The DSM Through the Years on Unstrange.com
DSM-IV.
“According to the DSM-IV” we say. “My child met such and so many of the DSM criteria for autism,” we explain.
We tend, that is, to cite and refer back to the DSM-IV—the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition—as if it were some sort of absolute truth and last word on “what autism is.” Certainly the criteria for autism and PDD as laid out in the DSM-IV affect the life of anyone who is autistic or who lives with an autistic person: The DSM codes are what gets written onto insurance and other medical forms, 299.0 being “Autistic Disorder.”
But the DSM is not set in stone like some monument, however we talk about it. DSM-I was published in 1952, DSM-II in 1968, DSM-III in 1980, DSM-III-R in 1987, DSM-IV in 1994 and DSM-IV-R in 2000. You can see how the criteria for autism change in each version on the Unstrange.com website, which contains the specific criteria for both Autism through the Years and also PDD through the Years.
The notion of “better diagnosis” is more complicated than it may commonly be thought to be.
Related Stories
POSTED IN: Diagnosis, Health, Language, Psychiatry, Psychology
0 opinions for The DSM Through the Years on Unstrange.com
No one has left a comment yet. You know what this means, right? You could be first!
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: