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Social communication disorder

Ylva

Well-Known Member
V.I.P Member
http://www.iidc.indiana.edu/pages/diagnostic-criteria-for-social-pragmatic-communication-disorder1

A. Persistent difficulties in the social use of verbal and nonverbal communication as manifested by all of the following:

1. Deficits in using communication for social purposes, such as greeting and sharing information, in a manner that is appropriate for social context.
2. Impairment in the ability to change communication to match context or the needs of the listener, such as speaking differently in a classroom than on a playground, talking differently to a child than to an adult, and avoiding use of overly formal language.
3. Difficulties following rules for conversation and storytelling, such as taking turns in conversation, rephrasing when misunderstood, and knowing how to use verbal and nonverbal signals to regulate interaction.
4. Difficulties understanding what is not explicitly stated (e.g., making inferences) and nonliteral or ambiguous meaning of language (e.g., idioms, humor, metaphors, multiple meanings that depend on the context for interpretation.)

B. The deficits result in functional limitations in effective communication, social participation, social relationships, academic achievement, or occupational performance, individually or in combination.

C. The onset of the symptoms is in the early developmental period (but deficits may not become fully manifest until social communication demands exceed limited capacities).

D. The symptoms are not attributable to another medical or neurological condition or to low abilities in the domains of word structure and grammar, and are not better explained by autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability (intellectual developmental disorder), global developmental delay, or another mental disorder.
 
It certainly seems similar to Asperger's. I wonder how people with this disorder would present. Would they be very similar to Aspies?
 
It certainly seems similar to Asperger's. I wonder how people with this disorder would present. Would they be very similar to Aspies?

I would think so. They might not have an actual problem with eye contact, for example, if it isn't directly painful to them in the absence of sensory issues.

So ASD without repetitive behaviour?

Or sensory issues?

It would be great if we have finally broken autism down to its component parts, and it's these three and poor executive functioning and maybe a few others. It would be great because unmysterious things are not as stigmatizing.no one would be able to say "well, that's what autism is to me" except is the poetical sense along the lines of "happiness is your own pony/a good book/a marriage/whatever".
 
I did not write either of the following quotes, but it pretty much sums up my opinion of SCD. Sidenote: the author of the first one (Helen Tager-Flusberg) has a journal article about the theory of mind hypothesis that I would love institutional access to.

"Evidence Weak for Social Communication Disorder"
Second, there doesn’t seem to be any evidence for the existence of a disorder that is genuinelyindependent of autism and SLI. Yes, there are children who, by the time they reach school, no longer show any restricted or repetitive behaviors and whose social communication impairments are mild enough that a clinician would say they no longer meet criteria for autism (though they clearly once did).

There are also children who may have been significantly delayed in acquiring vocabulary and grammar as toddlers and preschoolers (which would have warranted a diagnosis of SLI), and who still have problems with pragmatics, even though their vocabulary and grammatical skills are now within the normative range.

But the histories of such children reveal that they would have once met criteria for these other disorders.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Autistic-Brain-Helping-Different/dp/0544227735
The Autistic Brain, Temple Grandin
The APA says that those already diagnosed with autism will keep the diagnosis. But what about the previously undiagnosed Aspies who meet only the social half of the new dyad criteria--deficits in social communication and interaction but not in repetitive behaviors and fixated interests? They could find themselves in another subcategory altogether: communication disorder. Specifically, they'll find themselves receiving a diagnosis that's new to the DSM: social communication disorder. Which is, basically, autism without the repetitive behaviors and fixated interests. Which is, basically, rubbish. (To my way of thinking, social impairments are the very core of autism--more so than the repetitive behaviors.) So having a diagnosis of social impairment that's distinct from the diagnosis of autism is the same as having a diagnosis of autism that's distinct from the diagnosis of autism!
 

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