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This week saw the release of a draft of the next edition of the main diagnostic bible used in psychiatry, the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders).

The long process ‘by committee’ has been controversial, and in a first for the American Psychiatric Association (APA), a draft has been made public for people to read and feedback on here. They even have a Facebook page, with a call for fans.

Here’s what the chairs of the APA’s DSM-5 taskforce have to say to you:

Psychology Today's 'Asperger's Diary' blogger, Lynne Soraya, reflects powerfully on what this means to her, and on the confusion and clarity
of labels. Read her full post here.

GREG BARNS, February 15, 2010

TASMANIA'S politicians deserve an accolade for refusing to be drawn, into a law and order auction during the election campaign.

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report from the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2007

Summary

LAUREN NOVAK, POLITICAL REPORTER February 01, 2010 12:32PM

THE Liberal Opposition has pledged to set up a school specifically for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder if elected next month.

Leader Isobel Redmond announced this morning the party would establish a school staffed and designed to "meet the needs" of those children while also putting resources towards special needs children who remain in mainstream schools.

She said there was great demand from parents, who had been lobbying the government for such a solution.

By WALECIA KONRAD
Published: January 22, 2010

WHEN Jeff Sell’s twin sons were found to have autism 13 years ago, he, like so many other parents in the same situation, found himself with a million questions: Will my children be able to function? What are the best treatments and where do I find them? How will this affect the rest of my family?

And besides those monumental worries, Mr. Sell kept asking himself another fundamental question as he began the long string of doctor and therapist visits with his sons: “How in the world am I going to pay for all this?”

By Bruce McDougall Education Reporte, The Daily Telegraph, January 08, 2010 12:00AM

GROWING numbers of students suspended for violence, aggressive behaviour or repeated disobedience have a serious mental disability such as autism.

Families with severely disabled children said they had become the victims of an under-funded school system incapable of adequately providing for special needs.