New Autism Definition Might Mean Fewer Cases
Facebook 
Get Our Newsletter! 
Print
Proposed changes to the definition of autism might mean that fewer children will be diagnosed with the disease, resulting in less health, educational, and social services offered to those that would normally be covered.
The current definition is under review by an expert panel appointed by the American Psychiatric Association (APA). The updated definition is expected to appear in the fifth edition of the APA’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which should be completed by December. The D.S.M is the standard reference for mental disorders, treatment and insurance decisions.
“The proposed changes would put an end to the autism epidemic,” said Dr. Fred R. Volkmar, director of the Child Study Center at Yale University School of Medicine and an author of the new analysis. “We would nip it in the bud — think of it that way.”
Autism rates have skyrocketed since the early 1980′s, and recent estimates show that as many as 1 in 100 children might be affected with the disease under the current definition.
“I don’t know how they’re getting those numbers,” said Catherine Lord, a member of the task force working on the diagnosis.
Currently, one million children and adults are diagnosed with autism or a related disorder, like Asperger syndrome or “pervasive developmental disorder, not otherwise specified” — or P.D.D.-N.O.S. The proposed change to the definition would umbrella all three diagnoses into one category: autism spectrum disorder. This would eliminate Asperger syndrome and P.D.D.-N.O.S. from the manual.
In order to be diagnosed with autism or a related disorder currently, patients have to exhibit 6 or more of 12 behaviors. Under the proposed revision, a patient would have to exhibit “three deficits in social interaction and communication and at least two repetitive behaviors — a much narrower menu,” according to the NYTimes.
Thousands of children and adults who are diagnosed with autism receive special assistance from the state. Some parents are worried that the updated definition, which is 90% complete according to Dr. David J. Kupfer, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh and chairman of the task force making the revisions, will prevent their children from getting much-needed assistance.
Mary Meyer, of Ramsey, N.J., told the NYTimes that an Asperger syndrome diagnosis was essential in getting her daughter, 37, access to services that have “helped tremendously.”
“I’m very concerned about the change in diagnosis because I wonder if my daughter would even qualify now,” she said. “She’s on disability, which is partly based on the Asperger’s, and I’m hoping to get her into supportive housing, which also depends on her diagnosis.”
To see the proposed new definition, click here (FYI: The zoom bar is on the top of the page)
What a great gift idea for a mom-to-be. Pregnancy Countdown Hand Painted Magnetic Chalkboard $28.00 
Comment by cia parker on Jan 21 2012 01:01:48:
The only way that this proposed redefinition would nip the autism epidemic in the bud would be to abandon vaccine-damaged children and families to fend for ourselves. My baby was given the hep-B vaccine in the hospital when she was born against my desire, and reacted with four days and nights of endless screaming, vaccine-induced encephalitis, and was later diagnosed with autism. The encephalitis damaged “only” the right side of her brain, the side responsible for language, social skills, and reasoning, and she is extremely impaired in all of these areas, while remaining normal to gifted in math skills (the left side of her brain was not affected).
The epidemic is real, no one used to have children with the easily recognizable behavior quirks and problems characteristic of autism. Dr. Leo Kanner said in 1943 in his landmark article that autism had never before been seen or described by anyone. The children he studied had been damaged by the pertussis vaccine. Do you think that children who mixed up I and you (saying You want a cookie when they mean I want a cookie) would never have been noticed or commented on in thousands of years of history if they had existed? It’s a classic sign of autism, my daughter did it for several years after she finally started to speak at the age of three.
Society has damaged these children and families irreparably by refusing to look at the damage vaccines do to the immune system of a large number of the people who get them. Encephalitis is relatively common, and can manifest as autism, ADHD, or seizure disorders. Its symptoms can be as mild as three hours of crying, somnolence, or staring epidodes. Abnormal Th2 responses to vaccines mean autoimmune diseases like asthma, allergies, bowel disease, or diabetes, all diseases rare to non-existent before vaccines.
A just society cannot throw damaged autistic people onto the streets when grown. In most cases they cannot take care of themselves, and would quickly die on the streets. Their parents cannot be expected to care for them forever, if for no other reason than that we will eventually die.
The problem is new, these stunning numbers only date from the stunning increase in the vaccine schedule and the addition of the MMR and the hep-B vaccine. The proposal to close our eyes to the problem and deny its existence is as old a solution as the selfishness of humankind.