Asperger’s History of Over-Diagnosis - NYTimes.com

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Asperger's History of Over-Diagnosis

By PAUL STEINBERG

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/01/opinion/aspergers-history-of-over-diagnosis.ht\

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WASHINGTON

Asperger syndrome and Aspies - the affectionate name that people

diagnosed with Asperger syndrome call themselves - seem to be everywhere.

Considered to be at the high-functioning end of the autism spectrum,

Asperger syndrome has become more loosely defined in the past 20 years,

by both the mental health profession and by lay people, and in many

instances is now synonymous with social and interpersonal disabilities.

But people with social disabilities are not necessarily autistic, and

giving them diagnoses on the autism spectrum often does a real

disservice. An expert task force appointed by the American Psychiatric

Association is now looking into the possibility of changing the way we

diagnose Asperger. True autism reflects major problems with receptive

language (the ability to comprehend sounds and words) and with

expressive language. Pitch and tone of voice in autism are off-kilter.

Language delays are common, and syntactic development is compromised; in

addition, there can be repetitive motor movements.

Eventually, biological markers, now in the beginning stages of

development, will help in separating autism-spectrum disorders from

social disabilities. For example, researchers at the University of

Pittsburgh Medical Center have recently developed three-dimensional

brain scans that look at brain wiring. In preliminary studies people

with autism-spectrum disorders appear to have too much wiring and

disorganized wiring in areas involved with language acquisition....