Archive for February 2012

Monthly Archive

Good Outcomes in Autism Spectrum Disorders- a Case of Over-Diagnosis?

There has been much discussion recently about the anticipated release of DSM-V and how it will impact the diagnosing of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). I was especially interested in the discussion that came about from two Op-Ed pieces recently published by the NY times. My wife often criticizes me for playing “devil’s advocate” in debates (which I usually lose when the “debate” is actually with my wife), so it is not surprising that I feel compelled to chime in on the discussion surrounding our current diagnostic criteria for ASD. Read full post »

Autism and the Media

With increasing awareness about autism, it is inevitable that it is being portrayed in the media more and more.

The classic example of autism that pops into many people’s minds is Dustin Hoffman in “Rain Man.” Certainly this is ONE representation, but most people would say, “that’s not my kid.” How can we expect autism to be portrayed to our liking when we think of the mantra “if you’ve seen one kid with autism, you’ve seen one kid with autism”? Read full post »

Autism and Giving Feedback to Providers

We hope that you found our series on the emergency department, hospitalization and insurance helpful. One resounding note in each of the interviews we did was the critical role that families play in the care of their child, particularly in the emergency department or hospital. Today we turn our focus to ways in which families can share their experiences, both good and not so good, with various Seattle Children’s systems of care (including emergency department, inpatient hospitalization, and outpatient clinics) and get a response to questions and concerns. Providers need family feedback. We need to hear from you how to best care for your child within the constraints we face. Read full post »

Autism and Insurance

Part 4 in our series  on Autism and Things We Would All Rather Not Think About is, drum roll please…. insurance. Health care coverage can be a complicated area that can (at times) feel like a barrier to accessing the care your child needs. As many of our families know, our children are complex and sometimes see many different providers. Here at the Seattle Children’s Autism Center we have nurse practioners, neurodevelopmental pediatricians, neurologists, speech and language pathologist, psychiatrists and psychologists all under one roof. What will be covered by insurance if your child has to see one of these providers? What about if you need to see two of them? Or several of them? Will the appointment be covered by your insurance? How much is this going to cost? Read full post »

DSM 5 and Autism- An Update From the Front Lines Part 2

We’ve all heard the adage: “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. The questions we face surrounding autism in the DSM 5 are first, is it broken, and if so, how should it be fixed? In the current system, Autism, Asperger’s Disorder, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) are treated like distinct conditions. Indeed, if a medication is FDA approved for the treatment of Autism, that approval does not extend to Asperger’s or PDD. It is not uncommon for service systems to treat these diagnoses as distinct conditions, and differentially recognize them (or not).  Read full post »

DSM 5 and Autism- An Update From the Front Lines

A new round of interest in the potential impact of diagnostic changes being proposed for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or “DSM”, was sparked last week by a report suggesting that many individuals would likely lose their diagnoses if the defining criteria for autism, Asperger’s disorder and Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified are changed. A number of the stories that we were seeing suggested that the definition was being tightened because of concerns relating to over-diagnosis, with one commenter offering that the change in definition would solve the autism epidemic by “nipping it in the bud”.

As one who has been directly involved in the DSM process and whose fingerprints are on some of these proposed changes, I have been asked to clarify what is going on and thought it might be helpful to share some thoughts here.  Read full post »

Autism and Medical Hospitalization

The third part of our series on “things we’d all rather not think about” is medical hospitalization of a child with autism. To get an insider’s perspective, we turned to Julie Eigsti who wears two hats: health care professional and mom.

theautismblog: Please tell us a little about yourself and your family.

Julie Eigsti: My name is Julie, and I have been a Registered Nurse (RN) for 19 years. I had the privilege of spending 18 of those years working on the medical unit at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Since my son was diagnosed on the mild end of the autism spectrum, I have worked with three children on the spectrum. Before that, I am sad to say, I am not really sure. I have been married for 21 years and have two beautiful children, Elle who is eleven years old and Joel who is six years old. Read full post »