Dsm Iv - Does Asperger's Disease Exist?

Susan Dickerson Mayes, Susan L. Calhoun, and Dana L. Crites' purpose to the article was to determine whether or not DSM IV Asperger's Disorder exists. She had researched cases leading back to the beginning of Asperger's Disorder and determining whether they truly classified as Asperger's or the closely related Autism Disorder. The study was to validate the term of Asperger's Disorder and to clearly evaluate whether there really was an Asperger's Disorder.
The procedure and diagnosis involved only children who were previously evaluate at a child diagnostic center and were given a psychological evaluation. The evaluation involved the parents and teachers of the children who completed questionnaires. Also, the children were observed and previous evaluations of the children were focused on. These children were diagnosed with autism, or Asperger's disorder by multiple clinicians. Some of the children who were evaluated by multiple clinics were diagnosed differently by either Apserger's Disorder, or autism. Every child must have at least six symptoms of autism to perform in the project.
The DSM-IV was used by certified child psychiatrists who were ignorant to each child, and either determined the children to have autism, or Asperger's Disorder. Every child who undergone the evaluation met the symptoms for autism, and none met the criteria for Asperger's disease. All of the children had difficulty, or in other words, abnormal functioning in interacting with people which included: social communication, and also imaginative play with other children. Also 75% were not able to initiate a conversation because of the abnormal social interaction. "Impaired conversational speech was found in 78%, and repetitive, stereotyped, or idiosyncratic speech occurred in 93%. One or both of these symptoms was present in 100% of the children" (Mayes, 2001, Pg. 7).
The DSM IV criteria for diagnosing patients tends to overlap. For example, a criteria of Asperger's Disorder includes "abnormal socialization" which would also make it impossible for the children to perform imaginative play. Certain combinations of symptoms are linked together, and especially for this study would qualify them autistic and not having Asperger's Disorder at all.
The study performed would make the role of counseling difficult because many symptoms could qualify patients to numerous other disorders. Clients who cannot be diagnosed with a disorder because their symptoms classify them to numerous disorders. "This causes much confusion for parents and professionals and implies that these diagnoses represent separate distinct disorders differing in clinically meaningful ways, which may not be the case and which certainly has not been proven empirically" (Mayes, 2001, Pg. 8).
Since the differences between Asperger's Disorder and autism are closely linked, age should be researched of when the symptoms develop. Using different age groups could possibly change the results of the study. "A critical question for future research to answer is: Can Asperger's disorder be redefined by the DSM so that it is accurately and meaningfully differentiated from autism or is autism a single spectrum disorder with high-functioning autism (including children previously considered to have Asperger's syndrome) at the mild end of the continuum?" (Mayes, 2001, Pg. 8)
REFERENCES
Mayes, S. , 2001. Does DSM-IV Asperger's Disorder Exist [online]? Plenum Publishing Corporation. Available from: http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0902/is_3_29/ai_76558499 [Accessed 14 September 2005].