Is this child autistic? Why label him with a "label" of lifelong companionship! On what basis? Today I will take you to learn more about DSM-5. It is internationally recognized as the "gold standard" for autism diagnosis.
The American Psychiatric Association publishes the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) to guide health care professionals in diagnosing mental health conditions. The fifth edition of the manual, DSM-5, entered into force in May 2013.
Why update the version?
There are 2 purposes. 1. It can make the diagnosis of autism more accurate, not only easy for medical workers to identify, but also reduce misdiagnosis and missed diagnosis. It can also provide precise services based on classification and severity. 2. It is conducive to early screening and detection of families.
1.The four autism categories, which were previously separate, are now merged into "Autism Spectrum Disorder".
The previous categories were:Autism, Asperger's syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, pervasive developmental disorder (PDD-NOS).
2.Classification of symptoms.
Old criteria: social impairment, verbal communication impairment, and repetitive restrictive behaviors.
The New Standard: Social Communication Interactions persistently have flawed, restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior.
3.Add sensory problems as symptoms under the Restricted repetitive behaviors category. This includes an over- or under-reactive response to stimuli (light, sound, taste, touch, etc.) or an unusual interest in stimuli (staring at lights, rotating objects, etc.).
4.Severity assessment scale based on the level of support required for daily functioning.
5.Additional Assessment:
Any known genetic cause of autism (e.g., fragile X syndrome, Rett syndrome).
Language level. Intellectual disability and.
Presence of autism-related disorders (e.g., epilepsy, anxiety, gastrointestinal disorders, sleep disturbances).
6.Establish a new diagnosis of social communication disorders, targeting social communication disorders without repetitive, restrictive behaviors.
What should we make of the new standard?
The above two aspects of A and B will be shown by almost all children, but it does not mean that children with these conditions are autistic, and they must meet the following characteristics of C d e in order to be diagnosed as a spectrum.
There is a group of children who have obvious social communication difficulties, but do not have stereotypical behaviors and do not have functional deficits in life. Then they may only be diagnosed with – a social communication disorder.
Previously, these children were often thought to be a type of autism called pervasive developmental disorder (PDD-NOS). Under the new criteria, social communication disorders may no longer be part of the autism spectrum.
After understanding the latest DSM-5 standards, I believe that all parents have their own judgments in their hearts, and in the future, do not judge autism by the single characteristics of "whether you can speak", "whether you look at each other", "whether you can respond", and "whether you can refer to things".
Improving autism's social skills in a short period of time is recognized as 5 effective intervention methods.