Autism and diagnostic substitution: evidence from a study of adults with a history of developmental language disorder

Rates of diagnosis of autism have risen since 1980, raising the question of whether some children who previously had other diagnoses are now being diagnosed with autism. We applied contemporary diagnostic criteria for autism to adults with a history of developmental language disorder, to discover wh...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Bishop, D, Whitehouse, A, Watt, H, Line, E
Other Authors: Mac Keith Press
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2008
Subjects:
_version_ 1797088207349743616
author Bishop, D
Whitehouse, A
Watt, H
Line, E
author2 Mac Keith Press
author_facet Mac Keith Press
Bishop, D
Whitehouse, A
Watt, H
Line, E
author_sort Bishop, D
collection OXFORD
description Rates of diagnosis of autism have risen since 1980, raising the question of whether some children who previously had other diagnoses are now being diagnosed with autism. We applied contemporary diagnostic criteria for autism to adults with a history of developmental language disorder, to discover whether diagnostic substitution has taken place. A total of 38 adults (aged 15-31 y; 31 males, seven females) who had participated in studies of developmental language disorder during childhood were given the Austism Diagnostic Observation Schedule - Generic. Their parents completed the Autism Diagnostic Interview - Revised, which relies largely on symptoms present at age 4 to 5 years to diagnose autism. Eight individuals met criteria for autism on both instruments, and a further four met criteria for milder forms of autistic spectrum disorder. Most individuals with autism had been identified with pragmatic impairments in childhood. Some children who would nowadays be diagnosed unambiguously with autistic disorder had been diagnosed with developmental language disorder in the past. This finding has implications for our understanding of the epidemiology of autism.
first_indexed 2024-03-07T02:46:41Z
format Journal article
id oxford-uuid:ac470711-52da-4fc1-a354-e536a8796ba4
institution University of Oxford
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-07T02:46:41Z
publishDate 2008
publisher Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
record_format dspace
spelling oxford-uuid:ac470711-52da-4fc1-a354-e536a8796ba42022-03-27T03:27:53ZAutism and diagnostic substitution: evidence from a study of adults with a history of developmental language disorderJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:ac470711-52da-4fc1-a354-e536a8796ba4AutismExperimental psychologyEnglishOxford University Research Archive - ValetBlackwell Publishing Ltd.2008Bishop, DWhitehouse, AWatt, HLine, EMac Keith PressBritish Paediatric Neurology AssociationAmerican Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Develomental MedicineRates of diagnosis of autism have risen since 1980, raising the question of whether some children who previously had other diagnoses are now being diagnosed with autism. We applied contemporary diagnostic criteria for autism to adults with a history of developmental language disorder, to discover whether diagnostic substitution has taken place. A total of 38 adults (aged 15-31 y; 31 males, seven females) who had participated in studies of developmental language disorder during childhood were given the Austism Diagnostic Observation Schedule - Generic. Their parents completed the Autism Diagnostic Interview - Revised, which relies largely on symptoms present at age 4 to 5 years to diagnose autism. Eight individuals met criteria for autism on both instruments, and a further four met criteria for milder forms of autistic spectrum disorder. Most individuals with autism had been identified with pragmatic impairments in childhood. Some children who would nowadays be diagnosed unambiguously with autistic disorder had been diagnosed with developmental language disorder in the past. This finding has implications for our understanding of the epidemiology of autism.
spellingShingle Autism
Experimental psychology
Bishop, D
Whitehouse, A
Watt, H
Line, E
Autism and diagnostic substitution: evidence from a study of adults with a history of developmental language disorder
title Autism and diagnostic substitution: evidence from a study of adults with a history of developmental language disorder
title_full Autism and diagnostic substitution: evidence from a study of adults with a history of developmental language disorder
title_fullStr Autism and diagnostic substitution: evidence from a study of adults with a history of developmental language disorder
title_full_unstemmed Autism and diagnostic substitution: evidence from a study of adults with a history of developmental language disorder
title_short Autism and diagnostic substitution: evidence from a study of adults with a history of developmental language disorder
title_sort autism and diagnostic substitution evidence from a study of adults with a history of developmental language disorder
topic Autism
Experimental psychology
work_keys_str_mv AT bishopd autismanddiagnosticsubstitutionevidencefromastudyofadultswithahistoryofdevelopmentallanguagedisorder
AT whitehousea autismanddiagnosticsubstitutionevidencefromastudyofadultswithahistoryofdevelopmentallanguagedisorder
AT watth autismanddiagnosticsubstitutionevidencefromastudyofadultswithahistoryofdevelopmentallanguagedisorder
AT linee autismanddiagnosticsubstitutionevidencefromastudyofadultswithahistoryofdevelopmentallanguagedisorder