

2.     Excessive adherence to routines, ritualized patterns of verbal or nonverbal behavior, or excessive resistance to change; (such as motoric rituals, insistence on same route or food, repetitive questioning or extreme distress at small changes).

3.     Highly restricted, fixated interests that are abnormal in intensity or focus; (such as strong attachment to or preoccupation with unusual objects, excessively circumscribed or perseverative interests).

4.     Hyper-or hypo-reactivity to sensory input or unusual interest in sensory aspects of environment; (such as apparent indifference to pain/heat/cold, adverse response to specific sounds or textures, excessive smelling or touching of objects, fascination with lights or spinning objects).

C.    Symptoms must be present in early childhood (but may not become fully manifest until social demands exceed limited capacities)

D.         Symptoms together limit and impair everyday functioning.



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Me? I look at the list and say, (for my dx'd son) yup to almost every one - and my son is (supposedly)(probably) (arguably) looked at by (teachers/strangers/doctors as "high" functioning which USED to somehow have some sort of distinction from aspergers.(whcih I could never see) He is officially Aspergers (and yet the Aspergers dx did NOTHING, other dx's had to be added to have him looked at as anything other than a smart kid with repetitive patterns, social delays etc., etc., /which he is MUCH (exponentially) more complicated than that) He is Multiply disabled on paper now - multiple dx's. Meanwhile every thing on the list below is him - in varying degrees OF COURSE.

Should I try a poll?... here it is:

This post was last modified: 05-15-2012 05:07 PM by windy.