Doggonit, let's talk about diagnoses!!!

OK, yes, it's made the news. Now the numbers for autism are 1 in 99 instead of 1 in 150. Ok, but please, can we use the term Autism Spectrum Disorders instead of Autism.....??

Cause this is kind of bugging me.

Autism Spectrum Disorders include:
Asperger's/diagnosis code #299.80 (these kids would not have been diagnosed 20 years ago..they are highly verbal, very clumsy, and completely self-absorbed and unable to have reciprocal conversations...and they are intelligent...but get bulllied...they are the nerds)

PDD-NOS/diagnosis code #299.9 - Ok, these kids did NOT qualify for a diagnosis of autism, because.... There are 3 criteria for an autism diagnosis: 1. speech and language impairment 2. impairment in social communication 3. repetitive behaviors and compulsions

These PDD-NOS kids did not have all 3 criteria and so did not get the autism diagnosis. And frankly, I think it's possible that developmental pediatricians are overdiagnosing PDD-NOS in order to protect themselves (liability)...there may be a lot of ADHD kids and obsessive compulsive disorder kids being misdiagnosed as PDD-NOS, in my opinion. When Tommy got diagnosed with "regular" autism, I chased the neurodevelopmental pediatrician down the hallway to beg,.."Hey, this is PDD-NOS, right? How can you be so sure? He's only 3??? How can you know?" (I still cry to think of it)...she said, "I'm so sorry Kari, I'm sorry."

Autistic Disorder/diagnosis code #299.00: Welcome to my world. This is the old-fashioned autism you read about and think about when someone says autism: troubles with speech and language, disinterest in social communication (especially with peers) and repetitive behaviors (which you can see right away!)

Childhood Disintegrative Disorder/diagnosis code #299.10: I can't feel sorry for myself when I realize there are parents with kids with autism who actually get worse. Please say a prayer for these people.

Rett's Disorder/diagnosis code #299.80: This is the girl's version of autism, and it is slightly disintegrative...there is a lot of hand-wringing, and it is a really, really tough type. BUT, they have discovered the gene for it and are working hard on a medicine (please invest heavily in pharmacogenomics :). I believe M.I.T. has reversed it in mice!!

So these are the autism spectrum disorders! And what a spectrum it is indeed.