ASD DSM 5 MANUAL

This new observational criteria will allow clinicians to diagnose people who may have shown some signs early in development, but whose symptoms didn’t become clear until adolescence or adulthood. Under DSM-5, ASD is now diagnosed by symptoms based on both the current functioning and past functioning of an individual.

Increased or decreased reactivity to sensory input or unusual interest in sensory aspects of the environment, such as not reacting to pain, strong dislike to specific sounds, excessive touching or smelling objects, or fascination with spinning objects.

Highly restricted interests with abnormal intensity or focus, such as a strong attachment to unusual objects or obsessions with certain interests, such as train schedules.

Rigid adherence to routines, ritualized patterns of verbal or nonverbal behaviors, and extreme resistance to change (such as insistence on taking the same route to school, eating the same food because of color or texture, repeating the same questions) the individual may become greatly distressed at small changes in these routines.

Stereotyped speech, repetitive motor movements, echolalia (repeating words or phrases, sometimes from television shows or from other people), and repetitive use of objects or abnormal phrases.

The criteria in the DSM-5 also include demonstrating at least 2 of the following 4 restricted and repetitive behavior, interests, or activities:

Deficits in developing and maintaining relationships with other people (other than with caregivers), including lack of interest in others, difficulties responding to different social contexts, and difficulties in sharing imaginative play with others.

Difficulties in nonverbal communication used for social interaction including abnormal eye-contact and body language and difficulty with understanding the use of nonverbal communication like facial expressions or gestures for communication.

Difficulties in social emotional reciprocity, including trouble with social approach, back and forth conversation, sharing interests with others, and expressing/understanding emotions.

To be diagnosed with ASD, an individual must meet all three of the following criteria: Clinicians must be sure that these characteristics are not due to developmental delay alone. The criteria in the DSM-5 for diagnosing ASD include 3 listed deficits in social communication and social interactions. The Pervasive Development Disorder category no longer appears in DSM-5, and Autistic disorder, Asperger Syndrome, and PDD-NOS have now been combined into one label: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). In DSM-IV, five separate diagnoses were classified under the heading “Pervasive Development Disorders:” Autistic disorder, Asperger Syndrome, Pervasive Development Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS), Rett Syndrome, and Childhood Disintegrative Disorder.

The latest edition of the DSM, DSM-5, made significant changes to the diagnostic criteria for autism and related disorders. About 25% of the disorders are specific to children and are in the section of “Disorders Usually First Diagnosed in Infancy, Childhood and Adolescence.” Autism and related disorders have been specifically included in different versions of the DSM since 1980. Clinicians may refer to versions of the DSM to look for diagnostic codes of different disorders and examine criteria for diagnosis.

ASD DSM 5 MANUAL

The manual includes classifications of psychiatric disorders for use by medical and mental health professionals. DSM stands for “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,” which is a manual published by the American Psychiatric Association.

Asd dsm 5