Which diagnosis would you choose for your child?

There is a big question whether Britain should go down the road of the US and use DSM for psychiatric and mental health conditions, and ignore ICD despite it being the keeper of the codes for DSM.

As I have previously stated, ICD-10 is still current - hence the title of this discussion. Even the US has adopted ICD-10, so they can now officially diagnose a person with AS, but Americans rarely use ICD for psychiatric and mental health conditions.

The updates required for books about AS which centre on an ICD-10 diagnosis to comply with ICD-11 are minimal because ICD-11 clearly categorises ASD whereas ASD in DSM-5 is a linear scale.

Unfortunately there just aren't any autism books from the DSM-5 era that contain anywhere near as much RELEVANT material for people with AS as the dedicated AS books do.

My AS support group is relying on these dedicated AS books, most of which predate DSM-5, simply because there aren't any more recent books that cover the same topics to the same depth.

An analogy is that the dedicated AS books are like books about Porsches, whereas the DSM-5 era autism books are like books about cars in general with some bias towards family hatchbacks. If you are the owner of a Porsche then there is no contest to what is more relevant and concise for you.

Autism hasn't changed at all - it's just NTs playing power games with information by telling you what *they* think is fashionable this year.    

If you understand the US education system, you'll understand why they want Asperger's gone - it's a deliberately triggered emotional knee-jerk that earns them billions form forcing book reprints.    (If you support Asperger, then you're a Na*i sympathiser etc. etc....... Yawn).

A lot of this went on under the Obama administration - and they were well rewarded with unbelievably lucrative 'book' deals afterwards.

I struggle to understand the rationale of thinking outdated and potential misinformation about anything, not just autism, is better than nothing just because it costs money to update texts. 

I'm a law graduate from a poor family but if I'd relied on old law textbooks I'd have failed my degree so sometimes you have no choice but to invest in the most up to date resources. 

I have a private diagnosis of AS under ICD-10. It was the standard at the time. ICD-9 was obsolete and DSM-IV was not used in Britain.

Are you autistic? 

M said:

No, I think books should just be updated, retitled, include new information etc. 

It all costs time, money, and effort to update books! My stance is that until updated books are published then we have to use whatever books currently exist.

Something to bear in mind is that Americans diagnosed with AS were diagnosed under DSM-IV whereas British and Australians were diagnosed under ICD-10.

Therefore, any books about AS which centre on an ICD-10 diagnosis are still technically current publications. The authors may choose to update the books in accordance with ICD-11 rather than DSM-5.

Sorry I didnt see your question. No, I think books should just be updated, retitled, include new information etc. 

I'm a fan of updating, not erasing. And we can learn a lot from history so no point pretending it doesn't exist entirely.

I'm a law graduate so I learned to always look for the most current piece of legislation to reference. After all, we once considered being gay illegal or raping your wife to be perfectly legal but we have moved on now. I'm sure if Asperger had been in Hitler's position and come up with the theory we would be cringing at the name "Hitler's Syndrome" and most of us would not want to identify that way. I'm extending that to Asperger, but if people have always identified that way then I understand why they wouldn't want to necessarily stop doing that. 

The question was which diagnosis would YOU choose, not which we think EVERYONE should choose. As for parents choosing for their children, who cares? It isn't their diagnosis and shouldn't be the ones choosing their identity anyway. 

Do many parents think about the longer term impacts of a diagnosis? Things like higher education, careers, or insurance premiums. I find it hard to believe that there is next to no difference in the outcome as a result of the diagnosis.

Does that justify a school destroying their collection of books about Asperger Syndrome at the behest of left-wing governors?

I don't want this to turn into a big thing -  but - so what?    Mercedes built engines for bombers, as did BMW.      Maybach is a premium brand.    Killed millions.         It's just sad, fashionable political correctness to undermine anything non-American (see who started this smear campaign)

I have Asperger's and I'm proud of it. 

• He is actually thought to be connected with a lot of deaths of learning disabled people at the time, although originally he was thought to have been an advocate for the highly intelligent autistic people at the time. You just had to be the "right type".

Please elaborate on these challenging situations, and what support is required.

Maybe he liked the cool uniforms? 

I don't fit your criteria but Hans Asperger allegedly colluded with the *** so I wouldn't want to be referred to as having aspergers personally. 

I personally would go with ASD as its becoming more widely understood by people that challenging situations need more support or accommodations.

A lot depends on your perception of each term - personally, most people I know associate ASD as 'Rain Man' and Asperger's with 'Sheldon Cooper'.       I'm diagnosed as Asperger's but I'm in my 50s - I'm like dealing with Mr Data from STNG,

Great question Arran! I'm afraid I cannot answer it, but also interested in which parents would choose between ADI and DISCO (for the parental interview).