Published on 12, July, 2020
This might be one for the Moderators to look into, but I wonder if others have insight on this.
I've had several conversations recently with professionals dealing with adults on the spectrum who've just spouted the triad of impairments, or who've said its all in the triad of impairments.
With all the literature on theories about autism and various interpretations, and approaches to treatment, I could quite understand professionals looking for the easiest synthesis to hand. But what is to hand? Is it just too easy to read up on the triad and related summaries? Or is there nothing else to hand for professionals to use.
The Triad of Impairments, as far as I can see, is of no more value than for diagnosing children. It has little relevance to the everyday lives and experiences of adults, and is hardly appropriate to helping professionals understand adult needs.
It doesn't explain a lot of issues facing adults.
But just what are the main texts used by professionals? And how useful are these texts for supporting adults?
One thing to bear in mind about professionals dealing with autism is that they are practically all psychiatrists and psychologists, and the fact is that these professiona need a HUGE overhaul. They are absolutely useless.
Just look up any forums about mental health and there are so many people who are amazed when they actually ask for help for their OCD, anxiety, depression, substance abuse, eating disorder etc. that the help offerred is very very poor.
These professions assume two things. First, disordered thinking, NOT as is much more usual a poor environmental situation. Second, that this disordered thinking can be changed by the use of pharmacology, again a big idea that is often incorrect.
The profession has known for years that environment is the main factor in mental health issues, BUT they are prevented from taking steps to change that by the guidlines of their profession.
Taking this into the realm of the developmental disorder, they just don't know what to do. They realise that if there is an unchanging pattern of behaviours then neither of the above assumptions is correct but these are their only tools. So, they retreat to a very rigid set of "rules" for diagnosis and any treatments. In short for those with autism and no learning disability they repeat parrot fashion what is written for diagnostic criteria, then retreat to the (mostly useless, especially the older the patient) tools of their profession.
Lastly, remember that even very well researched and long established medical conditions like athritis are still, by some doctors , being trated with outmoded medicine, so it unlikely that more uncommon, nuanced and, for NT doctors, difficult to understand conditions like autism will be treated in an old fashioned rigid way.