In case you haven’t heard, there are changes afoot in the official wording of Asperger's Disorder, autism spectrum, and PDD-NOS diagnostic codes and definitions. There has been a lot of concern that the changes could cause at best, an interruption in services and at worst, loss of services for folks on the spectrum.
Author (and Aspergian) John Elder Robison wrote an excellent article recently that helped put my mind at ease. I decided about a year ago not to get caught up in the excitement because I felt there were advantages to both sides of the argument (and I’m a notorious fence-sitter). It may be a much larger issue for the folks who are depending on diagnostic codes to determine eligibility for medical and therapeutic treatments, and wording is critical – right down to placements of ‘and’ and ‘or’.
Will it have any effect on Girlie in the long-term? No, in fact, we are fortunate not to be in the position of so many other folks who are trying to obtain intensive therapies, many of which are still considered experimental in spite of the documented successes. Since Girlie’s social skills classes don’t qualify for reimbursement and we aren’t seeking other services, I admit to not educating myself further on the issue. Additionally, I don’t feel her IEP eligibility will change; if it did we would have to make some adjustments, but she would still qualify for some services under a 504 plan due to her comorbid ADHD.
Speaking of Mr. Robison, I’ll put in a recommendation for his latest book: Be Different: Adventuresof a Free-Range Aspergian. It offers excellent insight into how folks with Asperger’s Disorder think, and helping me communicate even more effectively with Girlie. The more I learn about Asperger’s, the more I learn about people in general – and it doesn’t take a genius to know that’s a good thing!
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