Autism Wheel

How Did We Get the Autism Wheel?

So, I thought we’d start with a little history about diagnosing Autism. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel is how mental health conditions are diagnosed in several countries around the world including Canada. This American publication is updated approximately every 5 to 10 years. Experts in mental health collaborate to update the manual so that it best reflects current knowledge.

 Initially, (before 1980) Autism was thought to be a part of childhood schizophrenia. In 1980 the DSM update created a new condition called Autism. In 1994 the subcategories of high and low functioning Autism were laid out. In 2013 the DSM moved to a spectrum model, and eliminated the term Aspergers, which had become controversial. People who previously met the Aspergers diagnosis were folded into the Autism category. In 2013, functioning labels were added to the DSM. Now people were diagnosed with Autism level 1, 2, and 3 which was supposed to indicate the level of support needs.

People with Autism are often found to have spiky profiles. They may have amazing verbal communication but may need significant support in executive functioning and nonverbal communication. The levels classification has largely fallen out of favour in the Autism community, because it does not reflect these spiky profiles. Instead, members of the community have advocated for the use of Autism wheels like the example below. Different conceptions of the wheel have slightly different layouts and different labels. It’s important to understand that the Autism Wheel has not be adopted by the DSM and can be different depending on how the person is using it, and defining the categories listed on the wheel.

When I was looking up these wheels, I was disheartened at the number of them that used language that was not affirming. We use affirming language to try to encourage a more rounded picture of Autism and Autistic people. If all we ever talk about are the challenges of Autism it gets pretty difficult to ground ourselves in Autistic joy and to move from the idea that Autism diagnosis is automatically a disaster.

This wheel use to be found at goodautismschool.com but that site seems not to exist any longer. I like the wording on this one better than some of the others, but many wheels have a gradiation on them so that you can compare strengths and challenges in different areas (remember those spiky profiles).

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