NEW YORK — A new administration will announce Monday the final name for the autism spectrum disorders autism and Asperger’s, and a decision will likely be made on whether the autism disorder should be included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).
The move to include autism in the DSM will likely come as a shock to many.
Autism has existed for years and has been covered by the Diagnostica since the early 1900s, but the disorder was not included in a widely used diagnostic tool called the Diagnostics and Statistics Manual of the American Psychiatric Association (DSMM).
The DSM has been used to diagnose many psychiatric disorders, but autism has never been included in any diagnostic manual, according to Dr. Eric Schmitt, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School who helped develop the DSM-5.
Schmitt is a co-author of the book, “Autism: Diagnosis and Treatment,” which outlines the diagnosis and treatment options for autism spectrum conditions.
Autism was not in the list of conditions considered under the DSM, Schmitt said.
While autism is a spectrum disorder, it’s categorized as a specific type of autism and is distinct from autism spectrum condition, a condition that encompasses multiple conditions, such as Aspergers syndrome and pervasive developmental disorder.
The move is likely to come as surprise to many because autism spectrum symptoms are not a diagnostic disorder.
Schitt said the diagnosis of autism spectrum is a way to give families information about their child’s condition, which can help to understand the child’s needs and the specific causes of autism.
“I think the parents who are diagnosed with autism spectrum are not looking at their children and trying to figure out what causes autism spectrum, but looking at the diagnosis,” he said.
Autism is a disorder that can affect an individual’s ability to function in daily life and communicate.
It is also a condition of interest for people who have an interest in understanding the causes of the disorder and are interested in developing treatments.
The disorder is often treated through the use of medication, behavioral therapy, and social skills.
In 2016, the Department of Health and Human Services proposed a plan to add autism to the DSM.
Under the plan, the government would provide a list of disorders for which the diagnosis should be added, and it would consider whether a specific autism spectrum diagnosis should remain in the diagnostic tool.
In other words, if the condition is still listed in the current diagnostic tool, the administration would consider it to be a specific condition and the diagnosis would be added to the manual.
But the plan has not been adopted and the Trump Administration has not taken any steps to make the proposed diagnosis included in DSM.
In an interview with The Associated Press, a senior administration official said Monday that the administration is not considering making autism a diagnosis in the manual, but that autism is part of the “autism spectrum.”
This article was updated at 10:10 a.m. ET.
