When did you first hear about Asperger's Syndrome?

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Careful; Kanners or other current clinical use of the word is by no means "Classical" as the word was coined well before then! Anyone interested in the history should look up Aaron Rosanoff (I can't find his papers on the net, but there are some used books available, and anyone with access to a medical library, should be able to find his classifications). He may not have been the first to use the word, but he did describe it extensively in his categorisation of human temperament, back around the begining of the previous century.

Neither Kanner nor Asperger invented the word, as is commonly supposed, but merely used aspects of this definition. It was also used in further develoments by Humm and Wadsworth (also pre-Kanner...) who's work in turn is the basis for Chandler & Mcleod's current system of professional assessment. If this sounds familiar to some it's because this is the basis for the stripped down version of the "five minute" test that Torley posted. For PC reason's they now refer to it as A for artist, but this is a definition of autism which has a far greater claim to "classic" status, than that missused by current clinicians (thought they retain mutual relevance).

I took the full version of the above test (it takes hours...) way back in 1981, and have known since then I'm strongly autistic, but it said nothing back then about body language (though there was some mention, I believe, of poor "communication" skills or some such; but also that I'm highly skilled in use of language!) so I had no clue as to why I was being continually misunderstood, especially by my "superiors" (?). I'd read about body language some years previously, but, again, I had no suspicion of how all-pervading it was among NTs (most of whom are unaware of it themselves).

Then, I listened to a program on AS on BBC Radio 4, in 1998, where they emphasised our creativity and imagination, and above-average intelligence (yes, this is the definition used by the UK medical authorities, and quite unlike the DSM's; much closer to Attwoods usage, in fact!) and then explained at length the body language issue...and everything fell into place. I saw an exact discription of myself in their "symptoms"; but, of course, when I started looking it up on the web a few months ago, the garbage I found just confused the hell out of me, and it took months of study and deduction to come back full circle to a confident understanding of what it really means. Be careful people, much of what you'll find is misleading, and much of that, I suspect, is deliberately so; certain elements of the establishment feel threatened by the original definition of AS, and so have gone to great lengths to dilute it.

Anyway, here's the on-line test, for the newcomers; it's a bit Micky Mouse but surprisingly accurate (and at least as good as the AQ test) and if you wan't to know if you are really autistic, it's a great place to start! Don't get too hung up on exactitudes; it works best for those who go in with a relaxed attitude (and if some of you "diagnosed" Aspies find you are not autistic, then blame the DSM, not me):

http://www.wrongplanet.net/modules.php? ... opic&t=570

I apologize for my mistake. So what exactly does "classical" refer to, then?

I read a book about Savantism called Extraodinary People by Darold Trefford which had about 10 lines on Asperger syndrome. That was back in 1988.

I 1st heard about it after I graduated high-school in 2001. My mom told me how she thought I had Aspergers & had told our GP she thought I was autistic when I was a toddler but he laughed & said "Nick's just being Nick".

Early 1998 when mom told me I had it.

I cannot say when I first heard about it, as I was diagnosed with having 'mild Autism' as a child.

Back in the 1970's, not much was known about Asperger's Disorder, or if it was, I was never labelled with having it...my parents got told "she has some Autistic traits, but she isn't Autistic".

I guess you could call it 'high functioning Autism'.

Then back in 2008, I was sent off to a psychologist who said I had Asperger's Disorder and then I read about it...and it was though I sorta knew it all along.

I believe it was 1998. My mom told me I had it.

About a decade ago, when I was diagnosed by a medical professional.

I'd never heard of it until around November of 2012 and only vaguely had an idea of what low functioning autism was. Living in Iowa might have had something to do with it. I was having a crisis at that point about why I couldn't function socially and I found it one day while looking into mental disorders. I remember something about it being described a syndrome and not a disorder that really scared me back then.

i guess we're bumping 11 year old topics now? lol..

Crap, at least I'm not the one responsible

I first heard about Asperger's in December 2012. At the time, I had no clue what either Autism or Asperger’s was.

I'm not sure exactly--but I believe I heard about it in the 1980s.

I was diagnosed with "autism" when I very young.

At the bottom of the page there is always a list for similar threads, the ones I've seen are usually old. That's probably why it happens. They seem to lock them for necroposting too. I think they should either take that "similar threads" thing away or not lock them once somebody posts to them again.

When I was little I liked to read the parenting magazines that my mom subscribed to, and I read an article about Asperger's in one of them. It wasn't until later that I found out I had it.

Ever since the upgrade, I have noticed far more necrobumping and I think it does have t do with similar topics shown at the bottom. People don't look at the dates before they hit the reply button.