Why is everything now just ASD?

[Anonymous]

Was talking to a friend whose son previously had a diagnosis as being ASD which was recently removed. My daughter has some SNs that we are wondering if a neuropsych will reveal to be ASD as it presents in girls. She does not present any of the typical tells of ASD that boys do since it is so different in girls but her main areas that are problematic are higher order language and she is a bit socially immature compared to other girls (on par with boys mostly). Anyway, all of this will get to put together by a neuropsych but my question is when things that previously explained kids like this pretty specifically, like PDD-NOS or even Aspbergers, why were they removed from the DSM only to be replaced by the much more vague and general "on the spectrum"? I am not sure how it helps kids who may have these specific traits to lose a label that accurately defined their problem only to be told now they're just somewhere on the spectrum generally. Anyone know the rationale? Also, if your child had one of the labels that was previously used but no longer is, what happens to their diagnosis? Does it change? Did it affect any of your treatment or therapies or school goals? Just confused how removing these things helps the kids who were diagnosed with them.

[Anonymous]

The labels don't change treatment or therapy a bit.

In some states where they have mandated certain levels of insurance coverage for autism, an autism diagnosis may mean more coverage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The labels don't change treatment or therapy a bit.

In some states where they have mandated certain levels of insurance coverage for autism, an autism diagnosis may mean more coverage.

OP here, my friend and I wondered if that was it. Like maybe insurance will pay for therapies with an autism diagnosis but not one for a PDD diagnosis since it's "not quite" autism but the kids still need help.

[Anonymous]

ASD= Insurance Covered services. 2 different doctors have admitted this to me.

[Anonymous]

They changed the diagnostic codes and eliminated Asperger's and PDD-Nos. Now everything is coded as ASD, but with degrees of severity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They changed the diagnostic codes and eliminated Asperger's and PDD-Nos. Now everything is coded as ASD, but with degrees of severity.

OP here, I know that, was just wondering what the reasoning was. It seems counterintuitive to me to go from more specified diagnoses to more generalized so I just didn't know why they went that direction.

[Anonymous]

My kid had Asperger's and his BFF had PDD-NOS. When these diagnosis "disappeared" in the DSM-5, nothing changed: Their IEPs remained under "autism", therapies and supports at school and private remained exactly the same, insurance coverage remained exactly the same, etc.

The change in the DSM made no difference at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They changed the diagnostic codes and eliminated Asperger's and PDD-Nos. Now everything is coded as ASD, but with degrees of severity.

OP here, I know that, was just wondering what the reasoning was. It seems counterintuitive to me to go from more specified diagnoses to more generalized so I just didn't know why they went that direction.

Because the previous distinctions weren't helpful. For example, the difference between aspergers and high functioning autism was whether there was a speech delay before age 3. That does not provide any meaningful guidance for what a 10 year old needs. Calling it autism but having levels based on how much support someone needs at that time is more helpful and specific.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They changed the diagnostic codes and eliminated Asperger's and PDD-Nos. Now everything is coded as ASD, but with degrees of severity.

OP here, I know that, was just wondering what the reasoning was. It seems counterintuitive to me to go from more specified diagnoses to more generalized so I just didn't know why they went that direction.

Because the previous distinctions weren't helpful. For example, the difference between aspergers and high functioning autism was whether there was a speech delay before age 3. That does not provide any meaningful guidance for what a 10 year old needs. Calling it autism but having levels based on how much support someone needs at that time is more helpful and specific.

Oh, I see, I guess that makes sense.

[Anonymous]

Lots of money in Autism, especially for ABA services.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They changed the diagnostic codes and eliminated Asperger's and PDD-Nos. Now everything is coded as ASD, but with degrees of severity.

OP here, I know that, was just wondering what the reasoning was. It seems counterintuitive to me to go from more specified diagnoses to more generalized so I just didn't know why they went that direction.

The previous categories were not being used consistently by treaters. If the treating healthcare professionals can't use the labels consistently and disagree over who goes where, the distinctions are useful for professionals or meaningful for patients.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They changed the diagnostic codes and eliminated Asperger's and PDD-Nos. Now everything is coded as ASD, but with degrees of severity.

OP here, I know that, was just wondering what the reasoning was. It seems counterintuitive to me to go from more specified diagnoses to more generalized so I just didn't know why they went that direction.

Because the previous distinctions weren't helpful. For example, the difference between aspergers and high functioning autism was whether there was a speech delay before age 3. That does not provide any meaningful guidance for what a 10 year old needs. Calling it autism but having levels based on how much support someone needs at that time is more helpful and specific.

And Asperger's was often used as a label to indicate that a kid didn't have any IQ deficits, when that isn't in the criteria at all and not what it meant.

The label high functioning autism was just confusing for patients and families because the researchers used it to mean a patient with language impairments and an IQ greater than 70, but lots of parents didn't think of that as "high functioning" compared to a neurotypical kid. And it really didn't say anything clear about the kid with autism and a testable IQ over 100.

[Anonymous]

Some info to explain:

http://www.behavioral.net/article/asperger-s-diagnosis-disappears-will-treatment-disappear-too

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They changed the diagnostic codes and eliminated Asperger's and PDD-Nos. Now everything is coded as ASD, but with degrees of severity.

OP here, I know that, was just wondering what the reasoning was. It seems counterintuitive to me to go from more specified diagnoses to more generalized so I just didn't know why they went that direction.

Because the previous distinctions weren't helpful. For example, the difference between aspergers and high functioning autism was whether there was a speech delay before age 3. That does not provide any meaningful guidance for what a 10 year old needs. Calling it autism but having levels based on how much support someone needs at that time is more helpful and specific.

And Asperger's was often used as a label to indicate that a kid didn't have any IQ deficits, when that isn't in the criteria at all and not what it meant.

The label high functioning autism was just confusing for patients and families because the researchers used it to mean a patient with language impairments and an IQ greater than 70, but lots of parents didn't think of that as "high functioning" compared to a neurotypical kid. And it really didn't say anything clear about the kid with autism and a testable IQ over 100.

A language impairment is different than autism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The labels don't change treatment or therapy a bit.

In some states where they have mandated certain levels of insurance coverage for autism, an autism diagnosis may mean more coverage.

OP here, my friend and I wondered if that was it. Like maybe insurance will pay for therapies with an autism diagnosis but not one for a PDD diagnosis since it's "not quite" autism but the kids still need help.

PDD isn't in the DSM any longer.