[Source:  Medical News Today]
Last year, the American Psychiatric Association issued new guidelines for the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. But new research from Columbia University School of Nursing in New York, NY, suggests that these guidelines could leave thousands of children who have developmental delays without autism diagnosis, meaning they will miss out on social services, educational support and medical benefits.
The study findings were recently published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 1 in 88 children in the US have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
For the diagnosis of psychiatric conditions, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) provide a tool called the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).
Until last year, health care professionals had been using the fourth edition of a manual called the DSM-IV-TR to diagnose ASD.
Read the Rest of this Article on Medical News Today