Asperger..who uses this label still?

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Woke influence? Doubt it. I think it's probably people with good intentions though trying to keep the autism community united or something though. Do I think that's a good idea? In some cases, sure. In others, not at all.

I wasn't dx'd with aspergers. I got lumped in under pdd-nos when I got my dx, not because I was high functioning, but because I was dx'd as an adult and the team I worked with didn't want to give a full grown adult (about 30 at the time) a kanners dx. The only reason I wasn't dx'd as a kid was because my mom didn't believe in doctors back then, and then life happened to me.

Personally, I don't feel I have a ton in common with other autistic people who were once dx'd with aspergers. I see a lot of people stressing things like social skills, friends, so on. I see people who want to go places, do things, be around folks... I want to be alone. I'm more the 'in your own head' type of autistic who struggles with other things like sensory issues, executive functioning issues, demand avoidance issues, self regulating issues, and so on. I'm more classic and if I could be bothered to get reevaluated, I'd be asd level 2.

I get why aspergers and kanners were dropped (and whatever else was to...i forget what all was there before) and all made into asd with levels. Ultimately, once we grow and age, the differences aren't so big. From my limited understanding one of the biggest things was speech delay and once you're grown, how much relevance does that really have on you and your life? The rest of the differences I see weren't even in the dsm, but more like things I just noticed from reading stuff, watching things, so on.

I'm rambling and half awake.

Point being, I don't see it as a bad thing for people to still use aspergers. If that's what works for you and how you identify, rock it, go for it, own it, so on. I think it's silly to try to suggest we are all the same anyway.

I was diagnosed with ASD and not Asperger's. While I can venture a guess, I have and can have no idea what my diagnosis would have been under the DSM-IV. So I refer to myself as being autistic. You do you.

I think people who are diagnosed or who are even accurately self diagnosed should be allowed to use whatever term they want to describe or identify themselves. As far as describing and identifying others, people should just respect whatever word they choose and feel most comfortable with. As far as generally speaking about the community in a general way, ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) or ASC (Autism Spectrum Condition) should be used. We shouldn't nitpick or judge people for how they choose to identify themselves. We should just take care when we speak about the community in a general way.

I feel the same way about person first vs. identity first language. I always use identity first language when I talk about myself and I generally use it when I speak in general terms about any disabled community. Sometimes when I speak in general terms, person first might come out of my mouth if it fits the flow or context of the sentence better, but I mostly use identity first when I speak about the community or about people whom I do not personally know. But if someone else prefers person first language, I completely respect their right to prefer it and I honor that when I speak to them or about them.

The diagnosis of Asperger's no longer officially exists in the diagnostic manuals but many people were originally diagnosed with a diagnosis of Asperger's so it is reasonable to expect them to continue to use that term when talking about themselves or about others who were diagnosed with the same term.

Aspergers & Autism are one thing now.

There is a push to stop using it because of ties to eugenics and the Dr who coined the term was a Nazi in Germany. Aspergers diagnosis was given to individuals who were autistic but could still be "useful", and by contrast those who were autistic and not considered "useful"......

Was removed from DSM quite a few years ago, but ICD only recently so its still a term very commonly used in Europe. Was diagnosed in 2016 with aspergers and am quite happy to continue with that being my diagnosis.

I was diagnosed in 2017 with ASD after Aspergers was dropped from the DSM, so I say I have an Autism Spectrum Condition. I have no problem with that, but occasionally it can be useful to add that I have the Aspergers-type of autism if that helps people understand. For instance, if someone is inclined to query my autism because I'm verbal and can appear competent.

I hate having my diagnosis queried, especially by medical professionals who should know better.

I'm on the fence over whether it is a problem using the name of Hans Asperger based on Nazi atrocities. We have no way to tell, really, whether he was an evil man or just a good man caught up in evil times. I'm not sure we're condoning his every action by recognising his contribution to autism through his name (?) But I'm probably in the minority with this view, and in that sense there is a bit of woke cancellation involved in the idea that his name should no longer be used. Now that Aspergers Syndrome is no longer a diagnosis, though, over time the term will disappear anyway, so it's a moot point.

As an aside, I read a recent study which revealed there are actually 4 types of autism. They could distinguish them from brain scan patterns. That makes sense to me as I find my type of autism is only represented by a minority on this site. (But I guess it may take a few years to investigate further and maybe a decade or two for the diagnostic labels to catch up!)

Here is the link. Looks like I only read the summary as the research itself is behind a paywall.

https://www.spectrumnews.org/news/brain-connectivity-behavior-flag-four-autism-subtypes/

The 4 subtypes were identified by machine-learning, I believe they matched brain scans from an image database with both behaviour (repetitive behaviours, communication challenges) and gene variations. Very promising research.

Thank you so far for all the new input, new to me, so I am still learning new stuff about our condition or the autistic human condition. I also sort of got int ouch with autism-influencers on Instagram...and sometimes, I must admit, it is getting on my nerves...this toxic positivism in slogans like proud to be autistic, and the charts they post about ADHD and Autism, clearly overlapping each other, so now I am beginning to wonder if I have ADHD too?I have read somewhere a while ago, that the guy who ‘discovered’ and coined ADDHD had said on his deathbed that he’d invented it for the Big Pharma. In the past decades parents who saw their child as too jittery and restless at home and problem child at school were easily won over to put it on ritalin, a drug with many side effects. So, I don’t know, I think now that ADHD is a symptom on the autism spectrum. Temple Grandin said in a lecture that I saw on Youtube that so many studies and syndromes were created (labels) because they were clutching at straws to identify what they saw: schizophrenia, psychosis, ADHD and then later on it was autism? It is a good thing on Instagram to see this happening and taling about itty influencers, now even calling it neurodivergency vs neurotypicals? The world never had so many labels as today. everyone has or wants a diagnosis. I mean there are influencers out there who make autism fashionable with T-shirts. Is that a good thing? Black is beautiful, Out and Proud, proud to be autistic (is that only talk for the high IQ-ed mild cases and also for the severe mentally disabled. I am just questioning out loud here...I get confused in so far that I begin to wonder how I can be proud about a disability -sure in certain ways it is also a super power for me create the art that I make, a drive, an energy...but time and time again, I see I am doubting myself some instants if I am really autistic until I have to interact with people and time and time again I feel how the masking during social interaction grates on my face and makes me realise, no, it doesn’t work, I calculate each and every word and script hours beforehand sometimes...then really know that I cannot pretend to be ‘normal’ neurotypical like they are...sigh...this was a long rant again.

A key difference between autism and ADHD is that ADHD can be actively helped with medication. ADHD medication helps with the core symptoms of ADHD, and ADHD is actually the most effectively treated psychological disorder. Whereas with autism, medication can help with sensory overload in some instances (so I've read?), but there are no medications to help the condition's core symptoms aside from that.


So I don't think they're one in the same. But they do commonly occur together, and they say up to 80% of autistics qualify for ADHD as well