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The two should be treated differently. Many are diagnosed with “autism”, seemingly not for any lack of ability, but præferences the diagnostician does not nece

The two should be treated differently. Many are diagnosed with “autism”, seemingly not for any lack of ability, but præferences the diagnostician does not necessarily agree with. I also object to “neuro-” morpheme. The diagnosis of these conditions are psychiatric, not neurological, and in many cases where such a diagnosis was made, there is nothing neurologically unusual that could be found, but in some cases there is. Autism is simply with the current understanding not a neurological, but a psychiatric disorder. — the understanding may grow such that it might become one one day, but that is not the current level of understanding, and such understanding would most likely lead to the realization that all which is currently grouped under “autism”, has many different underlying neurological causes.

TeaDrunk 6y ago
> The diagnosis of these conditions are psychiatric, not neurological Oh, I'm pretty new to this myself, but my understanding was that autism was considered a neurological disorder, not a psychiatric one. [1] "Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) refers to a group of complex neurodevelopment disorders..." 1. https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Education/Fact-Sheets/Autism-Spectrum-Disorder-Fact-Sheet https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Educat...
- throw998 6y ago
  So why is the diagnosis made by psychologists and psychiatrists, and not neurologists?
SubiculumCode 6y ago
Unless you believe in mind-body dualism, then your objection of the neuro morpheme is on shaky ground. All psychiatric disorders ARE neurological...i.e. is rooted in the brain and associated systems. Moreover, there are plenty of neurological differences between ASD and TD groups, both at the cellular and morphological levels. However, a lot of the morphological differences are too small, and heterogeneity too large, to be useful as a means of diagnosis.
- Blikkentrekker 6y ago
  The problem with your reasoning is that you assume that what psychiatrists group together based on behavior and culture must share single identifiable neurological causes. It's entirely possible that there is nothing neurologically objectively different about an autistic person from a non-autistic person, and that it's simply a cultural quirk that led to it; this has been the case with many historical diagnoses. In fact, I would argue that this is not simply possible, but likely, given that usually, if such a neurological discriminant exist, it is typically quickly found. That they have searched for so long without being able to find it, is indicative of a nonexistence.
  - SubiculumCode 6y ago
    No where did I assume a 1-1 correspondence between psychiatric label and neurological cause. Many disorders likely show variation precisely because they have different underlying causes....much like a car might not start for a number of reasons, including faulty wiring, bad battery, bad starter, no fuel, etc. It is also this heterogeneity of underlying causes that make precise neurological diagnosis difficult. Nevertheless, the biggest claim is trying to claim that some behavior/symptomology/quirk does not involve the brain.

TeaDrunk 6y ago

> The diagnosis of these conditions are psychiatric, not neurological Oh, I'm pretty new to this myself, but my understanding was that autism was considered a neurological disorder, not a psychiatric one. [1] "Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) refers to a group of complex neurodevelopment disorders..." 1. https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Education/Fact-Sheets/Autism-Spectrum-Disorder-Fact-Sheet https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Educat...

throw998 6y ago
So why is the diagnosis made by psychologists and psychiatrists, and not neurologists?

SubiculumCode 6y ago

Unless you believe in mind-body dualism, then your objection of the neuro morpheme is on shaky ground. All psychiatric disorders ARE neurological...i.e. is rooted in the brain and associated systems. Moreover, there are plenty of neurological differences between ASD and TD groups, both at the cellular and morphological levels. However, a lot of the morphological differences are too small, and heterogeneity too large, to be useful as a means of diagnosis.

Blikkentrekker 6y ago
The problem with your reasoning is that you assume that what psychiatrists group together based on behavior and culture must share single identifiable neurological causes. It's entirely possible that there is nothing neurologically objectively different about an autistic person from a non-autistic person, and that it's simply a cultural quirk that led to it; this has been the case with many historical diagnoses. In fact, I would argue that this is not simply possible, but likely, given that usually, if such a neurological discriminant exist, it is typically quickly found. That they have searched for so long without being able to find it, is indicative of a nonexistence.
- SubiculumCode 6y ago
  No where did I assume a 1-1 correspondence between psychiatric label and neurological cause. Many disorders likely show variation precisely because they have different underlying causes....much like a car might not start for a number of reasons, including faulty wiring, bad battery, bad starter, no fuel, etc. It is also this heterogeneity of underlying causes that make precise neurological diagnosis difficult. Nevertheless, the biggest claim is trying to claim that some behavior/symptomology/quirk does not involve the brain.