Social Pragmatic Communication Disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorder: Two of a Kind? A Narrative Review - Abstract
Recently, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) introduced social pragmatic communication disorder (SPCD) as a new neurodevelopmental communication disorder. There is a longstanding debate on the validity of this new communication disorder. SPCD has been criticized due to a lack of empirical evidence showing that SPCD is distinct from autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Indeed, SPCD shows clear overlap with symptoms of ASD in the domain of social communication.
We present a selective overview of the evidence so far that has attempted to differentiate between SPCD and ASD. The aim of this study is to investigate if there is evidence in th e literature to distinguish symptoms of SPCD to that of ASD. The outcomes of this study can contribute to the development of a more valid instrument for the diagnostic assessment of SPCD.
We were able to isolate differentiating features for both SPCD and ASD in the social interaction and communication domain, as well as in the domain of repetitive and stereotype behaviours. Nevertheless, it was shown that these deficits fall along a continuum, rather than being discrete categories, with the ASD group demonstrating greater levels of impairment than the SPCD group in all domains.