Volkmar F R, Stier D M, Cohen D J
Am J Psychiatry. 1985 Dec;142(12):1450-2. doi: 10.1176/ajp.142.12.1450.
In DSM-III, pervasive developmental disorder is divided into two major categories: infantile autism and childhood onset pervasive developmental disorder. The criteria differ, primarily, in the age of onset. The authors studied 129 patients who had received diagnoses of pervasive developmental disorder or a related disorder and found only five cases of apparent childhood onset pervasive developmental disorder. These five patients were behaviorally indistinguishable from those with other diagnoses. Practically, age of onset may be more appropriately termed "age of recognition," and its use as a major diagnostic criterion for such disorders may not be justified.
在《精神疾病诊断与统计手册》第三版（DSM - III）中，广泛性发育障碍被分为两大类：婴儿孤独症和儿童期起病的广泛性发育障碍。主要区别在于起病年龄的标准不同。作者研究了129例被诊断为广泛性发育障碍或相关障碍的患者，仅发现5例明显的儿童期起病的广泛性发育障碍。这5例患者在行为上与其他诊断的患者并无差异。实际上，起病年龄或许更应恰当称为“识别年龄”，将其用作此类障碍的主要诊断标准可能并不合理。
