April is Autism Awareness Month, and I'm going to be talking about this on local TV next week. As I was doing some background information on this topic, I found that experts are looking to redefine the diagnosis of Autism. One of the articles I read was "Parents Worry As Doctors Seek To Redefine Autism," from April 5, 2012 on MSNBC.com. (Also check out the news report above)
Familiar terms like "Asperger's Disorder" and "PDD-NOS" would be eliminated and lumped into a new category. The traditional term "Autism Spectrum Disorder" would be redefined to only encompass those with more serious symptoms now. "Social Communication Disorder" is a term that will be a new category.
Many parents are very concerned with the proposed definitions and re-definitions, mainly because they are concerned that their child will lose services. Frankly, I would be concerned as well. These new defintions are not permanent yet. So we'll have to see what happens...