DSM-V is Coming

The American Psychiatric Association will publish the fifth edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) in May 2013.  Fox News reports:

“If we don’t loosen it a little bit, I suspect that some of these high-functioning kids may actually either get shifted into a different diagnosis,” said Dr. Thomas Frazier, who treats children with autism at the Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital. “So, for example, they might move to a new diagnosis called social communication disorder.”

Frazier said he is also worried about children who are already classified, and how the reclassification could affect the educational assistance they receive at school.

“Your educational classification really indicates what kind of services and accommodations you're going to get at school,” he said. “And autism is one of the highest educational classifications; so many people with autism get a significant amount of services through their school. I think the worry by a lot of parents is that ‘if my child loses that classification what happens?’ And we don’t know what’s going to happen yet.”

At Cato, Walter Olson worries that DSM-V will lead to an increase in claims under ADA and other laws.