Aspies, autistic or not?

Post Reply New Topic

fellow aspies, if you had a choice, would you take Aspergers off the autism spectrum and declare it as it's own disability or would you prefer to be known as autistic instead?
this idea's been in my head for a while now, so give it a strong think. I know AS is on the spectrum but still.
me personally, i'd rather have none. but when It comes down to it i'd rather be known as an aspie only, even if it does sound really stupid in my accent. the word autism has too much of a stigma to me tbh

I have no objection to being "autistic."

I am an aspie, or a high- functioning autistic, so I have no problems with the "autistic" label.

do you carry a laminated official diagnosis on a chain?
How you introduce yourself is entirely up to you?

I say Autism or Autistic to describe myself. Every now and then I will say Aspie because it's easier to pronounce, sometimes I still say Aspergian or Asperger's but ever since the DSM removed Asperger's I actually prefer to be thought of as just Autistic. Sometimes I will use HFA as well even though I don't like functioning labels. I just say that because sometimes it's easier than having to explain details to people. I have no problem being associated as similar with anyone on the Spectrum no matter what part of the Spectrum it is. I am an Autistic person and whatever "stigma" other people might put on that, so be it. I did not create the stigma nor do I condone it and I do not carry those ideas in my own head. People will have stigmas against whomever. I am a person of color and there is plenty of stigma against that but that has nothing to do with me. I don't deny my color or cultural background because other people might be bothered by it or not like it. So I don't need to do that about being Autistic either. The stigma is their issue and problem not mine.

I use autistic, but I feel a bit guilty sometimes because many "classic" autistic people have many more functional issues than I myself have. I'm not ashamed to be in a group with them at all, and view them as "cousins" to my own issues. It's a shame so many higher functioning people have an issue with being lumped together with low functioning peoples. I don't see many low functioning people on the site, there seemed like there were a lot more here about a year ago and they've all disappeared and I'm afraid it's because a group of the higher functioning peoples have made them feel unwelcome.

I think these functioning labels need to be a thing of the past. I agree with what Amythest says in her youtube video on functioning labels. They do more harm than good. We should just describe ourselves as, "I am Skibum. I am an Autistic person (or person with Autism for those who prefer that) and these are my personal areas of strength and these are my personal areas where I am challenged." That would force people to get to know us as individuals instead of clumping us into groups that they think they can define without getting to know us.

And now for the real world conversation:
"I am Skibum. I am an autistic person and these are..."
"You can stop there, I don't care. What can you do for me, nothing? Then get the f*ck out."

this isn't about me, it's more about other people's view on the matter because i'm curious enough to know.

IMHO Aspergers is a sub-category of autism. Another words call me "Aspie-Autistic (Aspie-Autistic1957 is my youtube handle), call me Aspie or call me me autistic.

For children "autism" is the best label even if they are more "Aspie". Autism opens up a lot more services that they might need in school when younger but not when they're older.

What location and severity.

"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet".

You are what you are.

Since the only real difference between an Aspie and a person dealing with high-functioning classic autism is the fact Aspie's don't have a history of late language or language loss... That'd make Asperger's another form of autism. There are some reports I've heard of (tho' all the web pages seem to have just reprinted the same article) that there's a different type of brain difference in Aspie's than in classic Autistics, still... If the symptoms are the same...

Again, you are what you are. If you insist on dropping the "Autistic" identification and insist on only being called an "Aspie", people might want to know what that means. If they do research, they're just going to find out Aspies are Autistics who simply didn't have the language development problems most Autistics do.

What are you going to claim next? That your Aspie brain difference means you're not "human" but should be called something else?

You're human, and you have Autism. Get over it.

"Thank you for inviting me over. Can I lay my coat somewhere?"

"On the furniture."

"Uhhh... Which piece of furniture?"

"I'm sorry, I don't like labels. You'll have to make due without specifics."

Things have names. If you're autistic, get it into your head that you need to identify yourself that way. What will you want next, to have blind people not let others know they're blind? Wait until a friend asks them 'Will you drive me to the store?' before they say something, and even then only say "No", without explaining why?

Like I said above, you're autistic. Get used to the idea, and to the fact there are times people will need to know.

It was functioning labels for autism she was objecting to not all labels.

Can't have one without the other. Things have names. This is reality. You need to call things SOMETHING. Otherwise there's no communication or clarity.