we just had an appt with Cons Paed and got a verbal Dx. However throughout the 3.5min consultation he kept swapping from saying he had ASD to Autism and back again. Is there any difference? if there is, is it more to do with severity? Perhaps he might have thought that i wouldnt know what ASD was? any thoughts?

This confuses me as well MCAS. Some of DS2's reports say autism, others say ASD. Someone did explain it to me once on here, but I forgot

It differs from area to area and doctor to doctor.

Here, they use the term ASD to mean anyone with any dx on the autistic spectrum, no matter if it's low-functioning or high functioning. Even, sometimes, for Aspergers, though they usually dx that separately with the specfic name, followed by the words 'a mild and subtle form of autism'...which is so not what Aspergers officially is, but hey!

It gets more complicated, because on the ADOS test (a play based assessment commonly used to assess), they use the term ASD to mean mild and the term autism to mean severe.

So my J scored in the autistic range (nearly 100%) on the ADOS test and the official dx came through as ASD...psych said, that's what we say for everyone unless iit's Aspergers. Why didn't he have Aspergers, I asked. She said, because it's too severe.

This is not what the diagnostic criteria says!

So, here's my summary, but your area might not follow the 'rules' - mine doesn't!

ASD is the umbrella term for anything on the spectrum.

Autism (LFA or HFA) is a person who meets the criteria for the triad of impairments.
A dx of autism usually means that there must have been a language impairment before the age of 3.

A dx of Aspergers usually means that there was no problem with language, but problems can still be severe.

I hope I've got this right.

So ASD and autism are used pretty much interchangably here - people tend to understand the latter one better though.

3.5 min consultation I hope that's a typo?

nope not a typo!

however he did see DS4 for about an hour or so in the previous appt - complete with my 2page booklet of concerns .

I too have my concerns that he hasnt observed DS4 nearly long enough to Dx ASD, but TBH i was sure that what was going on even before we stepped in his office. there was no mention of further testing, but to see him again in 6mths.

I think if it's clear, it's clear, I guess. I would just hope that you had some option of asking questions...it's not the type of news you can (or should) just chuck and people and then say bye!

I must admit i am confused, initial meet the paed said ASD, last meet (last month), he said aspergers, but ds only started saying words 2y9m, his lang is much improved for someone who's only been talking 9m. but I assumed he was HFA due to lang delay. I sometimes feel people think aspergers is on the mild end of the spectrum, but it can still severe as givemeskeeporgivememech says.

misscutandstick - think you are best off phoning up paed or his secretary and asking what the paed meant, and whether he was using ASD and autism interchangably.

jasdox -when looking for info online I've seen different interpretations of the no significant language delay at 3 rule - some seem to think of it as meaning a child is verbal at all by 3, rather than speaking at an age appropriate level by 3.

I think in UK doctors just mean somewhere on the spectrum and use asd and autism fairly interchangeably; in US they seem to be more specific to the diagnostic criteria and have more PDD-NOS type diagnoses. I have also read in Tony Attwood book about Aspergers that one route to being diagnosed is to be diagnosed as autistic when young (because lang delay) but then if language catches up (which is often does around 4-5) reclassified as Aspergers, which again seems to go against the DSV!

I'm confused by this too.

When we talked about my son's diagnosis, the psychiatrist (who did the DISCO with me) said he met the cut off for ASD, but not autism. The educationalist said he met the cut off for ASD and autism.

I asked them what the difference was but didn't get a satisfactory answer.

Btw, is PDD what americans call ASD?

although he offered nothing at the appt, the paed said that if i had questions or worries or wanted to ask him something, or wanted something else to organise another appt. Perhaps he was letting the news sink in before he offered more info? after all when you get a Dx like that its difficult not to go numb in the head, and stop hearing anything else. i suppose.