Individualism Disorder

I felt compelled to put this together after recent conversations I’ve had with professionals working with both my somewhat-abnormal children, and getting frustrated with people not recognising that someone can be an individual and have or not have a neurological condition. Similarly someone can have a neurological condition … Continue reading →

Is the DSM-5 the correct culprit in loss of services?

There is a concerning statement released from the Autism Action Network (AAN), that claims there have been losses of services to autistic individuals because of the DSM-5. In response to this loss of services, AAN are trying to block the … Continue reading →

Diagnosing Diagnosis

The question of diagnosis, is a separate question from the existence of the thing that is being diagnosed. To put it another way: Whether someone has received a diagnosis or not, will not definitely tell you if that person has … Continue reading →

Two Versions of “Pathologizing Normal.”

I recently realised that people with diametrically opposing views on the existence and validity of conditions like autism, appear to make the same argument about the modern trend to “pathologize normality.” So I decided to break-down the argument that is … Continue reading →

Autism in the ICD-10 / ICD-11 vs the DSM-IV / DSM-5

The dominant diagnostic instrument used to identify autism in New Zealand, is the DSM-IV-TR (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fourth Edition, Text Revision). The DSM-IV was published in 1994, and the text revision in 2000. (Those revisions did include some changes … Continue reading →

Allen Frances on the Problem with the Primacy of Diagnosis, and the DSM-5

“Allen Frances” is a name that doesn’t come with positive connotations, in the autism world, principally because of his out-spoken views on the over-diagnosis of autism. Those who think autism is caused by environmental assault or vaccines, think he is … Continue reading →

“I’ll call a kid a zebra…”: Recognising “Fashionable Autism”

People really don’t like being told that the numbers of autistic diagnoses are rising because it has become “fashionable.” It elicits passionate outcries that autism is a genuine condition, and there is genuine suffering going on. And leads to people … Continue reading →