'the diagnosis'

[Guest guest]

I am a school psychologist. I am curious how the original dual

diagnosis was made - what instruments, etc. One of the questions I am

trying to answer is 'when is a behavior part of a developmental level'

and 'when is it autism'?

For example, if the cognitive level is described as being close to the

developmental level expected of a 5 year old, there would be some

correlations to other things. For example, sometimes a five year old

appears to be obsessed with one thing and plays by himself - when does

it cross over to be described as autistic and what was the selling

point to make the dual diagnosis?

I'll start their before adding more questions or observations.

Thanks