Worley and Matson compared 78 children given a DSM-5 ASD diagnosis with 52 children who met DSM-IV but not DSM-5 ASD criteria.

The DSM-5 criteria define ASD with two core symptoms: (1) global impairment in social communication and social interaction not accounted for by developmental delay and, (2) a restricted, repetitive pattern of behavior, interests, or activities. 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. And McPartland found only 60% diagnosed with ASD under DSM-IV would get a DSM-5 ASD diagnosis. Taheri and Perry found only 63% of DSM-IV patients met DSM-5 criteria. Mattila found only 46% of those given a DSM-IV diagnosis met criteria for DSM-5 ASD. 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. 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. That's a lot of kids who will no longer qualify for the diagnosis and who will not get services.Īnd 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. First off, Dr Lord did find that using the new DSM-5 criteria caused about a 10% reduction in ASD diagnoses. 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.' ( /article.aspx?articleid=1367813ive )

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