Over these last few weeks, I have been analyzing the results to my survey and trying to find the best way to present the most important responses and ideas to the public. For those who may not be familiar with my ASD diagnosis questionnaire, I have linked a previous post where I thoroughly describe its focus. Please check that out before continuing on with this post.
While I received some interesting responses about certain aspects of the diagnosis process, there were some additional questions in the questionnaire that did not make it to the final presentation but gave striking results as well. One of these was “Has your child been misdiagnosed with another disorder?”. The options for the responses listed various disorders like ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder), anxiety disorder and other disorders common to ASD. One of the responses was also "not sure what these disorders are". Although I made this an optional question (parents who took the survey were not required to answer this question unless they voluntarily opted to), I still got ten interesting responses.
While I received some interesting responses about certain aspects of the diagnosis process, there were some additional questions in the questionnaire that did not make it to the final presentation but gave striking results as well. One of these was “Has your child been misdiagnosed with another disorder?”. The options for the responses listed various disorders like ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder), anxiety disorder and other disorders common to ASD. One of the responses was also "not sure what these disorders are". Although I made this an optional question (parents who took the survey were not required to answer this question unless they voluntarily opted to), I still got ten interesting responses.
The graph above displays the counts of misdiagnosis (parents could pick more than one) and what disorder the child was misdiagnosed with. With the disorders listed, the count for ADHD and OCD is overall the highest because they were both interchangeably picked by multiple parents. This can be accounted to the fact that the criteria for an ADHD and OCD diagnosis incorporates details similar to an ASD diagnosis. For example, according to the DSM-IV, both ASD and ADHD have a requirement for “sufficient inattentive and/or hyperactive impulsive symptoms”, which can potentially make it harder to formulate a correct diagnosis. This is why being diagnosed by the correct specialist like a child psychiatrist is so important as they are better informed about the difference between these disorders.
Astonishingly, also about half of the parents who responded to this question were not aware of these disorders. This brings forward the importance of awareness. If more families and parents were familiar with different disorders and the common misdiagnosis of ASD, then they could better understand their child’s diagnosis.
Astonishingly, also about half of the parents who responded to this question were not aware of these disorders. This brings forward the importance of awareness. If more families and parents were familiar with different disorders and the common misdiagnosis of ASD, then they could better understand their child’s diagnosis.
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