First Thing Out of Bed This Morning

A routine I have every morning is to check my Facebook as well as my now "professional looking" Twitter account (I have deleted my former account and created a new one because of me not remembering the password all the time).  When I checked my Twitter this morning, I saw a few posts someone asking me some questions on how they think the OT profession can do in response to the impending changes to the DSM V.  When I read that post, I was like, "Of all people in OT, me?  I might be an emerging expert in autism and leader of the OT profession.  But, thinking about spearheading an effort to help the OT profession in regards to this on autism?  This is way over my head.  Yet, this is catch-22 for me, as I am these changes do impact me in some way!  All in all, as much as I want to say no, this is not one of the times I am in a position to say it."

So, I ponder it for a while, this is what I think the OT community should do.  Again, this is only in the related to autism.  I think other folks in the OT community who are also directly impacted by the changes in the DSM should also speak up.

1. We as a profession have to understand the POV's from parents as well as adult stakeholders.who are out there to share their thoughts.  There are a good bit of places on Facebook where consumers and caregivers gather and share their experiences/perspectives/opinions on various topics in related to autism.  On the good ones, you will see some people provide the links for the blogs they write online, too.  In the area of autism, the more stories you hear/read, the broader your understanding will be in the area of autism in regards to how the diagnosis affect occupationally at the family, caregiver, and consumer levels.  For me personally, having this broad understanding (in addition to my own) is what allows me to speak at OT conferences and educate the rest of the OT community about how we should approach autism.

2. I am sure you all are better than me at this.  Another way is to learn through interactions.  If you interact with caregivers and consumers on a regular basis, you actually can get a feel of each of their health literacy levels on the subject of autism, especially in regards to how they understand what OT is and the possibilities that our profession can offer.

3. This is beyond what I am capable of- but I think leaders at AOTA should monitor the changes to the DSM V and how it might impact services.  I think AOTA needs to start connecting with the folks who are involved in the DSM V.  The reason is that I think it will be good to publish position statements/press releases almost immediately after the official DSM changes are out, as that would eases a lot of stress on the stakeholders in the autism community.  Also, this will be to the profession's benefit because I think it's imperative for the profession to keep track of the changes and redefine the boundaries of the OT settings that might be affected if necessary based on the revised definitions.

4. Also at the AOTA level, this is also a time where participating in membership is important.  Similar to the advocacy efforts that Dr. Amy Lamb has done at Washington DC, I believe that we have to let the folks at organizing the DSM know what is at stake here- as their revisions could affect the roles of tens and thousands of present and future OT professionals.  It's now a good time for the OT community to define where we stand on the diagnoses that might impact by the changes the most.

I will be honest.  From a personal standpoint, I don't think the changes will affect me much.  All I will need is to have my future workplaces to be understanding about my little Aspie quirks and I will be more than fine.  (For those of you who have known me through interacting with me, it's not much and I am more than happy to give you pointers professionally if you "messed up".  As one of my OT peers says, we are OT homies and we should look out for one another.)  After all, I have "informal professional help" at my finger tips- through chatting with my classmates and OT peers.  What will affect me more is my career trajectory.  Depending on how the DSM defines autism spectrum disorder, I will most likely not fit in the criteria.  I probably will fit more along the lines of something called Social Communication Disorder.  It's still a rather rare diagnosis in the OT community.  But, I think it could be a stretch to call me an "autism expert" if the current revised definition stands.

However, for a lot of individuals on the autism community, they don't have the same "luxury" in terms of what is available to them.  For caregivers, it could mean more battles with the school system in terms of fighting for their child's services.  For adult consumers, they might continue to struggle on figuring out what professional service(s) they might need.  Last but not least, how about the teens who might be on transition planning teams?  They could be in a world of confusion.  In addition to transitioning them to adulthood (whether it's secondary education and/or having a career), how are we going to teach be self-advocates if WE don't know what they should be advocating for themselves?

Just to note- my voice is only ONE voice.  It only represents ONE opinion.  As objective I tried to be, I know a good bit of my opinion is actually biased.  So, I think now is actually a good time for other people in the OT community to start sharing their life experiences (whether as a caregiver or consumer) on the diagnoses that might be impacted by the DSM.  That way, the leaders at AOTA hopefully then can get a better grip of what is at stake.  Plus, it is actually a benefit for students because they get to read more personal experiences.