Diagnostic Criteria
This page helps you to determine whether or not you or your family are affected by Asperger's syndrome or autism.
The Diagnostic Criteria
The diagnostic criteria is what will be used by a professional to diagnose a person with autism or Aspergers.
I've included the three most common criteria here.
- The current criteria: (as at 2020) criteria from the DSM V
- The previous criteria: In version IV of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), autism and Asperger's were separate. Sometimes it's easier to work with this criteria.
Asperger's and Schizophrenia
One of the things that the DSM IV criteria is pretty specific about is that a person can't have both Asperger's Syndrome and Schizophrenia. I've seen some very obvious cases which I believe make this untrue. I think that it's very difficult to diagnose a person with Asperger's when they have Schizophrenia but it's not impossible for them to co-exist. I've noticed that this restriction is lifted in the DSM V and confirmed it with psychologists. Yes, they can co-exist.
One of the most frequently debated topics about autism is whether (and when) you should tell your children. My personal feelings on this are; Yes, you should tell them and as early as you possibly can.
This page explains the reasoning behind this and gives examples of what to do.
If you don't get support or belief
It's quite common for other members of the family to disagree with the diagnosis. Sometimes it's the other parent, sometimes it's grandparents.
This page will cover how to move forward when you don't have all of the support that you need. I haven't gotten around to building it yet but please see my page on;
Getting Tested
This page will cover getting tested for autism.
Unlike many medical conditions, there's no litmus test for Asperger's or autism. You can't get a scan or a blood test to determine whether you have it or not. The criteria used by psychologists is available on the internet and it's fairly easy to interpret.
That doesn't mean that everyone can be a doctor but what it does mean is that you can do some online tests to determine how likely you are to be on the spectrum.
Then you can decide whether or not you need to get an official diagnosis.
While being diagnosed with autism opens a lot of doors (opportunities) for young people -- and the younger the better, it doesn't do a terrible lot for adults.
This page answers the question of whether adults should seek a formal diagnosis or should just be content with the results of the online tests (see self diagnosis).
Autism and Aspergers are rarely "lone travellers", here's a list of common co-conditions and some articles to go with them.
Often, the worst of the problems with Aspergers and autism stem from the co-conditions rather than the main condition. You can often address co-conditions with medication or therapy.
There are a lot of different traits associated with autism -- and they present differently in individuals.