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Axelrod
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Joined: 16 Apr 2011
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30 Dec 2011, 12:20 am

I have Asperger's and I'm strongly opposed to the DSM-V proposal to eliminate Asperger's as a diagnostic classification and just call it "high-functioning autism." I've never considered myself to be autistic because I have never felt like I could relate to autistic people. I think the adversity I experienced in my life as an Aspie is different from the adversity that Autistics experience. People with Autism are generally more severely affected than Aspies and go through trials that aren't even oclose to what I've been through. Yet, at the same time, the hardships I've endured as an Aspie are just as real to me as those of autistic people are to them. That's why I object to Asperger's being called a "mild form of autism" because it's NOT mild for me. I wish the diagnostic criteria would recognize that Aspies and Autistics each have their own unique tribulations that they work hard to surmount. Another reason I've never felt connected to autistic people is because we function in different ways. A major characteristic that sets Aspies apart from Autistics is that Aspies have strong verbal skills, while some forms of autism can be so severe that some of those affected never learn to speak. Therefore, I don't think it makes sense or does any good to merge us into one category. I'm VERY verbal in the way I function and I don't feel connected to the Autistics who tend to function in a more visual way and see things in pictures. I think there should be two separate spectrums: The Autism Spectrum and the Asperger's Spectrum. Does anyone else understand where I'm coming from?



wogaboo
Snowy Owl
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Joined: 29 Aug 2010
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30 Dec 2011, 12:32 am

I have mixed feelings. On the one hand I like the idea of lumping aspergoids in with autistics because it simplifies things. On the other hand, how can they be the same disorder if autistics have delayed speech and aspergoids are often verbally skilled. It would be like taking a race of African giants and lumping them in the African pygmie category and then calling them high height pygmies. It doesn't seem to make sense.



Ganondox
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Joined: 7 Oct 2011
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30 Dec 2011, 12:35 am

The problem that yes, autistic disorder and Aspergers do include some groups of people that are close to one and not the other, (for example, some cases of NVLD are like AS, and some cases of Fragile X are like AD), but the exact boundary between the two is rather arbitrary, and there is a lot of overlap, as well as a lot of variety on both sides, which is why they figured it would be better to lump everyone into one group instead of two rather arbitrary groups, I'm not sure if I'm making much sense here.


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