Does anyone still use the word asperger/aspie?

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Lots of people I know IRL connected to Autism used the word ASD, as in "I have an ASD", "ASD people" "I'm ASD" etc. I know a few special needs teahcers and they say that most people are phazing out the words "aspie" and "autistic" so that it all comes under ASD, and there is less distinction between the two. Do you call yourself ASD or aspie? How come this is not reflected online, is it just in the UK and not in the US?

It's used in the U.S. quite extensively.

Tim

I hate the term aspie. It sounds really cutesy for something thats not. I use AS or aspergers or autistic, because they can be used as verbs (though only to myself or on this site, I don't talk about it with people I know). "I'm autistic" vs. "I'm an aspie". Perhaps its the simple article "an" that does it, combined with the annoyingly cute term that aspie is. It makes it sound like thats what defines me, which it doesn't. What defines me is a person, and everyone, even with AS is different. Its the difference between saying I am something, or saying I have somehting, or that something is a part of me.

I use "aspie" all the time.

I use "too advanced for your poor normal mind to comprehend" or "H. sapiens 2.0"

i'll use the word aspie around aspies but not around NTs. I flinch when someone says autism because normally they have no clue what they are talking about.

I tend to use aspie only occasionally, when I have to explain to someone about Asperger's. But I just stick to the term 'those with AS'. At first I didn't like it, the same with NT, but it's grown on me...!

I use AS when I am talking to NT's and aspie when talking to aspies(and when I am pointing out all the aspie traits of my boyfriend who thinks he is NT)

Acronyms have no soul.

I use aspie the most often--despite the fact that I am barely on the spectrum.

Tim

I work as a special ed teacher, and the most recent literature from the "experts" that's tickled down ot us educators and counselors in the US has decidedly moved away from using the generic "ASD" label, preferring the DSM designations of AS or PDD-NOS. The lit sometimes uses, grudgingly, HFA but within limitations. I cannot tell you how much I applaud this trend. I hope it stays around. Basically they are accepting that AS is indeed very distinct from the rest of the autism spectrum with its own distinct diagnostic criteria, thus it needs terminology that reflects that, even if they won't readily come out and say that. PDD-NOS is actually a much more useful and appropriate term for HFA that is not AS, and likewise makes it clear it's not to be confused with AS.

However, what people with these conditions call themselves is going to be much more subjective. I say specifically that I have AS, not ASD or HFA. I don't like to use the word "aspie" for myself anymore, since that's reflective of a "community" I'm no longer comfortable alligning myself with.

I just say I'm Autistic. I like the sound of it, and it's better then going around saying I have Aspergers. (btw: When I was younger and first heard it, I thought it was pronounced "Ass Burgers" )

I first thought Asperger's was called Efburgeson's!

I use it

Asperger's. There is some idiotic "debate" on whether it should be called "Asperger" instead, without the genitive "s". In Swedish it's called "Aspergers", just like in English but without a genitive apostrophe, since we have no genitive apostrophe in Swedish.

Never have I used the term 'ASD' to refer to myself. And while I am not super-fond of 'Aspie', I do use it to clarify... and to make things easier on myself when trying to get a point across.