Now that Asperger's is out of the DSM...

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...are we still going to refer to ourselves as having Asperger's?

I don't think I could ever abandon that name, or even think in different terms. I'm not against referring to ourselves as autistic, I just feel like referring to people with Asperger's as "autistic" is not the first thing that is going to come to mind.

So, Asperger's will still exist as a label, but not a strict clinical disorder. The italics on the word "disorder" were in the original, so they are acknowledging that the autistic spectrum definitely extends beyond where it can be reasonably called a disorder. The people they are referring to with "subclinical features" are those of us who somehow heard or read about Asperger's and sought out a diagnosis as an explanation for the traits we saw in ourselves, as opposed to those who were, as children, sent off for psychological evaluation and returned with labels. It seems the DSM working group wants to de-emphasize the end of the autistic spectrum that is "high-functioning" enough to not need significant assistance.

In short, some of us are autistic, and some of us will have a non-diagnostic name for why we're a bit quirky. There will not necessarily be an extremely sharp demarcation between those two groups.

I think we'll get used to it. When I was first diagnosed, I thought they were two different things; but within a couple of years I had figured out I was on the autism spectrum, and not too long after that, I'd discovered just how close Asperger's and autism are. I've been referring to myself as "autistic" for a while.

It really wasn't a difficult transition to make. All I had to do was learn about what autism actually was, analyze and reject most of the stereotypes, modify the rest, and figure out that what was left looked an awful lot like me.

I'm not sure, so I'm going to ask this:

The DSM-V isn't due out until at least 2013, correct? And what they've let us see of it is what has been proposed. Does that mean it's actually, as of now, set in stone that Asperger's will be removed and put in "Autistic Spectrum Disorder" for certain?

Thanks.

When I mention that with 'I'm Autistic' (which is what I AM) I usually qualify it by explaining that I have AS.

In fact the last time I did mention my Autism to someone WITHOUT qualifying, the shocked reaction required an immediate qualification from me.

As it happens he was one of the FEW NTs (and I do mean full on NT) that I have spoken with who has not only heard of Asperger's but actually KNOWS something about it.

I think when speaking to NTz who are quite/very intelligent/gifted some explanation/qualification of 'I'm Autistic' is sometimes helpful................

NOT because they are any BETTER than anyone else on the Spectrum but precisely because of the stereotypes that are pervasive in the NT world.

The stereotype that ALL people on the Spectrum are 'Classical Autistic', is infact oxymoron to the term 'Spectrum'.

But then how many NTz are aware of the term Spectrum?

The first time I heard the term 'Spectrum' was just last year, watching an (repeat) Oprah show, featuring Jim Carey's girlfriend (who has an Autistic child from a previous relationship)

Last edited by Blindspot149 on 11 Feb 2010, 12:38 am, edited 1 time in total.

Late 2012/early 2013. No, it is not set in stone, but I would be very surprised if they went back and decided to make Asperger's distinct again. They have been talking for years about rolling up Asperger's into autism, all the research supports doing so, and there is enough momentum now that they have more or less committed to that direction.

Thanks for the info. I haven't read this part of the rationale... there is another thread with the link to the draft, but somehow this part of the rationale isn't in there. This is a very wise revision, in my opinion, because for 3 people I know in real life who have been diagnosed with Asperger's as adults/children, it is not really showing as an impairment in their everyday lives, and is more like a character trait of theirs. I always kept thinking how they got themselves diagnosed. Therefore, there are those who would meet the new criteria as children but do not fit the new criteria as adults anymore. I think this new criteria draws the line very well.

The one time I said I was autistic to someone they believed me (and pitied me) because I was under a lot of stress at the time. I wanted to get away from a growing group of chatty NT's and all I could do was put my head on my friends shoulder.
I'm trying to use the word autistic more despite my mum and the Denis Leary's of the world (people that only believe severe autism is autism). Severe autism even says there is a spectrum, otherwise you could drop the severe out of it, now couldn't you?
Me being on the moderate end of AS has no problem at all with the merge. I think after the DSM V is released a few years will go by when mainstream crowd will change their mindset on what they think autism is. Perhaps the stereotype will change.

It is like Pluto being taken off the Solar System. People always whine about it but it makes sense to me. It is not a gas giant, hell, the moons orbiting it are bigger than it. So yes in a way I relate it to Asperger's being removed from the DSM V.

I get believed about half the time, I think. The other half, people contradict me by saying I'm smart.

Anyway, with this change, people should begin to gradually understand the true nature of the spectrum. If we're really 1:100, and we gradually stop being ashamed of it as seems to be the trend, then eventually most people will know they know someone with autism, and that means that most people will probably have a realistic picture.

I don't really care:

I know I have a clinical level of impairment that's caused directly by symptoms of an ASD; they can call it whatever they like*.

*As long as it's not "aspie" or "autie"

It is a draft proposal (and so subject to change), but based on the information published about the process to date, it is highly unlikely that Aspergers and kanner will not be merged into a single diagnostic entity in DSM-V.

To me it's a cause for celebration. I hate the term personally. The labeling they have no is just awful and does not work.

I think there is still a problem for those people without clinical levels to get diagnosed autistic but have the "Asperger-type". They will continue to get diagnosed with anxiety or something else on the laundry list and get filled with pills. The reality of what they are and what causes it will not change. Many of them wont get the direction to the understanding they can benefit from.

It says if you're able to be diagnosed with Asperger's now, you will meet the new criteria.

The old criteria did a poor job of conveying what they meant when it was compared to its expanded text, but nonetheless, the above holds true.

I can refer to myself as slightly autistic or borderline autistic. I have thought for the past few years to make it all autism. Now they are finally doing it. I didn't know I was on the spectrum until I was 15. My parents never told me AS was a form of autism.

As far as i know,and i tend to have correct information on this matter,the DSM is currently in it's fourth edition,under which Asperger's Syndrome is categorized under the Autism Spectrum Disorder which is under Pervasive Developmental Disorders.How is it out of the DSM?