tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33052404.post4377575780890260297..comments2024-02-13T21:31:57.980-04:00Comments on Facing Autism in New Brunswick: Autism and the DSM-V in Public Life and DiscussionAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05838571980003579163noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33052404.post-75253336767530828042008-11-23T21:24:00.000-04:002008-11-23T21:24:00.000-04:00I probably would not have been diagnosed under the...I probably would not have been diagnosed under the "old" criteria Mr.Golden mentions.I was originally diagnosed in the 1970s,with developmental delay,childhood schizophrenia,NVLDs (I have all four.),and assorted other disorders ,but basically what I had was 90% of classic autism,except I was verbal.I was rediagnosed with atypical autism,<B>after</B> my disease improved as an adult.It only made sense to consolidate my diagnoses.<BR/><BR/>I still have to fight mental health people who want to put me in an institution,or group home,BTW.I am obviously unable to work.And unlike <BR/>Ms.Dawson,I am more than willing to supply names of all the doctors I see.<BR/><BR/>Yes,there is a lot of overdiagnosing going on out there, especially when it comes to Asperger's,and HFA.I doubt if many of the people who post at places like Wrong Planet have any form of autism at all.<BR/><BR/>But there are also people like me who are only a symptom or two removed from true classic autism, that should be diagnosed.<BR/><BR/>I am all for removing Asperger's/HFA from the spectrum.I think if Dr.Asperger could come back today,he would be shocked and apalled at some of what is being done in his name.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33052404.post-14830879575274594772008-11-23T00:31:00.000-04:002008-11-23T00:31:00.000-04:00I think the following that I included in a longer ...I think the following that I included in a longer message on another blog is relevant to this blog entry:<BR/><BR/>For about four and a half decades I have been actually assisting persons with all types of disabilities, and not just with autism. Many of the persons I am currently assisting have a diagnosis of mental illness but based on my own extensive experience I believe that some might now receive a diagnosis of autism under the much broader new definition of diagnosis since the early 1990s, which according to a 2005 scientific article co-authored by Michelle Dawson has resulted in a several-fold increase in the number of persons diagnosed with autism.<BR/> <BR/>My own son Ben, age 36 completely nonverbal and considered "low functioning," was diagnosed with autism under the much narrower old definition in January 1977 before his fifth birthday by Dr. Peter B. Rosenberger, a pediatric neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, to whom I was referred by Barbara Cutler, the mother of Rob Cutler of Arlington, Massachusetts. According to information I have read from websites that Michelle Dawson posted, Michelle Dawson at about age 30 in the early 1990s was first diagnosed with autism under what I understand to be the much broader new definition by an unnamed psychologist whose credentials as an autism expert are not disclosed.<BR/><BR/>Arthur GoldenArthur Goldenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03177577505916908123noreply@blogger.com