Reply #13: Autism is a syndrome and yes, she was diagnosed with the syndrome.

[pnwmom]

A syndrome is a collection of symptoms. She had the collection of symptoms and therefore had autism syndrome.

I am not exploiting a child; I am repeating what her own father, a physician, had to say about her autism.



http://www.earlysignsofautism.com/why-is-it-called-auti... /


Why is it Called Autism Syndrome?

Autism is a complex disorder for which no medically-based diagnosis exists. Because autism is diagnosed based on observation of symptoms, the group of symptoms that characterize autism is referred to as a syndrome.

A syndrome, in pathological or psychiatric terms, is defined as a group of related symptoms that characterize a condition. For autism, or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), diagnosis is based on observation of symptoms. Two children with an autism diagnosis may exhibit different, but related symptoms, so defining autism as a syndrome makes sense: diagnosis comes from observing the presence of several of a group of symptoms that are specific to the disorder.