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Argument, Autistic Pride Day Symposium 2023
Practitioners said the DSM lagged behind what the autistic community already knew
In short
At the 2023 Autistic Pride Day Symposium, a practitioner argued the diagnostic manual limits help, and a panellist from Asperger’s Victoria described what members lost when their diagnosis name went.
Read it instead, 4 minutesThe transcript
The story
A panellist on the practitioners panel at the 2023 Autistic Pride Day Symposium in Melbourne put the problem with the diagnostic manual in practical terms. The panellist said they sometimes wondered whether “something like the DSM actually really limits almost the help”. The manual categorises things to an extent, the panellist explained, while the autistic community is changing and gaining self awareness, and the DSM is behind. Practitioners who do not understand neurodivergence can be straitjacketed by it, the panellist said, while autistic practitioners have a better understanding of what is really happening.
The panellist gave an example. A term had come up a few days earlier in conversation with a professional who did not know it, and the panellist described it as an internal community thing, something autistic people understand among themselves. The term was not defined on stage. The example showed knowledge circulating inside the community that had not reached the professional the panellist spoke to.
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Sources the story draws on
- DSM-5 Autism Spectrum Disorder Fact Sheet (opens in a new tab), American Psychiatric Association
- Autism Valued (opens in a new tab), Australian Communities Foundation
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