DSM V: The End of Autism As We Know It. And Your Child's Services and Insurance?

[Guest guest]

This is not biomedical but it is very important for our community. Please take a minute to take action.

DSM V: The End of Autism As We Know It. And Your Child's Services and Insurance?

DSM V. The End of Autism As We Know ItTake Action!And your child's services and health insurance? The American Psychiatric Association, the same people who brought us the “Refrigerator Mother,†have launched the greatest threat ever presented to the American autism community with their proposed radical redefinition of autism contained in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual V (DSM-V). The Diagnostic

and Statistical Manual is the guide used by almost all institutions to diagnose autism and determine access to educational programs, early intervention, Medicaid, services and health

insurance access among other services vital to people with autism and their families. The DSM V has been the focus of intense criticism for several years and last week the Child Study Center at Yale led by Fred Volkmar, who headed the group that wrote the currently used definition of autism, leaked to the New York Times findings in a soon to be published study that found that 45% of the people with an autism diagnosis under the existing criteria would not have one under the DSM V. Other researchers are finding varying degrees in the reduction of the number of people with an autism spectrum disorder. And changing the definition of autism will invalidate the precious epidemiology done so far which is showing that the prevalence of autism is going up. Protect your family. Click on the Take Action Link above to send an email to the APA voicing your opposition to the DSM V and please call the APA at the

number below and politely and calmly

express your opposition to any changes to the DSM that will undermine access to vital services for people already affected and that any changes that would result in undermining the vitally important epidemiology is unacceptable. APA Answer Center, 1- Among other sweeping changes, the DSM-V does away with the categories of Asperger syndrome and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS). Clearly, something is very wrong with the DSM V. But that is not just our opinion. We are not alone in our concerns, Dr. Frances, the head of the group that created the DSM-IV said this about the DSM-V, “I have little confidence that the DSM-V leadership will do the kind of careful risk-benefit

analysis of each proposed change that is necessary to avoid damaging unintended consequences.†And no one at the APA has been able to provide a concrete reason of how

this redefinition will help people with autism or their families. None-the-less the APA wants to force the DSM V on the world in early 2013. But who is the APA to say that they own autism? Autism Action Network is committed to fighting the DSM-V but we need your help. Please stay tuned with this issue. AAN is working with other organizations to enter legislation at the state and federal level that will prevent the automatic adoption of the DSM V. Please share this email with friends and family and please post it to Facebook and other social networks. And if you support the work of the Autism Action Network please make a donation at www.autismactionnetwork.org/donate.html

If you no longer wish to receive e-mail from us, please click here.