Asperger's or Autism?

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You can be "high-functioning" without being Asperger's. Most definitely.

One can be a "high-functioning classic autistic person."

Many still use the ICD-10.

I'm not so sure I would want Asperger's to be sublimated totally.

I believe it is a discrete disorder, with some unique features. It is very different from "high-functioning classic autism."

I'm not an Aspergian, by the way. I am more under the "high-functioning classic autism" umbrella.

Ok so this kind of exists as a discrete "unofficial" classification, well we knew that anyway.

My point remains is that medical professionals shouldn't cast aspersions (attributing characteristics to autism) when giving advice to patients.

In the ICD-10, Asperger's is still an official diagnosis. And, somewhat to your chagrin, many clinicians still use the ICD-10.

Unfortunately, it's because there remains a severe lack of knowledge and awareness pertaining to autism.

The average person usually thinks of an "autistic" person as someone who is nonverbal, goes off to a corner to rock back and forth, spins things, and throws tantrums. Hence, the stigma.

Rain Man was called an "high-functioning" autistic in the movie, which was screened in 1988.

I see myself as an autistic person with moderate support needs. Pre COVID my s/dau used to take me shopping and do the packing at the checkout/or use the handheld gadget to price things as we shopped. Now she does it. I'd struggle to get around a supermarket due to chronic lower backache anyway. She comes to appointments with me, including appointments at home. She is informed by the housing association etc when there'll be appointments or work done. She does practical/technical tasks that need doing because I struggle with those.She gets my medication. My granddaughters keep my flat clean.

I used to work at a care home for able-bodied people with dementia, and on a training course I learnt that a person's cognitive functioning is usually based on how well that person can make decisions. It was pretty interesting.
Making decisions can be anything, even subconsciously. Even something as simple as the way you sit on a couch is making a decision (whether you want to lounge or sit upright or whatever). What you're doing right now (other than reading this post) is a decision, even if you are doing something you're forced to do, like being at work. But even if you are at work you still made a decision to visit WP and go to this thread and read this post (those who are reading this BTW).

But it's also about conscious decisions too. Some autistic people are unable to decide which groceries they need or how or when to clean their house, so they require support with these everyday tasks.
I am able to make my own decisions without needing support, I can subconsciously and consciously make any decision an average NT (with no mental illnesses) can make. So that's why I consider myself a high-functioning Aspie.

The 'how or when to clean the house' rings a very loud bell. When living in Essex, and not near any support, I went into complete avoidant mode over it. The result? My place was a tip.It would get a cleaning blitz when my s/dau visited every 6 months or so. The whole multi-step/sequential thinking aspect of it completely overwhelmed me.

Asperger’s was my diagnosis.

If I’m talking to someone who I assume does not have much knowledge on how the autism spectrum works, I usually tell them that I have Asperger’s. This is because the stereotype associated with this label definitely suits me better than the stereotypical “autistic” person, what with me being quite high-functioning and not having sensory issues.

However as an Aspie I am still an autistic person by definition. All Aspies are autists, but not all autists are Aspies.