Historical Changes to "Asperger's" in the DSM

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Through the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) of the American Psychiatric Association, my own diagnosis went through several name changes:

1. The first version of the DSM (1952), the manual originally used to diagnose me, was a revision of Statistical Manual for the Use of Hospitals for the Insane and, later, Statistical Manual for the Use of Hospitals for Mental Diseases (published in ten editions between 1918 and 1942). Using the DSM, I had “Schizophrenic reaction, childhood type.”

2. In the DSM-II (1968), the designation changed slightly to “Schizophrenia, childhood type.”

3. In the DSM-III (1980), my guess is that I would have had either “Schizoid Disorder of Childhood or Adolescence” or “Childhood Onset Pervasive Developmental Disorder.”

4. In the DSM-III-R (1984), my diagnosis would be been “Pervasive Developmental Disorder not otherwise specified” or PDDNOS. (The DSM-III-R eliminated Schizoid Disorder of Childhood or Adolescence. Its symptoms were then understood as a pervasive developmental disorder. Childhood Onset Pervasive Developmental Disorder was also done away with.)

5. In the DSM-IV (1994) and, subsequently, in the DSM-IV-TR (2000), PDDNOS was divided into multiple types, including “Asperger’s Disorder” and the new PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified). I was diagnosed with Asperger’s Disorder.

6. Finally, “Autism Spectrum Disorder” (ASD) is used in the DSM-5 (2013). That term, with its three levels (1, 2, and 3), has replaced all of the previous types of Autism, as well as pervasive developmental disorder. Presumably, I was at level 2 as a child. For the first time, with the DSM-5, developmental criteria can be considered when diagnosing an Autistic adult. The DSM-5 authors also recommended that anyone with a prior diagnosis of Autistic Disorder, Asperger’s Disorder, and PDD-NOS now be given a diagnosis of ASD.