All posts by Stuart Neilson

On the non-diagnosis of Professor Don Tillman

Book, Interventions

In The Rosie Project (Graeme Simsion, 2012) we are introduced to Don Tillman, a socially inept professor of genetics who appears to have all the pre-requisite impairments for a diagnosis of Asperger syndrome. However, he is not diagnosed during the course of the book, nor following marriage in the follow-up The Rosie Effect (Graeme Simsion, 2014). The possibility of mental illness is mentioned, although “no definitive diagnosis other than depression was ever recorded” (The Rosie Effect). Somewhere, twenty years in Don Tillman’s past, is a largely irrelevant medical file in which the tentative diagnoses of “‘depression, bipolar disorder? OCD?’ and ‘schizophrenia?’” have been suggested, but the best efforts of 1990s psychiatry failed to fit Don Tillman into any simplistic category (The Rosie Project).

Rosie-project-wordle
The Rosie Project wordle (www.wordle.net)
Rosie-effect-wordle
The Rosie Effect wordle (www.wordle.net)

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The value of labelling autism – Critical Perspectives 2014

Medication, Presentation, Service use

Presentation at the 6th Annual Critical Perspectives Conference, 12 & 13th November 2014, University College Cork. The conference considers and explores:

  • the value and relevance of psychiatric diagnoses in understanding and responding to a wide range of human experiences of emotional distress
  • Critical perspectives on and creative responses beyond psychiatric diagnoses

Audio of the presentation (35 minutes, 11 MB):

PDF handout (6 slides per sheet, 3 sheets in total, 1.8 MB):


Stuart Neilson – The value of labelling (handout)

Online video: http://ucc.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=b41c413a-d375-4a81-b80c-fbc473b846fd

Asocial people are “a piece of the continent” too, by Stuart Neilson

Presentation

From Speak Your Mind, the Magazine for Positive Mental Health

I have a history of psychiatric disorder – anxiety and depression – that did not respond well to the usual treatments, until a psychologist (thank you, Daniel Flynn) proposed a diagnosis of Asperger syndrome. This is a part of the autism spectrum and came as a surprise to me because I thought I knew what autism was, and I have relatives with a diagnosis. Asperger syndrome provided me with an explanatory framework that suddenly made sense of so many aspects of my current life difficulties and of my life history, an explanation that has been a blessing.

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New book – Living with Asperger syndrome and autism in Ireland

Book

Living with Asperger syndrome and autism in Ireland by Stuart Neilson and Diarmuid Heffernan
Launch: Deirdre O’Shaughnessy, editor of the Cork Independent, (who chaired the CAA Autism Forum 2013) will officially launch “Living with Asperger syndrome and autism in Ireland” by Dr Stuart Neilson and Diarmuid Heffernan. Adult Continuing Education (ACE) University College Cork will host the launch at 4.30 pm on Monday 25th November 2013 in the Thomas Davidson room, The Central Library, 57-61 Grand Parade, Cork.

Amazon.co.uk print £10 / €12) or eBook £5 / €6 (also available directly from CreateSpace $16)

ISBN-13: 978-1493537198
ISBN-10: 1493537199

(Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/LivingWithASandAutismInIreland)

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World Mental Health Day 2013

Presentation

600-World Mental Health Day 2013

World Mental Health Day 2013
World Mental Health Day was first celebrated by the World Federation for Mental Health in 1992, so it is 21 years old today – with an appropriate coming-of-age theme “Mental health of older adults, addressing a growing concern“. Participants include the WHO, health services (the HSE, NHS), service users and advocacy groups (Mental Health Ireland, Aware, Grow).

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Briefing note: Episodes of inpatient activity attributable to autism spectrum disorder in Irish acute hospitals

Service use, Statistics

Stuart Neilson, June 2013

Summary

An autism spectrum disorder was recorded in 711 acute hospital inpatient episodes per year over the 5-year period 2007-2011, with a gender ratio of 3:1 male:female. The trend was from 429 episodes in 2007 to 1,087 in 2011, a growth rate of 26% per year.

Childhood autism (72.3%) and Asperger syndrome (17.2%) were the most frequent autism spectrum disorders recorded. Autism spectrum disorder was the primary diagnosis in only 3.6% of episodes. The average length of stay was 23.5 days for people with Asperger syndrome and 8.9 days overall – it is probable that the longer stays for people with Asperger syndrome are associated with psychiatric in-patient care.

The direct cost of admissions due to autism as a primary diagnosis was €205,000 per year, with an indirect cost (including secondary diagnoses) of €5.6 million per year. These cost estimates are also rising at 26% per annum with increasing recognition of autism as a diagnosis. Economic cost estimates can not be causatively linked with autism, but may form a context in which to evaluate interventions that reduce hospital admission rates or increase quality of life for people with autism.

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Diet and ASD

Diet, Interventions

Summary: There has been insufficient research to suggest any diet specific to ASD, but plenty to know that everyone requires a balanced diet and sufficient exercise. Some off-the-shelf supplements may help. One excellent guide is the (unfortunately titled) book “Nutrition for Dummies” by Carol Ann Rinzler and you will find similar books at shelf-mark 613.2 in any local library.

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Autism spectrum variants

Statistics

Autism spectrum disorder includes autism (autistic disorder), pervasive development disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) Asperger syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder and Rett syndrome.

In the United States, PDD-NOS is currently the most frequent diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorder (1). PDD-NOS will no longer be listed separately from autism spectrum disorder in DSM-5, bringing all diognoses within ASD.

The latest CDC prevalence report lists the following diagnostic breakdown (in Table 3):

Autistic – 1,158 (44%)
PDD-NOS – 1,230 (47%)
Asperger – 239 (9%)
TOTAL – 2,627

(1) Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorders – Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, 14 Sites, United States, 2008 Surveillance Summaries. March 30, 2012 / 61(SS03);1-19.