Autism Action Network: What Will the DSM5 Cost Your Child?
What Will the DSM5 Cost Your Child?
Potentially Everything Says Leading Psychiatrist
Will your child lose his or her health insurance, school placement, Medicaid or other services when the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fifth Edition (DSM5) is published by the American Psychiatric Association in May? Dr. Allen Frances, the psychiatrist who headed the development of the current DSM4, thinks so.
Frances has led the criticism of the DSM5 for the last three years. And he puts his criticism in a nutshell in this recent article from Psychology Today:
There has been a heated controversy about the DSM-5 proposal to redefine autism. Will its dramatic changes in definition result in dramatic changes in who gets diagnosed and will this cause a big reduction in the overall rate of autism? The DSM-5 folks claim their changes will have minimal impact. My prediction has been that they will have a major impact.
Dr. Lynn Waterhouse, an autism researcher for more than thirty years, has weighed in on the issue in her recently published book, Rethinking Autism: Variation and Complexity. Dr. Waterhouse believes the DSM-5 criteria are seriously flawed and will reduce the number of diagnoses. She sent this email:
"Dr. Catherine Lord, head of the DSM-5 autism group, recently cited a data analysis she performed as conclusive evidence that DSM-5 criteria for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) will "not change the number of children with clinical diagnoses."
I disagree. First off, Dr Lord did find that using the new DSM-5 criteria caused about a 10% reduction in ASD diagnoses. That's a lot of kids who will no longer qualify for the diagnosis and who will not get services.
And Dr Lord's 10% estimate is almost certainly way too low because two of her study's three data sets were not really representative of the typical children assessed for ASD. It is a very good bet that her results won't generalize very accurately to real world settings where a much larger percentage of kids would lose the diagnosis.
Other (admittedly smaller) studies tell a radically different story- one that should inspire a lot more caution in the DSM-5 group than it has. Mattila found only 46% of those given a DSM-IV diagnosis met criteria for DSM-5 ASD. Taheri and Perry found only 63% of DSM-IV patients met DSM-5 criteria. And McPartland found only 60% diagnosed with ASD under DSM-IV would get a DSM-5 ASD diagnosis.
These studies all suggest that, contrary to Dr Lord's assertion, DSM-5 will likely have a radical impact on autism diagnosis and qualification for school and mental health services.
Read the rest of the article at this link:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/node/111377
M Roth;
In case you missed the IACC meeting on the U tube - the woman discussing all of this change to the DMS V -at that meeting had to take a bit of time to comfort two panicking guys on the IACC panel (that claimed to have aspergers) -- in that THEY would not lose their dignosis. All Old diagnosis would stand as they are. Goodness knows since they made a career out of it -- it could just ruin them financially you know - to no longer be aspergers
But on the whole aspergers did not change the much in numbers with the new DSM V dignosis.
What changed the most - and significantly would be the PDD -NOS Those worse off than the aspergers.
Posted by: Benedetta | March 30, 2014 at 02:56 PM
Has Dr. Lord ammended her position based on the fact that DSM V section of Autism Spectrum Disorders specifically states that those with a previously noted/existing diagnosis of Aspergers, and other related PDD's shall be considered to meet the criteria for Autism Spectrum Disorder with no re-evaluation for services (Educational, etc) to be neccessary?
Posted by: M. Roth | March 30, 2014 at 01:16 PM
They're simply covering their "you know what"...amazing the spin they put on the mess they created and perpetuate.
Dr. Kupfer is clueless...baffling how these elitists maintain their jobs...oh, that's right, they're hired by other elitists!
They have no shame,no accountability for any of their actions/policy. Pseudointellectuals.
Autism is a matter of toxicity and consequent immune system perversion/deficiency. Recovery and healing begins with this understanding---this directed to the elitists in power of policy making (CDC, etc), but their not listening.
Posted by: Stand Up! | March 04, 2013 at 02:17 PM
They are simply "minimizing" the damage they have caused by changing the DSM-5 criteria. It is time that PARENTS SPEAK UP,
because health insurance firms do not care about our kids,but
focused on saving money and increase profits,by not providing
the care and services our children need.
JUST REMEMBER PARENTS WHEN YOUR CHILDREN HAVE ADVERSE EFFECTS
AND AUTISM AFTER VACCINATION,YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN.
Posted by: oneVoice | February 28, 2013 at 11:32 AM
I keep going back to the Aug 19 story in the Jerusalem Post http://www.jpost.com/Sci-Tech/Article.aspx?id=281741
that reported on an international conference that had just been held in Jerusalem.
One of the keynote speakers, Dr. Steven Shore, talked about the DSM5 changes and we read, “Some health insurance firms are behind the restructuring of the DSM V definitions, he maintained.”
Cutting the cost of autism is obviously a bigger priority than addressing the autism epidemic.
Anne Dachel, Media
Posted by: Anne McElroy Dachel | February 27, 2013 at 10:31 PM
Back in January 2012, two members of the committee making the changes in the DSM were interviewed about the DSM 5 in a report that had the startling news: “According to a new study published by Yale researchers, approximately half of the people diagnosed with autism in 1994 would not be diagnosed under the new definitions.”
Dr. Catherine Lord “explained to The New York Times that the primary goal of these changes is to make sure that autism is not used as a fallback diagnosis for those who may only have a psychological problem, instead.”
“‘We have to make sure not everybody who is a little odd gets a diagnosis of autism or Asperger disorder,’ Dr. David J. Kupfer, a professor the University of Pittsburgh and chairman of the committee making the revisions said to The New York Times. ‘It involves a use of treatment resources. It becomes a cost issue.’”
The disorder now affecting one in every 88 children, one in every 54 boys in the U.S. with no known cause, cure or prevention will undergo a name change that may leave lots of kids in the dark. Dr. Kupfer may be correct when he says, “It becomes a cost issue.”
Anne Dachel, Media
Posted by: Anne McElroy Dachel | February 27, 2013 at 08:07 PM