I can sort of see some commonalities between most ASDs, but the sheer variety of diagnosed people I’ve met (from normal, successful, but slightly quirky to literally unable to do anything on their own) has always struck me as odd.
What exactly are the criteria for a disorder to be associated with autism? As a complete amateur, it always seemed like a very artificial construct. It also makes me curious about how valid the ongoing controversy about its cause could be, given the enormous variety of ways it can present itself.
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There are some common “symptoms” that can be used to identify autism, but it’s generally how different symptoms come together that will lead to a diagnosis. So every autistic person is a unique cocktail of symptoms and struggles. In the most insultingly simple terms it’s a case of a psychiatrist going “yeah I’m pretty sure you’re autistic”.
Diagnosis involves a detailed interview with the person as to their present experiences as well as trying to find out if there were any signs during childhood (e.g. by speaking to parents).
There hasn’t been much detailed research on autism yet so there’s so much left to be discovered. We only relatively recently started commonly diagnosing it in women, for example, and we have discovered that women typically have very different symptoms to men. That’s why we transitioned to an image of a spectrum rather than a single cookie-cutter disorder. As more research is done it may be split into multiple disorders or even do away with the label all together.
It’s not like a virus or even some mental health issues where you have it and you need curing. If you’re experiencing certain difficulties an autism diagnosis can help you make adjustments and find support to make your life easier. For example, I used to get overwhelmed in loud, busy places and I never understood why. I just assumed that I was overreacting and powered through it, at great harm to my mental health. Now I have a diagnosis I know not to put myself in those situations and I no longer feel bad about it. I also have a reason that people will actually listen to (most of the time) so I get less hassle from it.
TLDR: there is no exclusive definition for the autism spectrum, but maybe this is for the best because we’re discovering more and more that rigid diagnostic criteria aren’t actually helpful.
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