Thursday, December 6, 2012

New Definition of Autism Drops Asperger, PDD-NOS Distinctions

By Nirvi Shah from On Special Education

Changes proposed to the diagnostic guide used by psychologists, including substantial changes to the definition of autism, are all but final.

Late last week, the American Psychiatric Association's Board of Trustees approved the latest version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the DSM-5, which will be available when the manual is published in the spring.

The change to the definition of autism entails recasting the disability, which currently includes a range of labels including Asperger syndrome, autism, and pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified, into the single autism spectrum disorder.

Although there have been fears that the consolidation could mean that some people now diagnosed with a form of autism may lose their diagnoses and any services and aid their condition may yield, it could have the opposite effect, one autism expert said.

Read more HERE.

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