Stealthy and Unhealthy Mental Health Screening? NZ’s B4 School Check. Part Two: Public Perception of Stigma and Mental Health.

This is a continuation from the previous post, looking at the controversies surrounding the use of the SDQ in New Zealand’s “B4 School Check.” In this post, I am turning my attention to the issues around the public perception of … Continue reading →

A Few Good Reasons to Like the DSM-5 Autism Criteria Changes

Concerns about the up-coming changes to the autism criteria in DSM-5, have now seeped their way into the wider autism community, and indeed into the broader public consciousness. The most popular critiques were originally directed at the loss of existing … Continue reading →

Intent vs Effect re the Exclusion of General Developmental Delay under ASD in the DSM-5

This post is a more in-depth analysis of the issue identified in an earlier post, in regards to the potential exclusion of those with intellectual disability from an autism diagnosis. This is a complex issue and I am open to … Continue reading →

Not ready for introduction of routine screening for autism? Clarifying the issues.

There is a newly published journal article in Pediatrics, called “Early Autism Detection: Are We Ready for Routine Screening?“, that is causing a bit of concern and upset, since it’s conclusion is that we are not ready for the roll-out … Continue reading →

Imagine that…

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One of the first things I was told about identifying autism, was that every autistic child exhibits the “triad of impairment”: Impairments in social interaction, social communication, and imagination. My son ticked every box and then some. His imaginative play … Continue reading →

Autism, by any other name…

There are a wide range of responses to the proposed changes to the DSM criteria for autism (due to come into effect in 2013). Some view it positively for the exact same reason that others view it negatively (“Aspergers will … Continue reading →

Autism is not

(All of these misunderstandings about autism, are ones I’ve had to personally deal with, most of them in face-to-face conversations. I recently had to deal with a bunch of these over a phone call.) Autism is not the inability to … Continue reading →

Lessons learnt from taking the Broad Autism Phenotype Test

I recently came across something called the “Broad Autism Phenotype” (BAP) test. My natural inclination with online autism tests, is to be sceptical and weary, particularly because I’d come across other online tests that made everyone come out as “a … Continue reading →

Language and Autism: The impact of penumbra and generalized instances, on debates about the existence of, and functioning levels within, ASD

I want to make it clear from the outset that this post is an attempt to get my own head around these issues. So if you can see an error in my own reasoning, I strongly encourage you to point … Continue reading →

Autism And

It is hard enough to understand and cope with autism. When your child has other conditions comorbid with the autism, it can both greatly increase the challenges you face in managing your child, and muddy the waters for understanding autism … Continue reading →