NEWS about adult skills groups!

Asperger Manitoba Inc. will be offering another skills-for-living group on Tuesday and Thursday evenings in July 2010! Apply here!

  • Do you have Asperger Syndrome (or a related diagnosis)?
  • Are you 18 years old or older?
  • Do you think you would benefit from meeting with a small group of other adults with similar needs to work on skills for living (may include social skills, self-esteem, relationships, communication, non-verbal cues, body language, conversation skills, anger management, anxiety)?
  • Would you be available Tuesday and Thursday evenings during the month of July?

If you answered YES to the questions above please complete the form at http://newsletter.swd.ca/surveys.php?id=10.

If you applied to the first pilot project session but were not accepted into that session, please reapply using the new application.

If you are interested in the group but are not available Tuesday and Thursday evenings in July, please complete the form and ask to have your name put on our wait list.

categories News and Media, Services | May 26, 2010 | comments Comments Off

Disability Resource Digest – SMD Alliance

The Disability Resource Digest (DRD) is a special project of the Manitoba based SMD Alliance. The DRD is prepared primarily as an informational resource for consumers, professionals and publics interested in remaining current in disability issues.

Follow the link below to view the latest issue (Volume 10 Issue 4 April 2010) of the DRD in PDF format.

Disability Resource Digest

categories Information | April 27, 2010 | comments Comments Off

Walking to the Beat of His Own Drum

The Spring SMD Newsletter has a feature article on David Perlmutter, a young adult with Asperger syndrome who participated in the first Social Skills Group offered by AMI. Follow the link below to read the newsletter and article.

Walking to the Beat of His Own Drum

categories News and Media | | comments Comments Off

Proposed Change To Criteria for Asperger Diagnosis

DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) is published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and contains descriptions, symptoms, and other criteria for diagnosing mental disorders. Another role of DSM is to establish criteria for diagnosis that can be used in research on psychiatric disorders. Although the DSM is published by the APA it is very often used by clinicians, researchers, and other professionals in Canada and other jurisdictions as a guide in diagnosing and treating disorders.

The current edition of the DSM (DSM-IV) was published in 1994 and was the first edition to recognize Asperger’s Disorder (Asperger syndrome) as a formal diagnosis. The next edition (DSM-5) will be published in 2013. The DSM-5 Work Group has proposed that the Asperger’s disorder diagnosis be subsumed into an existing disorder: Autistic Disorder (Autism Spectrum Disorder) . The table below compares the existing criteria (DSM-IV) for Asperger’s Disorder diagnoses with the proposed (DSM-5) criteria for Autistic Disorder. You can study the proposed changes in more detail by going to the DSM Development site.

We at AMI would like to receive your opinions on this proposed change. Please take a few short moments to complete our survey at http://newsletter.swd.ca/surveys.php?id=9 .

DSM-IV (Existing)

DSM-5 (Proposal)

299.80 Asperger’s Disorder

299.00 Autistic Disorder
Asperger’s Disorder

A. Qualitative impairment in social interaction, as manifested by at least two of the following:

(1) marked impairment in the use of multiple nonverbal behaviors such as eye-to-eye gaze, facial expression, body postures, and gestures to regulate social interaction

(2) failure to develop peer relationships appropriate to developmental level

(3) a lack of spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment, interests, or achievements with other people (e.g., by a lack of showing, bringing, or pointing out objects of interest to other people)

(4) lack of social or emotional reciprocity

B. Restricted repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, and activities, as manifested by at least one of the following:

(1) encompassing preoccupation with one or more stereotyped and restricted patterns of interest that is abnormal either in intensity or focus

(2) apparently inflexible adherence to specific, nonfunctional routines or rituals

(3) stereotyped and repetitive motor mannerisms (e.g., hand or finger flapping or twisting, or complex whole-body movements)

(4) persistent preoccupation with parts of objects

C. The disturbance causes clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

D. There is no clinically significant general delay in language (e.g., single words used by age 2 years, communicative phrases used by age 3 years).

E. There is no clinically significant delay in cognitive development or in the development of age-appropriate self-help skills, adaptive behavior (other than in social interaction), and curiosity about the environment in childhood.

F. Criteria are not met for another specific Pervasive Developmental Disorder or Schizophrenia.

 Autism Spectrum Disorder

Must meet criteria 1, 2, and 3:

1. Clinically significant, persistent deficits in social communication and interactions, as manifest by all of the following:

a. Marked deficits in nonverbal and verbal communication used for social interaction:

b. Lack of social reciprocity;

c. Failure to develop and maintain peer relationships appropriate to developmental level

2. Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, and activities, as manifested by at least TWO of the following:

a. Stereotyped motor or verbal behaviors, or unusual sensory behaviors

b. Excessive adherence to routines and ritualized patterns of behavior

c. Restricted, fixated interests

3. Symptoms must be present in early childhood (but may not become fully manifest until social demands exceed limited capacities)

Tell us what you think about this proposed change. Take our short survey .

categories Information | March 30, 2010 | comments Comments Off