[polytech]

I am an adult with Aspergers Syndrome (which I understand to be neuropathic). I have been told by two different forensic psychologists that if/when AS gets taken out of DSM-V, children will be rediagnosed with the umbrella dx of Autistic Spectrum Disorder and adults, like myself, will be re-dx'd with Schizotypal Personality Disorder (which is psychopathic). It did not matter that I flat-lined (no scores in the clinical range) the MMPI-2, which also tests for Schizotypal (so it isn't likely to be a co-morbid condition, either). (It almost seems like an attempt to intimidate AS adults from seeking further treatment, lest we get branded SPD.)

I was first dx'd by a local expert in ASDs. Her boss thought she was over-dx'ing ASDs, so she left (& started her own practice). In a follow-up appointment with him, he, too, proposed SPD because all these people "couldn't possibly have this condition..." I found my way to a local autism clinic and had my condition verified by a neuro PhD there, but even that fell on some deaf ears. It seems like a political tug-of-war.

My question is this: If/when the DSM-V ceases to recognize Aspergers, particularly in adults, is the field of neurology going to disavow us, too, and accept a psychopathic dx (such as SPD) in its place?

To me, that seems akin to saying that the reason why an amnesiac can't remember anything is because s/he's crazy..!

[jenniepepsi]

This sounds very incorrect to me. I do not recall reading that adults with aspergers will be re diagnosed as Schizo typical. As far as I have been told, all asperger patients will be changed to autism, and that autism will have a variance of degree.

Have you been diagnosed by an actual DOCTOR? Have you spoken to a doctor at all about this?
Trusting the diagnosis of someone with a known history of misdiagnosis, is not the best way to get the help you need.

[Wondergirl]

No, that's not the plan for Asperger's. Here is some info for you --

If experts have their way, Asperger's syndrome and another mild form of autism, pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (P.D.D.-N.O.S. for short), will be folded into a single broad diagnosis, autism spectrum disorder — a category that encompasses autism's entire range, or spectrum, from high-functioning to profoundly disabling.

Dr. Susan E. Swedo, a senior investigator at the National Institute of Mental Health who heads the diagnostic manual group working on autism, acknowledges the difficulty of describing such a variable disorder [as autism]. Dr. Swedo said the plan was to define autism by two core elements — impaired social communication and repetitive behaviors or fixated interests — and to score each of those elements for severity.

The trick is to “walk the tightrope of truth,” Dr. Swedo said, between providing clear, easily used diagnostic guidance to clinicians and capturing the individual variation that is relevant to treatment. “People say that in autism, everybody is a snowflake,” she said. “It's the perfect analogy.”

All interested parties will have an opportunity to weigh in on the proposed changes. The American Psychiatric Association is expected to post the working group's final proposal on autism diagnostic criteria on the diagnostic manual's Web site in January and invite comment from the public. Dr. Swedo and company are bracing for an earful.

from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/he...pagewanted=all

[polytech]

Thanks for both of your answers. I do not object to a simple reclassification as ASD. I have an official dx from a Dr. at an autism clinic, but these three doctors are summarily throwing out his dx and discounting my MMPI scores. Two of them are forensic psychologists (1 Veterans Admin and the other for Social Security). It is intimidating that a third is singing the same tune. It appears that the fields of psychiatry and neurology are at odds with each other about this. That is why I was hoping a neurologist would speak to it.

[Wondergirl]

We don't have a neurologist on site but DrBill will certainly weigh later today--or I will PM him to do so.