To read more entries on this blog, click here: The Autism Blog
Is autism a mental health diagnosis?
When my daughter was diagnosed a dozen years ago, her developmental pediatrician referred to it as a neurodevelopmental disorder. Later I heard it described as “neurobiological”. Yet I was told there is no medical test for autism and that it was diagnosed based on observation of behavior. Still later, I read about autism as a psychiatric disorder and many of the therapies I researched were based in psychology.
Such is a parent’s quandary: Is anything about autism clear-cut?
In this case, the answer is that there are many ways of looking at and describing autism depending upon which lens you use to view this incredibly complex disorder.
