The reality is, autism spectrum diagnoses are done with checklists. If you observe six of more symptoms out of a list of 12 than there is an autism diagnosis, i

The reality is, autism spectrum diagnoses are done with checklists. If you observe six of more symptoms out of a list of 12 than there is an autism diagnosis, if there is something less you have a not-quite-autism diagnosis. Depending on the practitioner it gets labeled high funcioning autism, asperger's, or my favorite Pervasive Development Disorder Not Otherwise Specified. Basically it's a class of generic "something is wrong" but not with the severity of autism. Since the physiological pathways for these diseases are not well understood the diagnoses by definition are going to be a bit mushy. That said, my son was diagnosed with autism to great degree because of a speech delay. His speech is improved so I'm not sure if he would qualify now, but he does still have physical symptoms. For example he flaps his arms a lot when he gets excited, he loves rough play, he has a hard time finding objects using verbal instructions "grab your shoes buddy" and some other random things. Does he need a label? I think so. I think he benefited some from his therapy and special education in the public schools and a diagnosis helps determine which therapies might help and which won't. Is he going to be socially slower than he would have been if he'd just been treated like a normal kid. I don't think so; especially since a huge chuck of the kids in special ed in Arizona are just native Spanish speakers. I think you're right to worry that parents will change their behavior based on a label, there just seems to be some worthwhile things that come out of formal diagnosis and whether or not to get one for a child is a serious parenting decision that has lots of consequences, good and bad. EDIT: parent was worried about negative consequences of an Asperger's diagnosis on the child.