IT'S OFFICIAL: No More Aspergers

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I had the same experience. I have no doubt about being an aspie but my evaluator gave me a diagnosis 299.00 = autism in July since she knew the DSM V was coming.

Just take a look at my picture and tell me that you don't see the official "aspie stare."

Well, for two of the kids, in my after school program, where I work, will be asked to leave.

Asperger was a gray zone for us. We are not licensed for children with developmental disabilities (different staffing ratios). Both the children will be reclassified with Autism.

They are also runners, which meant my boss had to schedule another person just to 1:1 these two. She did it as a favor for the parents, and because she didn't feel like starting a file for removal because she knew this was coming up.

We are not legally special ed trained, and the safety issues have been bad. I, personally, have no problems with the kids, but when I'm not there, they elope.

So...now my boss can look less evil brooming the kids because it's the DSM fault, and state licensing protocol.

I have no clue what these two families will do for after school care.

On the bright side, nobody will have to put up with that lame pun anymore.

Looks like I misread your post, this is about an after school program, not regular school. Still despicable.

This.

If anything they should have ADDED labels to help distinguish the different sub-types. What they have done is only going to make things harder and more confusing. They needed an Aspie or 2 on that board, then it would have been done right!

I do like the Aspie kids. I can usually cut down the meltdowns by watching what is going on and who they are playing with. The one child who runs, that started when I was off work for a good two months, and the other "helpful-read old, clueless, and think screaming solves everything" co workers mishandled one meltdown. Now the child runs.

I work at an after school pick up program. It is not under the school district. We get NO information on what social/mental health issues the children have. And parents lie. Serious.
My little Aspie runner's parent wrote "no social/behavioral issues". WTF? Denial? Desperate for after school care, probably both. I asked the child's teacher to give me some information on the down low, and she told me that the child was diagnosed ASD, but parents wanted no services.
That has all changed. (you think?) The child has no social skills and now elopes. I believe a para pro will be helping next term.

Legally, the teachers can tell us NOTHING about IEPs,or 504 plans. If I get information, I can not tell the parent I know.

Anyhow, now Autism is developmental disability, same as Downs Sydrome, etc. We legally can not watch those children under State law. Our training and staff ratios are not legal for that. I wold trade 8 of my little hell raisers (non ASDS) for two children with Downs. I think it's crap, but I don't make the laws.

For what the family pays us per day, baby sitters charge the same. Personally, I think the child would do better at home. Latch key is chaotic and loud. I feel sorry for both the kids because after a full day of public school, they wind up in Lord of the Flies for two hours. It doesn't help they gravitate to the ADHD/ODD/Bipolar kids, who on any given day take do or don't get their medication. You haven't seen true chaos until you see an Aspie meltdown along with an
ADHD/ODD/Bipolar full blown rage out from the other child.

You can hear it in the parking lot.

Le sigh....

Tawaki

Their diagnoses will just be referred to as autism........and as far as I understand they are setting it up so it covers low functioning up to high functioning and everything in between. It seems like a more accurate way to go about it instead of having AS and Autism as seperate diagnoses when they are essentially the same disorder AS just tends to refer to those who don't have very severe autism.

I dunno you kinda look like an old school gangbanger from LA to me.

People are STILL going on about this?

I suppose the other 10,000 threads we have on this subject weren't sufficient.

In any case, if "Aspergers" being re classed as "Autism Spectrum Disorder" finally gets it through people's thick skulls that this is an IMPAIRMENT and not a "social identity," I'm all for it.

Buh-bye "Aspergers." Good riddance.

The thing that bothers me, are they going to change the diagnostic requirements for conventional autism or keep them the same?

One of the things they look for in classic autism is delayed speech. I was entirely verbal throughout my childhood, and this is probably one of the factors which delayed my diagnosis. Now we now longer have an official specific medical name for the ASD strand to define 'verbal at childhood'.

Whether or not its a impairment is a matter of perspective. I'm not sure what made you think that people need to get such a message 'through their skulls'. Most peoples kneejerk reaction already is to see autism as a negative thing. The 'social identity' crowd and pro-neurodiversity lobby are in the minority and by in large, are autistic themselves. I think they're in a more authoritive position to comment than most.

Last edited by thomas81 on 02 Dec 2012, 1:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.

My personal feeling is that Aspergers is already stygmatised enough, and I think being simply labelled as Autistic will make it worse.

My other worry echoes what other people are saying, the medical authorities are trying to limit the number of people who can get a diagnosis just as a matter of economic pragmatism.

"Conventional autism" doesn't exist. Everything will henceforth be referred to as "Autism Spectrum Disorder."

There is no "language requirement."



Autism Spectrum Disorder.



It's defined as an impairment. If you're not impaired, you do not have autism.



Not on this message board.

Has it occurred to anybody that people are going to keep saying "aspergers" anyway because its a really useful descriptor, even as a folk taxonym? People still say "manic depressive" even though that's not anything anymore, either.

Since most of us on the spectrum are PDD-NOS, it's only fair ...

Besides, we won't have to worry about our disability being cheapened by idiot NT's with bad social skills who think it's trendy to claim they have Asperger Syndrome to excuse their laziness...

I think it's much better to be able to say "I have mild autism" or "high-functioning autism" rather than "I have [trendy nerd syndrome in tons of TV programs]"

"Whether or not its a impairment is a matter of perspective. I'm not sure what made you think that people need to get such a message 'through their skulls'."

This is absurd. ASD/Asperger is a developmental disability, not a social identity. Why isn't there a "bipolar identity movement"? Bipolars are more functional than we are. Right, because ASD doesn't just exist in a vacuum. It may actually be caused by toxins and brain damage.

It's not like gay rights where they were normal and functional, and their only problem was having their private lifestyle accepted by society. ASD is not a lifestyle; it's an impairment. And the aspies in the "movement" actually conveniently ignore multiple low-functioning autistic individuals. Is not being able to use a toilet and never learning to speak a "social identity" also? The fact that aspies are loud and vocal in trying to shape public debate is kind of unfair to other autistics who are not as able to communicate. And, really, we all need help.

The sooner the differentiating labels disappear, the sooner medical science may devise treatments (e.g. stem cells for regrowing parts of the brain) that will be beneficial to all of us.

Last edited by Tyri0n on 02 Dec 2012, 2:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.