Published on 12, July, 2020
Asperger United was renamed The Spectrum by the NAS as a result of the findings about the life and work of Hans Asperger by Herwig Czech earlier in 2018.
https://www.autism.org.uk/get-involved/media-centre/news/2018-04-19-study-on-hans-asperger.aspx
www.autism.org.uk/.../the-spectrum.aspx
Is this an indication that the NAS is (quietly?) phasing out Asperger from their website and publications?
The services that the NAS has provided for people with AS have been the point of much contention over the years. This has included criticism that the NAS focuses the majority of its efforts onto people at the more severe end of the autism spectrum or those who require residential care services whereas people with AS only get the crumbs. Therefore the NAS could take advantage of the findings of Herwig Czech as a backdoor way to abandon supporting people with AS and effectively turn the clock back to the 1980s when people with (then undiagnosed) AS would almost always fail to meet the criteria for autism.
Some people argue that AS should be phased out anyway because it is no longer included in DSM-5 but DSM-5 is American and it has been rather cynically referred to as a catalogue of billing codes for insurance companies rather than a list of medical conditions.
I think that most people who would previously have got an AS diagnosis now get autism spectrum disorder level 1 if DSM 5/ ICD 11 is being used rather than not getting diagnosed? I was only diagnosed very recently and thats what i got, but was also told that in the past it would have been classed as AS, so i think it may basically be more of a name change rather than not supporting people with AS/ ASD 1?
In the previous edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), the main diagnostic criteria of Asperger’s Disorder included a “qualitative impairment in social interaction and restricted, repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, and activities.” These deficiencies and patterns caused “clinically significant impairment in social, occupational or other important areas of functioning.”
In the new DSM-V, the diagnosis of Asperger’s Disorder no longer exists and has been absorbed into the diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). There is also a new diagnosis called Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder (SCD), which falls under the category of Communication Disorders and may serve as an alternative diagnosis for someone with Asperger’s-like symptoms.
https://www.optimumperformanceinstitute.com/aspergers-treatment/dsm-v-and-how-it-affects-the-diagnosis-of-aspergers-disorder/
it is not NAS, but the new diagnostic criteria
it is worth noting...
Despite the media hype, the revised classifications in DSM-5 will have limited impact on individuals who receive mental health care in the UK, at least in the short-term.
Psychiatrists in the UK tend to use the World Health Organisation’s International Classification of Diseases (ICD) system to diagnose mental health conditions, rather than DSM, which is used in the US.
Also, the term ‘autistic spectrum disorder’ (and the concepts underpinning it) have been widely used in the UK for many years. However, in the long-term, it is difficult to predict the potential impact the DSM-5 will have on the future diagnosis and treatment of mental health conditions.
https://www.nhs.uk/news/mental-health/aspergers-not-in-dsm-5-mental-health-manual/