Does anyone feel like the current DSM needs urgent updating?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a moderate autism kid.

Talks, but that's it.

I get really annoyed when people tell me their kid is autistic and is attending a normal school without a shadow.

I get that. We had to use the autism label to get my kid services so he wouldn’t turn tables over or throw chairs …

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yup, OP, I am totally with you. Wish we could get the Aspergers diagnosis back - give it a new name if you must!

We have a kid without an ASD diagnosis. But outwardly seems super Aspergers. The whole thing is just so useless now.

Even if we got an ASD diagnosis, I don't understand how that is useful at all - to provide that information to teachers or friends. Because ASD is so meaninglessly broad.

I also recognize the absurd focus on diagnosing basically 1 out of every 10 boys as ASD - essentially, every quicky, socially challenged, math loving boy, of which there's one in every class - is incredibly distracting to real issue of what we think of as traditional autism. Those are the kids who need tremendous help and resources, and research.

I also hate that we've pathologized boys being socially quirky and into math. Why does that require a diagnosis?? Why isn't that just a personality type? (which incidentally, is the "diagnosis" DS got after a neuropsych. She said sometimes it's okay to just label his social oddities as personality, when they don't otherwise meet the full ASD diagnosis).

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I have a 7 year old who makes eye contact, converses just fine, and does well in school but struggles socially because he loves talking about clocks and numbers so much. I don't have a diagnosis for him and don't plan to get one. His kindergarten teacher hinted about ASD but the para in his class privately told me that she thought he was a sweet, regular little boy who was just "his own person". A quirky personality.

[Anonymous]

I’m pretty exhausted by families with mainstreamed ASD kids telling me that their 5 year old needs a Medicaid institutional waiver. The waiver for for people who can’t manage in their own. Your year old may very well not stay in special ed.

[Anonymous]

The DSM really is an antiquated way of diagnosing (very open to interpretation with poor interrator reliability) but finding new evidence based ways are really complicated.

The book Saving Normal is a really interesting read about the DSM byDr Allen Frances who led the team who wrote the 4th edition and was asked to work on the 5th edition but declined.

Broadening the diagnostic scope of autism and adhd has haunted him ever since as he feels it was instrumental in pathologizing non-pathological behaviour and traits.

[Anonymous]

The DSM 6 isn't coming. The revision to the current DSM was just released in 2022 (DSM 5 TR). They didn't really make any changes. It is just too fraught with issues to have another version. The goal with 5 was that by the time a sixth was needed, we would be more advanced in research and have better ways to diagnose but we aren't there yet.

https://www.madinamerica.com/2022/02/new-dsm-coming/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a moderate autism kid.

Talks, but that's it.

I get really annoyed when people tell me their kid is autistic and is attending a normal school without a shadow.

Why? I am no expert but I have substituted in a class specifically for level 1 autism kids and it’s very clear they need additional support but can also handle other classes and don’t need a shadow.

Their kid is more like ADHD. My kid is more like severely delayed

[Anonymous]

I agree. My kid is “high functiong”, has ADHD, and generally fits the old Asperger’s diagnosis. Socially clueless, can’t read people, doesn’t seem to get that not everyone sees the universe or any topic the way he does, and that they might like or dislike something different. He doesn’t seem to get why he has to do something that is not what he wanted to do. (Not in a bratty way, but he literally does not get it). He gets the context of conversations, but never seems to catch any subtext. He only understands the plot of a novel, and can only express the themes in concrete terms. That kind of thing. He will look you in the eye, will do many social niceties,

I know this sounds not nice, but my kid is the kind of ASD kid that schools like to have and point to to show they are “providing support”. He’s not disruptive, he’s polite, so they put him in social group, give him some extra time on exams, and call it a day. He shouldn’t be lumped in with non-verbal, minimally communicative students who need shadowing and full support - it’s not similar at all, and the needs are totally different. With a diagnosis so broad, it doesn’t help anyone understand what they’re dealing with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The DSM 6 isn't coming. The revision to the current DSM was just released in 2022 (DSM 5 TR). They didn't really make any changes. It is just too fraught with issues to have another version. The goal with 5 was that by the time a sixth was needed, we would be more advanced in research and have better ways to diagnose but we aren't there yet.

https://www.madinamerica.com/2022/02/new-dsm-coming/

+1 There was 23 years between 4 and 5.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a moderate autism kid.

Talks, but that's it.

I get really annoyed when people tell me their kid is autistic and is attending a normal school without a shadow.

I'm sorry you are annoyed at someone like me, whose kid is autistic and does not have a shadow...is it annoying to you when my kid pulls my hair and tries to jump out of the car in a meltdown?

I have no idea what you mean.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a moderate autism kid.

Talks, but that's it.

I get really annoyed when people tell me their kid is autistic and is attending a normal school without a shadow.

My kid attends a normal (gifted) school without a shadow or any real supports. He is diagnosed with ADHD, but on multiple evals has not gotten an ASD diagnosis. His only support is medication and OT for handwriting. But he's so socially different, and doesn't mesh with other kids, and teachers find him so much different than other kids that I suspect they all think I'm in denial. I totally agree with the PP that an autism diagnosis should be reserved for kids who needs the type of support PP's kid needs. But it's funny how many people think the social traits alone are basis for an ASD diagnosis.

[Anonymous]

Yes, but the format will likely stay the same in future editions, at least in the short term.
For some purposes, the ICD might serve as a useful alternative,

[Anonymous]

The DSM has been updated two times since my DC was born. They are 26. Each time their diagnosis changed. First was Pragmatic Semantic Disorder, then the PDD-NOS and now Autism, level 1, low support.

None of the changes affected him or changed what he needed. Figure out what your DC needs and go from there.

[Anonymous]

I think what we need to do is reorganize society so that those of us who aren't NT can function. Why is school set up the way it is? Why are most jobs? It's just an awful way to live. Some of us would be the mostly valuable, high-functioning people in a more traditional society and not one based around computers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a moderate autism kid.

Talks, but that's it.

I get really annoyed when people tell me their kid is autistic and is attending a normal school without a shadow.

I'm sorry you are annoyed at someone like me, whose kid is autistic and does not have a shadow...is it annoying to you when my kid pulls my hair and tries to jump out of the car in a meltdown?

I have no idea what you mean.

Take care of a teen who isn't toilet trained, requires medication to sleep, talks only about atomic energy, does not have the ability to read or write.

I would love if the worst thing my kid s did was pull hair and melt down.

And yes it's annoying when you complain about your autism diagnosis

[Anonymous]

Its like making Blind cover people who need glasses. It makes no sense, and it's really annoying to people whose kids can't see.