"The fifth edition of the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5) (APA in diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, Author, Washington, 2013) has decided to merge the subtypes of pervasive developmental disorders into a single category of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) on the assumption that they cannot be reliably differentiated from one another."
LY Tsai, M. Ghaziuddin (JADD 2013) DSM-5 ASD Moves Forward into the Past
I agree with the observations of Tsai, Ghazuiddin and Dr. Waterhouse. I have none of their outstanding academic and research qualifications. I am a humble Canadian labour lawyer, the father of a severely autistic 17 year old son, with "profound developmental delays" who has, like 25% of those with severe autism and intellectual disability also suffered from serious grand mal seizures. My 17 year old son, who I love dearly, whose joyful visage adorns the sides of this blog, reads at a Dr. Seuss level. He is not autistic in the manner of a Michelle Dawson who appeared at the Supreme Court of Canada to argue as an "autistic" against the parents from British Columbia who were seeking Medicare coverage for evidence based ABA treatment for their autistic children. My son is not autistic in the manner of an Ari Ne'eman who graduated from university, founded a corporate entity called ASAN, participates as a member of the IACC and lectures journalists on what it means to be autistic in a meeting of the Washington press corps.
I don't have the academic autism credentials of the distinguished names mentioned above. I do have credentials as an autism father who has loved and cared for a severely autistic son for 17+ years. I have credentials as an autism advocate who, in my home Canadian province of New Brunswick, has advocated with other parents with success for early evidence based intervention for autistic children, autism trained Teacher Assistants and for the continuation of a tertiary care autism center for NB children and youth when threatened with closure by bureaucratic decree. In my continuing advocacy for autistic adults I have visited psychiatric hospitals where they have lived in the absence of a residential care system to meet their needs. I have conducted many meetings with other autism parents as the Autism Society New Brunswick and met many autistic children and adults from my son's severe end of the spectrum to the very high functioning "Aspergers" end.
What my experience, what my daily life for 17+ years has always told me, is that there are vastly different realities facing those on the autism spectrum. There is no evidence justifying the lumping together of these hugely different realities under the label Autism Spectrum Disorder. To borrow the words of Dr. Waterhouse autism to any reasonably informed observer is marked by heterogeneity and complexity.
As Tsai and Ghazuddin have said the DSM-5 ASD is counter to evidence and is based on the assumption that "they cannot be reliably differentiated from one another."
That assumption is not just wrong. It is in the humble opinion of this informed autism father a ridiculously false assumption.
LY Tsai, M. Ghaziuddin (JADD 2013) DSM-5 ASD Moves Forward into the Past
I agree with the observations of Tsai, Ghazuiddin and Dr. Waterhouse. I have none of their outstanding academic and research qualifications. I am a humble Canadian labour lawyer, the father of a severely autistic 17 year old son, with "profound developmental delays" who has, like 25% of those with severe autism and intellectual disability also suffered from serious grand mal seizures. My 17 year old son, who I love dearly, whose joyful visage adorns the sides of this blog, reads at a Dr. Seuss level. He is not autistic in the manner of a Michelle Dawson who appeared at the Supreme Court of Canada to argue as an "autistic" against the parents from British Columbia who were seeking Medicare coverage for evidence based ABA treatment for their autistic children. My son is not autistic in the manner of an Ari Ne'eman who graduated from university, founded a corporate entity called ASAN, participates as a member of the IACC and lectures journalists on what it means to be autistic in a meeting of the Washington press corps.
I don't have the academic autism credentials of the distinguished names mentioned above. I do have credentials as an autism father who has loved and cared for a severely autistic son for 17+ years. I have credentials as an autism advocate who, in my home Canadian province of New Brunswick, has advocated with other parents with success for early evidence based intervention for autistic children, autism trained Teacher Assistants and for the continuation of a tertiary care autism center for NB children and youth when threatened with closure by bureaucratic decree. In my continuing advocacy for autistic adults I have visited psychiatric hospitals where they have lived in the absence of a residential care system to meet their needs. I have conducted many meetings with other autism parents as the Autism Society New Brunswick and met many autistic children and adults from my son's severe end of the spectrum to the very high functioning "Aspergers" end.
What my experience, what my daily life for 17+ years has always told me, is that there are vastly different realities facing those on the autism spectrum. There is no evidence justifying the lumping together of these hugely different realities under the label Autism Spectrum Disorder. To borrow the words of Dr. Waterhouse autism to any reasonably informed observer is marked by heterogeneity and complexity.
As Tsai and Ghazuddin have said the DSM-5 ASD is counter to evidence and is based on the assumption that "they cannot be reliably differentiated from one another."
That assumption is not just wrong. It is in the humble opinion of this informed autism father a ridiculously false assumption.
