"Aspergers" - Should the name be changed?

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what benefits?

"...or another abnormal condition" (from the American Heritage Dictionary). Despite what you think of the word "abnormal" (i.e. substitute "atypical" if you like; the literal definition is close enough), does Asperger's not fit?


At the basic level, a symptom is "a characteristic sign or indication of the existence of something else" (again, from American Heritage Dictionary). That is, a symptom is not inherently medical.

I also think it's inaccurate to simply say that it's just "a list of atypical traits." To a certain degree, that's like saying that being blind is simply an atypical trait. Not being able to intuitively read non-verbal cues, in our modern society, is a deficiency. We play the cards we're dealt in life, including our deficiencies, and we adapt. Humans are wonderful and resilient.

As an aside, you might enjoy Wikipedia's definition of syndrome:

Fiddlerpianist, I have never, ever heard it employed for anything save for medical disorders. Its common usage certainly rests there. The expanded definition you cite would be too obscure for the average person newly diagnosed with Asperger's to believe they have been diagnosed with anything but a disease. Of course, I may be incorrect.

You're displaying anosognosia right now, that's why i'm sure aspergers is a right-sided deficit. Did you know that people who have a right sided stroke usually believe they aren't disabled? they don't even realise that they have no control over half their body. When it's pointed out to them they weave nice stories to explain it, and they attempt to balance out with percieved positives.

Colour-blindness is described as a disability despite it's many positives, for example, the ability to easily see through camoeflague and better discrimination between the brightness of colours. Why is it a disability? because something is missing. Aspergers is no different, aspergers is a disability because something is missing.

If that were the case for me personally, I would not have mentioned the negative aspects of Asperger's.

Inherent determination to gather facts on subjects of fascination, meaning you have a greatly expanded knowledge that may be applied to society, thus benefiting society, depending on what the subject was. Bridges, architecture, airplanes, satellites, any given technology, seems to have been advanced by those having autistic traits.

You may be experiencing "cognitive dissonance" upon reading the above. Your brain is rejecting all evidence that contradicts your paradigm. You maintain Asperger's as a disability, so you have the irresistible compulsion to shun facts that indicate otherwise.

I know we all have autism and/or Asperger's(I have asperger's). When I talk about the people in my group, I am not being judging anyone or saying I am better then they are. I know that all of us, including I, have autism and/or Asperger's. I also know that everyone with Asperger's or Autism, not matter what the functioning level is, are different. I know that not everyone on the spectrum has the same symptoms and/or is the same. The group that I am in, The clients do not have behaviors because of their Autism, but because they have separate diagnosis's on top of their Autism. That is why it was developed. I know with Autism(even low functioning autism) there usually is hardly no real behavioral issues, except for related to not being able to communicate stress.
The people in my program, in order to even qualify for it, have to not only have Autism, but co-morbid behavioral and/or psychiatric disorders as well. Even though in the past few years other mixed disability agencies have Autistic clients, this program is specialized for clients who are challenged with both Autism and psychiatric and/or mental health disorders, not just Autism itself. What makes the whole thing challenging is that because of their Autism, these clients are not able and/or do not do well with the traditional treatment programs that are designed for people who have psychiatric disorders that do not have autism with mental retardation. It is very difficult with Autism, even high functioning Autism, to also live with a mental and/or psychiatric illness when the person is not able to express their needs and/or feelings. This program uses other alternative treatments, especially medications, to treat these clients.
I only was put in that program because I was getting treatment for depression, but because I am able to express my needs, my depression was fixed. Through that,and a new therapist,I was able figure out that I did not actually have depression and/or anxiety, but was a result of my family and/or other people around mistaking my disability for needing help and/or to be overprotective, when I was able to be independent, and did not want to help me the way I wanted to be helped. I wanted just the psycho-therapy while I took career assessment tests, so I can go back to college and get emotional encouragement so I can succeed. Instead, my family (and this agency) did not have any faith in me because they though people with Asperger's could not go to college and/or succeed, when in fact they can.This caused a lot of self-confidence issues. So they got me counseling at this agency and this agency thought the same thing about me. They just threw me into an agency that did not teach me and/or encourage me to be independent, but instead, told me what to do, and treated me like I was "dumb" and could not do anything for myself. Even though I had never actually displayed any self-harm nor any other behavioral issues that would cause concern, just sadness, I was put here anyway. That is my history.
Unfortunately, the other people in my program are not able to get their problems fixed because their Autism interferes with being able to communicate their needs. Even ones who can talk, they may not understand their feelings and/or have trouble expressing them in an appropriate way. Because of that, they have to be taught how to express their feeling appropriate.
Some of the higher functioning clients, my housemates for one, have issues that make them tease and/or bully people because when they are mad at staff and/or upset about something unrelated to the action they have taken, the direct it at vulnerable people. When my housemate has an issue with a staff member, rather than take their anger and/or frustrations out at them, they would take it out on me. I never knew why, but I think because of my Asperger's, I was a "push-over" and seen to them as a punching bag. They know not to hurt a staff member because they would get in trouble, so they hurt me instead. My housemates not only have Autism with mental retardation, but behavior disorder, bi-polar, and other severe psychiatric illnesses on top of their autism. They talk, but can only have very shortened conversations due to not being able to keep a conversation going for to long. They are considered classic autistic people.
There are a lot of classic and/or high functioning autistic people in the program, but because of their mental illnesses, their classification of Autism is much more severe because of it. With the high functioning Autistic people, they are classified at a much lower level because their mental and/or psychiatric illnesses interfere with their functioning and/or cognitive level, so it gets them classified as a classic instead of just HFA. It is very confusing, but unfortunately, with psychiatric illnesses, the cognitive level is more damaged than it should be. Add that with the Autism and it makes thing more difficult. This what makes their cases more complicated because of having both the autism and psychiatric illness, it makes life a lot more difficult for them.
But that is why I would never judge anyone based on anything. The only thing that makes it difficult for me to become friends with them is that with my Asperger's, I am not able to show patience, understanding, empathy, and/or sympathy to anyone. As much as I try, but when you find social-emotional situations hard to understand with an NT, it is very difficult to have a face to face relationship with any of the clients, especially when I have a hard time being around someone when they are having a "difficult" time. This is what causes me to withdraw from everyone, not because I want to, but because I can not be around stressful environments. They cause me to shut down and I run away and hide. There are no Asperger's social groups for adults where I am from, so I find it easier to come on here. All my life I make NT friends that is because they know I have Asperger's and I am not able to handle the "emotional" and/or have the be dependent on me for anything. It is very difficult with any issue(not just the client's problems, but my family's health as well) when I have to be the supportive one who has to hear and/or see the stress.
That is how Asperger's affects my life and why I do not do well in any agency and/or why I do not do well with the other clients. It is not them, it is because I am not "equipped" to take on anything. That is also why I do not know anyone who just has Autism or have met anyone with Autism who is like Donna Williams and Temple Grandin. I am not as fortunate as all of you to have been in the autism/asperger's community all my life.
Even though I was in special Ed until I was 7 years old, but I was only in classes with medium to high functioning children who only had autism(probably now have Asperger's and were ready to be mainstreamed, this was in the 1980's). The school that I was in was a school that took all types of special kids, but to be in the Autism class, they did not allow students who had aggressive and/or unsafe behaviors and had to only have mild to classic Autism. Otherwise, the had to go to the other program(the other program, ironically was sponsored by the Autism agency that has the day/residential program i am in now). I know it is weird, but that was the 1980's for you. When I mainstreamed at 7, all I was exposed to was normal children and eventually normal people throughout my life. When they put me in the Autism agency when I as 22 years old, I did not know any Adults with Autism, so that is the only exposure I had, up until now with talking to all of you.
So thank you for allowing me into your Wrong Planet group. Now through your posts I am not able to see another side of Autism/Asperger's that I was waiting to see, the positive side. I wish that the other clients were able to show me their positive side, but all I get to see is the negative, due to the added psychiatric illnesses they have.

I never claimed it didn't have it's positives


Lack of empathy, lack of emotional-affect, lack of intuitive and instinctual socio-behaviour. There's no possible way aspergers could be described as anything other than a disability because the word describes a consistent lack of ability in certain areas. Of course, it can also be described as enabling or an advantage in other areas.

Psygirl6
I was never insulted by your original posts, just suggesting that you try to meet more people with HFA and perhaps coincidently some more with aspergers because our veiws are based on what we percieve after all. I've met and heard about some people with aspergers who are like the people who describe as having LFA.

Aspergians have empathy. Most claim to. The criteria differs from neurotypicals, in that the person with Asperger's must make a conscious effort, after the emotions of another individual have been made blatant.

Hmm... How about 'God Mode'? That'd be great! But I'm not fussed either

Maybe it would be more accurate to call it a condition with both disabilities and advantages?

E.g. it wouldn't make sense if I said that I have a more than average memory because I am disabled, or was able to read at 4½ because of a handicap.
That doesn't mean that I don't admit that there are disadvantages too. E.g. social issues or executive dysfunction.
But as the negative sides are in reality negative, the positive sides are really positive too. And it shouldn't be forgotten.

No, after all, it's named after the man who discovered it. I do however hate the term aspie and I think it sounds totally idiotic and I refuse to ever use that term.

Some will tell that they don't. I don't think you can generalize.

It's not really a question of accuracy; it's a question of connotation. One person's objection to the word "condition" will be another's objection to the word "syndrome." I think "condition" is just as medically associated as "syndrome" (which, a_spock_darkly, I do not debate). I think that words such as "variant" however completely miss the point. If there is nothing deficient, then why bother to categorize at all? Why seek diagnosis?

Because society has a set standard for 'normality' that the Asperger personality 'variant' doesn't fit properly.

Sorry for the confusion. Those were rhetorical questions.

My focus was not as much on the word "condition" vs. "syndrome" as on the "both disabilities and advantages" thing. I don't mind the word syndrome, and would be more prone to prefer that to "variant".
I think it's wrong to deny that there are disabilities in AS. But also just as wrong to make it sound like it is nothing else than disability.