Fredericksburg Families
Amy Umble writes about family issues and kid-friendly events.
Aspergers to be dropped from diagnostic manual
In May, there will no longer be an Asperger’s disorder. Doctors decided Saturday to drop that diagnosis from the next diagnosis manual.
Full details of all the revisions will come next May when the American Psychiatric Association’s new diagnostic manual is published, but the impact will be huge, affecting millions of children and adults worldwide. The manual also is important for the insurance industry in deciding what treatment to pay for, and it helps schools decide how to allot special education.
The AP also spoke to Kelli Gibson of Battle Creek, Mich, a parent who has four sons on the autism spectrum, including one who has been diagnosed with Aspergers (I’m trying to picture what their house is like):
“To give it separate names never made sense to me,” Gibson said. “To me, my children all had autism.”
Three of her boys receive special education services in public school; the fourth is enrolled in a school for disabled children. The new autism diagnosis won’t affect those services, Gibson said. She also has a 3-year-old daughter without autism.
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http://www.facebook.com/elizabeth.hilosky Elizabeth Yarbrough Hilosky
