Abstract
DSM-IV criteria for autistic and Asperger's disorders were applied to 157 children with clinical diagnoses of autism or Asperger's disorder. All children met the DSM-IV criteria for autistic disorder and none met criteria for Asperger's disorder, including those with normal intelligence and absence of early speech delay. The reason for this was that all children had social impairment and restricted and repetitive behavior and interests (required DSM-IV symptoms for both autistic and Asperger's disorders) and all had a DSM-IV communication impairment (which then qualified them for a diagnosis of autistic disorder and not Asperger's disorder). Communication problems exhibited by all children were impaired conversational speech or repetitive, stereotyped, or idiosyncratic speech (or both), which are DSM-IV criteria for autism. These findings are consistent with those of 5 other studies and indicate that a DSM-IV diagnosis of Asperger's disorder is unlikely or impossible.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
Asperger, H. (1944/1991). Die “autistischen psychopathen” im kindesalter. Archive fur Psychiatrie und Nervenkrankheiten, 117, 76–136.
Translated by U. Frith (Ed.), Autism and Asperger syndrome (1991, pp. 37–92). Cambridge: Cambridge University.
Attwood, T. (1998). Asperger's syndrome: A guide for parents and professionals. Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley.
Eisenmajer, R., Prior, M., Leekam, S., Wing, L., Gould, J., Welham, M., & Ong, B. (1996). Comparison of clinical symptoms in autism and Asperger's disorder. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 35, 1523–1531.
Frith, U. (1991). Asperger and his syndrome. In U. Frith (Ed.), Autism and Asperger syndrome (pp. 1–36). Cambridge: Cambridge University.
Ghaziuddin, M., Tsai, L. Y., & Ghaziuddin, N. (1992a). Brief Report: A reappraisal of clumsiness as a diagnostic feature of Asperger syndrome. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 22, 651–656.
Ghaziuddin, M., Tsai, L. Y., & Ghaziuddin, N. (1992b). Brief report: A comparison of the diagnostic criteria for Asperger syndrome. Journal of Autism and Development Disorders, 22, 643–649.
Ghaziuddin, M., Weidmer-Mikhail, E., Ghaziuddin, N. (1998). Comorbidity of Asperger syndrome: A preliminary report. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 42, 279–283.
Gillberg, C. (1985). Asperger's syndrome and recurrent psychosis-A case study. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 15, 389–397.
Gillberg, C. (1989). Asperger syndrome in 23 Swedish children. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 31, 520–531.
Gillberg, C. (1991). Clinical and neurobiological aspects of Asperger syndrome in six family studies. In U. Frith (Ed.), Autism and Asperger syndrome (pp. 122–146). Cambridge: Cambridge University.
Gillberg, C., & Ehlers, S. (1998). High-functioning people with autism and Asperger syndrome: A literature review. In E. Schopler, G. B. Mesibov, & L. J. Kunce (Eds.), Asperger syndrome or highfunctioning autism? (pp. 79–100). New York: Plenum.
Gillberg, C., & Gillberg C. (1989). Asperger syndrome-Some epidemiological considerations: A research note. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 30, 631–638.
Hooper, S. R., & Bundy, M. B. (1998). Learning characteristics of individuals with Asperger syndrome. In E. Schopler, G. B. Mesibov, & L. J. Kunce (Eds.), Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism? (pp. 317–342). New York: Plenum.
Kanner, L. (1943). Autistic disturbances of affective contact. Nervous Child, 2, 217–250.
Klin, A. (1994). Asperger syndrome. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 3, 131–148.
Klin, A., & Volkmar, F. R. (1995). Autism and the pervasive developmental disorders. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 4, 617–630.
Klin, A., Volkmar, F. R., Sparrow, S. S., Cicchetti, D. V., & Rourke, B. D. (1995). Validity and neuropsychological characterization of Asperger's syndrome: Convergence with nonverbal learning disabilities syndrome. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 36, 1127–1140.
Manjiviona, J., & Prior, M. (1995). Comparison of Asperger syndrome and high-functioning autistic children on a test of motor impairment. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 25, 23–39.
Mayes, S. D., & Calhoun, S. L. (1999a). Symptoms of autism in young children and correspondence with theDSM. Infants and Young Children, 12, 90–97.
Mayes, S. D., & Calhoun, S. L. (in press). Nonsignificance of early speech delay in children with autism and normal intelligence and implications for DSM-IV Asperger's disorder. Autism.
Mayes, S. D.,& Calhoun, S. L. (1999b). Influence of IQ and age in childhood autism: Lack of support for Asperger's disorder. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Miller, J. N., & Ozonoff, S. (1997). Did Asperger's cases have Asperger disorder? A research note. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 38, 247–251.
Myhr, G. (1998). Autism and other pervasive development disorders: Exploring the dimensional view. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 43, 589–595.
Ozonoff, S., Rogers, S. J., & Pennington, B. F. (1991). Asperger's syndrome: Evidence of an empirical distinction from high-functioning autism. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 32, 1107–1122.
Rutter, M., & Schopler, E. (1987). Autism and pervasive developmental disorders: Concepts and diagnostic issues. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 17, 159–186.
Sattler, J. M. (1988). Assessment of children (3rd ed.). San Diego, CA: Author.
Schopler, E. (1985). Convergence of learning disability, higher-level autism, and Asperger's syndrome. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 15, 359–360.
Schopler, E. (1996). Are autism and Asperger syndrome (AS) different labels or different disabilities? Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 26, 109–110.
Schopler, E. (1998). Premature popularization of Asperger syndrome. In E. Schopler, G. B. Mesibov, & L. J. Kunce (Eds.), Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism? (pp. 385–399). New York: Plenum.
Siegel, B. (1996). The world of the autistic child: Understanding and treating autistic spectrum disorders. New York: Oxford University.
Szatmari, P. (1991). Asperger's syndrome: Diagnosis, treatment, and outcome. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 14, 81–93.
Szatmari, P. (1992). The validity of autistic spectrum disorders: A literature review. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 22, 583–600.
Szatmari, P. (1998). Differential diagnosis of Asperger disorder. In E. Schopler, G. B. Mesibov, & L. J. Kunce (Eds.), Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism? (pp. 61–76). New York: Plenum.
Szatmari, P., Archer, L., Fisman, S., Streiner, D. L., & Wilson, F. (1995). Asperger's syndrome and autism: Differences in behavior, cognition, and adaptive functioning. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 34, 1662–1671.
Szatmari, P., Bartolucci, G., & Bremner, R. (1989). Asperger's syndrome and autism: Comparison of early history and outcome.Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 31, 709–720.
Szatmari, P., Bremner, R., & Nagy, J. (1989). Asperger's syndrome: A review of clinical features. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 34, 554–560.
Szatmari, P., Tuff, L., Finlayson, M. A. J., & Bartolucci, G. (1990). Asperger's syndrome and autism: Neurocognitive aspects. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 29, 130–136.
Tantam, D. (1988). Annotation Asperger's syndrome. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 29, 245–255.
Twachtman-Cullen, D. (1998). Language and communication in highfunctioning autism and Asperger syndrome. In E. Schopler, G. B. Mesibov, & L. J. Kunce (Eds.), Asperger syndrome or highfunctioning autism? (pp. 199–225). New York: Plenum.
Volkmar, F. R., & Klin, A. (1998). Asperger syndrome and nonverbal learning disabilities. In E. Schopler, G. B. Mesibov, & L. J. Kunce (Eds.), Asperger's syndrome or high-functioning autism? (pp. 107–121). New York: Plenum.
Wechsler, D. (1991). Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children Third Edition manual. New York: The Psychological Corporation.
Wing, L. (1976). Diagnosis, clinical description and prognosis. In L. Wing (Ed.), Early childhood autism: Clinical, educational and social aspects (2nd ed., pp. 15–64). Oxford: Pergamon.
Wing, L. (1981). Asperger's syndrome: A clinical account. Psychological Medicine, 11, 115–129.
Wing, L. (1991). The relationship between Asperger's syndrome and Kanner's autism. In U. Frith (Ed.), Autism and Asperger syndrome (pp. 93–121). Cambridge: Cambridge University.
Wing, L. (1998). The history of Asperger syndrome. In E. Schopler, G. B. Mesibov, & L. J. Kunce (Eds.), Asperger syndrome or highfunctioning autism? (pp. 11–28). New York: Plenum.
World Health Organization (1992). International classification of diseases: Tenth revision. Geneva: Author.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mayes, S.D., Calhoun, S.L. & Crites, D.L. Does DSM-IV Asperger's Disorder Exist?. J Abnorm Child Psychol 29, 263–271 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010337916636
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010337916636