Don't be Afraid of the New Autism Diagnosis

Cathy Lord, in a piece that she wrote for the Huffington Post, said:

In the DSM-5, we propose a new way of looking at these disorders, merging them into a single diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. We believe this will create more accurate diagnoses and improved access to services. It should also improve research into ASD, because there will be less diagnostic confusion

And I agree.  I feel that there has be undue anxiety regarding a variety of issues.  There are a host of reasons why these changes are being implemented.  For example:

1. Research suggested that there was considerable confusion among researchers, doctors, psychologists and psychiatrists regarding the criteria of PDD-NOS, Autistic Disorder, and Asperger Disorder.  Often we saw "graduations" of one disorder into the other, which tended to be problematic, often leaving people with the complex task of attempting to identify a label instead of looking to begin interventions and help the children and adults in need.
2. Emergent research suggests that Asperger Disorder and Autistic Disorder, as currently defined in the DSM-IV differ only in levels of language and/or IQ (one may argue that IQ as a construct is heavily influences by language, but that is a debate that I would leave for some of my other colleagues).  The Neurodevelopmental group of the DSM-5 argued that they did not want  diagnostic decisions to be based on IQ or language. One can argue that there is a paucity of studies that have looked at this difference (Relying on memory, I can recall roughly 15 articles in the period from 1994 - 2012), and I would argue that the reason more research is not being published in peer-review publications is that these studies are finding no difference except in language and IQ.  
3. Others have bemoaned the fact that there the DSM is dropping Childhood Disintegrative Disorder (CDD).  While there isn't a good base of experimental data to support this difference, we see that emergent case study research suggests that CDD is probably the norm.  That is to say, the group hypothesized that autism is an auto-immune disorder which kicks in within the first few months of a child's life, similar to MS which kicks in in the fourth decade of someone's life.  This might explain parents' descriptions of the disorder.  A fascinating hypothesis, which may be the key to explaining such parental reports.

I agree with Cathy Lord and the work that her Neurodevelopmental group has engaged in.

NJ Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts Jr. seeks action on autism

As has been documented in many CDC studies, the rate of autism is highest in New Jersey (and here in New York, in Staten Island). The most recent CDC study found the rate of autism to be 1 in 152 nation-wide, but in NJ, the rate was 1 in 94 children. Researchers are puzzled as to why the rate is so high.

Speaker Roberts put together a package of seven legislative bills to support autism treatment measures. They include:

• The establishing a statewide autism registry.
• The training of teachers in autism awareness.
• The creation of a task force on adult autism.
• Requiring autism awareness training for emergency personnel.
• The provision more money for the Governor's Council on Autism, which spend $4 million per year.
• The instruction of doctors in early detection.
• The revision of the seven-person Governor's Council on Autism to add two more members and diversify membership.

I applaud Speaker Roberts' initiatives, however, I'd like to hold off judgement in order to review the bills. Specifically, I would like to see evidence based interventions as the basis for training teachers and emergency personnel; I'd also like to see where this money will be going. For instance, there should be some money earmarked to examine why the rate is so high in NJ, as well as money provided for the intensive treatment of autism.

Furthermore, I would be interested to see how this bill would affect school psychologists who are practicing in New Jersey.

Chelation treatment video

So, I'm still not convinced that this treatment is workable, but I am encouraged to see that someone is conducting a study on chelation, which is double blind. Click here to see this MSNBC video.

I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on the matter.







Technorati tags: chelation, autism, Asperger, intervention, MSNBC

Asperger's disorder ruled to be a disability by a federal judge

One of the issues that has plagued many school officials working working with children with Asperger's disorder is whether or not this disorder actually meets the criteria for a legal disability as per IDEIA.

In Maine, a federal judge has provided some guidance:

• A York County girl who suffers from Asperger's syndrome is entitled to special education services even though she completes her homework, behaves well in class and scores well on tests
• The judge in the case said that the girl's parents demonstrated that the disability adversely affects her educational performance "and is thus eligible for special education under (federal law) due to her Asperger syndrome and her depressive disorder." (note: the article does not indicate under which classification disability category Asperger's syndrome is subsumed).
• The ruling described Asperger's as a "clinically recognized pervasive developmental disability" with symptoms that include "limited interests or an unusual preoccupation with a particular subject to the exclusion of other activities."
• The girl in this case, who attended public schools in Hiram and Cornish through 5th grade, performed well academically but in the fourth grade her teachers noticed that she looked sad, anxious and had a difficult time making friends.
• The decision recognizes that social development is an important part of education

Of course, the ruling should have broad impact in many areas, specifically in the fact that case law is recognizing and shaping the fact that Asperger's Disorder has educational impacts that go far beyond reading, writing and math.











Technorati tags: autism asperger special education IDEA IDEIA