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Guardian article on alleged over-diagnosis at the weekend

RocketScientist

Apologies if this has already been discussed (I looked, but couldn't find it).

I read this article in Saturday's Guardian:

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/nov/01/the-term-is-becoming-unrecognisable-have-the-experts-who-believed-in-a-single-autism-spectrum-changed-their-minds

I understand the arguments, and I know that, as awareness is raised and more people come forwards, more people will be diagnosed, and the recent report confirms this. That's not what I'm posting about.

The article raises an interesting (to me) point about the 2013 DSM5, ASD as an umbrella term and the absorption of Asperger's. Baron Cohen seems to regret this, and hints that this might be responsible for some of the current faux outrage / culture war posturing. I think his off-the-cuff solution was to have new sub-types of ASD, effectively reinstating Asperger's with a more politically-correct name. Doing this might separate higher-needs from the so-called "lifestyle", "high-functioning" and lower-needs children and adults, who, I suspect, are (perceived as?) the faster growing demographic and bone of contention for the easily-offended and old-school psychologists.

I personally don't have an opinion one way or the other—I'm just the messenger here. The terms in quotes are not my words, but things in popular use (rightly or wrongly). I just wondered what people here thought about this?

[Disclaimer: I self-diagnosed a year ago and would put myself firmly in the latter category. I have a bit of Imposter Syndrome when I read about the problems other people have to live with, and I think my problems are trivial by comparison. My (self-)diagnosis helps me to understand the past more and better cope with the future, and I wouldn't want to waste the NHS's time with an official diagnosis, as I am pretty much retired. What started me thinking about this was a discussion with a friend who was diagnosed with "Asperger's" 20 years ago. I have since read into Asperger's, and I wonder if Baron Cohen is onto something.]

  • I think Baron-Cohen’s views are workable and they need not ‘other’ any group if the diagnosis and placement of a person is primarily focussed on the autistic traits rather than intellectual ability. I’m not sure that we’ve got the precision to place people within groups yet. Perhaps in the future, further genes that are associated with autism will be discovered and will contribute to grouping. I don’t mind being put into a group, so long as my needs are recognised and it doesn’t cause me to be othered.

    At the moment, autistic people with low, high and in between support needs aren’t receiving the support they need. Therefore, I hope any new grouping wouldn’t be driven primarily by financial considerations, causing people in some groups to drop off the end of the queue.

  • I read article too and quite like the idea of sub types, it would be interesting to see how my autism and dyslexia intersect, especially as I really struggle with sequenses. More tailored support would be really good.

    Another part of the article was interviewing Uta Frith and there was a very telling comment she made, that "it [autism] was never meant to get so big", she thought it would be a small number of the most profoundly affected who were diagnosed and dosen't like the way that diagnosis has been widened to included people with lower support needs. She did the majority of her work in the 1960's and I wonder if she's stuck in a 1960's mindset, thats class ridden, patronising and believing that us ordinary mortals shouldn't question medical authority.

    It's sad a bit like having to tell your Gran, 'you cant say things like that anymore' when they come out with some awful "ism", but luckily for us, other's are moving things along and more and more of us are being recognised and will continue to be so.

  • I'm gonna read it when I have time. I'm wondering, what would happen with all these people,  who received ASD diagnosis without distinct subtype. Would they be undiagnosed? Reassessed or I don't know what else. I'm about to get my report next week. I know that im being assessed with ICD-11 criteria through an interview ACIA for adults. I'm positive about "cleaning up" the spectrum - distinct subtypes. I want it to be clear, what level of needs I have. I don't want to be lumped together with people who need 24/7 care.

  • I think what Baron-Cohen is suggesting would be a happy medium between DSM4 and DSM5. Autism and Asperger's would no longer be regarded as distinct but related conditions (one of the problems with DSM4). And by giving some granularity to the autism 'spectrum' his proposal would push back against the tendency to think of autism as a spectrum of severity.