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Good piece asking a lot of the right questions.
Move to merge Asperger's, autism in diagnostic manual stirs debate
Seeded on Thu Feb 11, 2010 10:38 PM EST
Article Source: CNN- Enjoy this article? Help vote it up the 'Vine.
- Public Discussion (3)
(CNN) -- For Mary Calhoun Brown, the term "Asperger's" is crucial to conveying to schools that although her 15-year-old son has had social difficulties, he has a near-genius IQ and great speaking ability.
"If I call it 'autism,' that's going to raise a lot of red flags for people who don't know him," said Brown, author of the novel about autism "There Are No Words."
Both Brown and her son William are opposed to new guidelines being put forth by the American Psychiatric Association that would make Asperger's syndrome part of the autism spectrum disordersrather than a separate diagnosis. In the current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, which helps mental health professionals identify specific conditions, it is not listed under autism.
#1 - Thu Feb 11, 2010 10:43 PM ESTExcept Asperger's has long been considered on the spectrum by professionals, so this is just moving it in line with how things are out there. Often the DSM works to readjust how things on the street are handled (diagnoses, insurance, etc), in this case it seems to be the opposite. For better or worse. Anyway, even after the move, people will still say they have Asperger's. And I'd be wary of the "but autism has bad connotations" bandwagon, because those saying it are pretty much saying that yes, autism is this horrible and singular thing, when it's a "spectrum" for a reason. I've known plenty of high-functioning autistic individuals.
I really don't know my own opinion on this, I have to think on it some more, but right now, anyway, I think I'd be inclined to include Asperger's in the spectrum, because it makes diagnostic sense, even if it's not the best "PR".
#2 - Fri Feb 12, 2010 12:15 AM ESTI agree they are in the same spectrum - i think the concern is that some will use them interchangeably when it's becoming increasingly clear how different the two are.
Chasing, did you catch the Temple movie shot here in Austin? You can find my review and article about it on my column
#3 - Fri Feb 12, 2010 10:21 AM ESTYou're in Easy Mode. If you prefer, you can use XHTML Mode instead. |
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