Background: There is no agreed terminology for describing childhood language problems. In this special issue Reilly et al. and Bishop review the history of the most widely used label, "specific language impairment" (SLI), and discuss the pros and cons of various terms. Commentators from a range of backgrounds, in terms of both discipline…

The "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition" ("DSM-5") diagnostic criteria for intellectual disability (ID) include a change to the definition of adaptive impairment. New criteria require impairment in one adaptive domain rather than two or more skill areas. The authors examined the diagnostic…

The possible effect of the DSM-5 impairment criterion on diagnosing autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in young children was examined in 127 children aged 20-47 months with a DSM-IV-TR clinical consensus diagnosis of ASD. The composite score of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS) served as a proxy for the DSM-5 impairment criterion. When…

The revision process for the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (4th ed., text rev.; American Psychiatric Association, 2000) has increased consciousness for the role of diagnosis in counseling. In this article, the authors discuss 3 trends of the proposed changes: the influence of the medical model, the attention to…

As the infant mental health field has turned its focus to the presentation, course, and treatment of clinically significant mental health disorders, the need for reliable and valid criteria for identifying and assessing mental health symptoms and disorders in early childhood has become urgent. In this article we offer a critical perspective on…

The proposed revision for Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition (DSM-5) represents a shift from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR). As the proposed DSM-5 criteria require a higher minimum number of symptoms to be…

In the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (4th ed., text rev., "DSM-IV-TR"; American Psychiatric Association, 2000), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Criterion A2 stipulates that an individual must experience intense fear, helplessness, or horror during an event that threatened the life or physical integrity of oneself or…

The "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (5th ed.; "DSM-V") will likely place more emphasis on dimensional representation of mental disorders. However, it is often argued that categorical diagnoses are preferable for professional communication, clinical decision-making, or distinguishing between individuals with and without a…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of school psychology practitioners regarding Asperger's Disorder, focusing on practitioner perceptions of self-competence, conceptualization of the clinical characteristics of the disorder, and how Asperger's Disorder is conceptualized for the purpose of determining special education…

This study compared the ICD-10 criteria for Asperger syndrome with those suggested by Gillberg with 200 children and adults who met ICD-10 criteria for autism. Comparison indicated only three subjects met ICD-10 criteria for Asperger syndrome whereas 91 met Gillberg's criteria. The discrepancy appeared due to the specific "normal development"…

This article describes the revised and updated "Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health Disorders of Infancy and Early Childhood, Revised Edition (DC:0-3R)." The authors describe the impetus for developing the original diagnostic classification system for children from birth to age 3 in the 1980s. There was a need for a diagnostic…

An exploratory study of structured and unstructured play was conducted with a small number of severely disturbed and normal children 9 to 13 years of age. Specifically, the investigators characterized psychopathology from a cognitive-developmental perspective by focusing on the Piagetian "scheme" and its manifestation in the play and…

The major innovation of the American Psychiatric Association's "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual III" (DSM-III) was the explicit specification of criteria for determining whether an individual's problems qualify for a particular diagnosis. However, neither the choice of child diagnostic categories in DSM-III nor the choice of criteria…