The definition of autism and related disorders, referred to collectively as autism spectrum disorder, is one of deep and continuing importance. It affects the public's perception, our own perceptions, insurance, funding levels, research efforts, diagnosis, and the care and treatment of our children. Definitions have always been the means by which we construct and analyze reality. As J. L. Austin points out, "Language is equivalent to action."
There are any number of definitions dealing with autism and autism spectrum disorder. Some like the DSM-IV run to several pages, with a menu list of options. Others are more concise. All share a common element. They all define autism as a disorder.
The accepted definition of autism as a disorder can be traced to its origins, now discredited, as a psychiatric condition. A number of nearly invisible, domino-like side effects further compound the problem once disorder is accepted.
A common practice in the field of psychiatry is a pair-wise noun/adjective labeling of condition and patient, such as schizophrenia/schizophrenic, psychosis/psychotic, and autism/autistic. Of course implicit in this noun/adjective pairing is a life-long condition. Explicit is the understanding that the child is the disorder.
Autism defined as a disorder coupled with the implicit life-long adjective autistic speaks to its fictive roots revealing more about the meaning-makers than the illness. Acceptance frames our expectations. It is self-limiting. Autism has been forced into this Procrustean position as a consequence of antiquated, inherited language rather than of sound science.
Life-long disorders are recognized, accepted, coped with, and managed. Diseases are detected, prevented, treated, and cured. Diseases are fought, disorders are tolerated.
A disorder means out of order. A noise word – gobbledygook, jargon, coloring our thinking and downplaying the problem. One of our goals as parents is to educate as well as enlist the aid of the public. Communication is understood by what we encounter based on shared contexts and experiences. Who has ever experienced a disorder? The public's perception of autism is framed for failure. The public is mystified by autism because disorder perpetuates the mystery.
Autism is a disease, where a disease is "a pathological condition of a part, organ, or system of an organism resulting from various causes, such as infection, genetic defect, or environmental stress, and characterized by an identifiable group of signs or symptoms."
