Furthermore, the DSM-5 workgroup concluded there was no evidence to support separate diagnoses. In fact, a primary reason for this change was that research demonstrated wide variability among clinicians in applying the diagnostic criteria for this group of disorders. Other important changes include the addition of social communication disorder, a consolidation of learning disorders, and changes to criteria for intellectual disability (previously mental retardation).Ĭlinicians are likely to welcome this merger and simplification. ASD integrates and subsumes Asperger's, childhood disintegrative disorder, and pervasive developmental disorder NOS. Perhaps the most significant change is the formation of a single diagnostic category called autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, there are some significant changes. Many (if not most) of the disorders that were previously classified as, “Disorders Usually First Diagnosed in Infancy, Childhood, and Adolescence” are now classified as Neurodevelopmental Disorders. This new category of disorders is called Neurodevelopmental Disorders. Therefore, the first category of disorders are those that typically onset during childhood. The DSM-5 no longer has a category of disorders called, “Disorders Usually First Diagnosed in Infancy, Childhood, or Adolescence.” Life-span development guided the organizational structure and classification of disorders in DSM-5.

Dsm 5 code for asd