The Standardization of Diagnostic Criteria for ASD

The Standardization of Diagnostic Criteria for ASD
Autism Spectrum Disorder is a neurodevelopment disorder that has affected many children over the years. A persistent disability of social communication defines the condition. In addition, the sufferers' behaviors and interests are characterized by restrictive, repetitive, and stereotypic patterns (Zaky, 2017). The first description of autistic tendencies happened in the early 1800s. Since then, the definition and criteria used to diagnose it have changed significantly. The first Diagnostic Statistical Manual described the condition as a subtype of childhood schizophrenia (Cook & Willmerdinger, 2015). Much later, the concept of autism was coined by a Swiss psychiatrist, Eugen Bleuler, in 1910. He used it to detail the symptoms of children suffering from schizophrenia.
Refrigerator Mothers and Child Schizophrenia
At the turn of the 20th century, Eugen Bleuler coined the concept of autism to describe a symptom of schizophrenia of the most severe kind. According to him, hallucinations and fantasies replaced infantile wishes and unsatisfying realities (Evans, 2013). However, that definition was ultimately usurped by many others that followed. For instance, in 1972, a researcher described an autistic child as lacking fantasy rather than having it in excess. Later on, researchers attributed autism to a lack of maternal warmth and attachment (Joseph, 2018). This theory was popularized by Bruno Bettleheim in 1967; however, it received widespread criticism. That notion of blaming parents for their children’s autism has since become obsolete. On the flip side, in recent times, mothers are considered to have a pivotal role in curing the condition. They have increasingly become involved in seeking intervention to put the condition in check and ease its impact on children.
Standardization of Diagnostic Criteria
 Leo Kammer initiated the development of autism as a diagnostic concept in 1943. His landmark observation emphasized autism as severe problems in social interaction and the ability to connect with surroundings from an early age (Rosen et al., 2021). In addition, he observed that children with autism exhibited resistance to change alongside the unusual body and hand movements. Since then, there have been important developments as far as the diagnosis of autism is concerned. They have been precipitated by the continued awareness of the need to represent the varied difficulties experienced in other areas, including developmental problems. The current diagnostic criteria, DSM-5, has marked a shift from the concept of a multi-categorical diagnostic system to a single diagnosis that employs several dimensions (Rosen et al., 2021). The criteria base the level of support needed for individual functioning to come up with symptom domain severity levels. 
Intensive behavioral therapy is mostly used on children who have not yet joi...