Don’t Get Railroaded as an Adult
Misdiagnosis of Adult Autism is Possible
Today, the autism rate is soaring through the roof. It seems everyone has it.
But did you know DSM requires autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to be present in childhood?
It states “Symptoms must be present in the early developmental period…”
But did you know buried in the descriptive text allows therapists an out on this?
It states, “…however, ambiguous or absent developmental information in itself is not sufficient to rule out a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder.”
Okay, I get the idea absent. I could see a person in their 50s going for diagnosis where their parents and childhood teachers are dead. Under such circumstances, what’s a therapist to do if most of the information leans towards autism? The logical conclusion is that the person is more than likely to have autism.
But it’s the ambiguous part that I take issue with.
Ambiguous means to have a double meaning. Contradictions arise when childhood reports of no autism conflict with later self-reports and observations.
This allows a therapist, who’s inclined so, to rule that the person is autistic because it fits the narrative, they’ve said to the person. Is this ethical? No.
The DSM states under the circumstances of creditable lack of autism in childhood, it would “…significantly lessen the likelihood of a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder…”
Bottom line, make sure you thoroughly review your childhood before you get assessed for ASD. And get it done while people are still alive, like parents and grade schoolteachers.
Quotes sourced from- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders : Fifth Edition Text Revision DSM-5-TR™, | American Psychiatric Association,https://ebooks.appi.org/epubreader/diagnostic-statistical-manual-mental-disorders-fifth-edition-text-revision-dsm5tr
