Sometimes I wish the Asperger's term had not been coined.

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There's been threads here that basically specifically address Asperger's that I feel like I can't participate in because I have what called here as "other autism spectrum disorder" instead of Asperger's. I know most people hate that the DSM V eliminated the Asperger's term, but personally I never really saw the point in separating "aspies" from "auties" as if the two were completely different from one another.

Last edited by EzraS on 09 Nov 2015, 11:52 am, edited 1 time in total.

It's OK, just refer to yourself as an autistic.

I do but still to me it's like it divided the autism community. Like "everyone with Asperger's stand to the right and everyone with autism stand to the left". What if Hans' last name was Mudd? Would HFA people go around calling themselves "Muddies"?

Last edited by EzraS on 09 Nov 2015, 12:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

All Autistics and particularly you are welcomed here.

I don't know how it is with the current membership, but last year I participated in numourous discussions about the elimination of Aspergers and the sentiment was overwhemingly in favor of the change. That was also true in the blogosphere. Now I rarely see discussion of it so I guess now most people are tired of discussing it, think it is unimportant or irreversible.

Last edited by ASPartOfMe on 09 Nov 2015, 2:38 pm, edited 2 times in total.

It's really pretty trivial I guess. Just something that strikes me once in a while. I'm sure it's already been discussed to death.

Probably coin somehting a little more inventive. Though can you honestly say that's worse than the rather obvious "ass-burger" joke?

And I'd like to point out that AS was, for a very long time, NOT considered to be actual autism or even a real thing at all for various reasons. So I think you should be careful what you wish for on others behalf. And even if there isn't 100% overlap does not mean your perspective isn't valid or valuable. It's not like all aspies have the same experience, either.

Last edited by Wolfram87 on 09 Nov 2015, 12:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Call yourself a spectrumite.

I am actually glad that my diagnosis was after the DSM V change and that my diagnosis is officially Autism Spectrum Disorder/HFA and not Asperger's. I did not have a problem with Asperger's but I was not completely comfortable with the division and what many people implied or read into with the division. I don't mind the HFA just because they have to address certain specifics but I prefer to just be Autistic. And personally Ezra, I would stand right next to you any day of the week and twice on Sunday. I am honored to stand next to you. I like and respect you very much as a person no matter what your specific challenges are.

The term and distinction have always confused me. There are some people who fit perfectly as having autism or Aspergers but an awful lot of us don't.

They are labels and an never fully define a human being though. Just labels.

Me neither. It's why I like this and keep linking it on here:

http://www.tonyattwood.com.au/index.php ... ing-autism

TL;DR: "research and clinical experience would suggest that there is no clear evidence that they are different disorders"

I'd just take "Asperger's" on WP to have the same meaning as ASD and I'd doubt anyone would have a problem with you participating in the threads.

I'm comfortable with the change in diagnoses in DSM V, but at the same time, I think the Asperger designation remains a good shorthand for those who are average to above average IQ, verbal, sometimes hyperlexic, love to talk about their special interest, and yet who demonstrate social difficulties. We just have to remember that Asperger's is just one variant of autism spectrum disorder.

The last therapist team we saw for my daughter preferred some sort of distinction because Aspies tend to have high verbal skills & intelligence, while many assessors still seem to think that to qualify for a diagnosis of being autistic, a child must have verbal difficulties & mental disabilities. They tend to forget that Aspies often learn to cover those deficiencies as best they can, but are still hindered in social interactions and other challenges (including the stress & exhaustion of trying to continuously, consciously compensate).

Yes to this. It's pretty scary that some assessors still think like that. They really need to learn that what they think can be so far from the truth. Some people on the higher functioning end or Asperger's end of the spectrum, like myself, can struggle so much more than they could ever imagine and someone like Ezra is amazingly intelligent and intellectually capable, much more so than I could have ever been at 15.

I find that too. I always feel a little weird when the op refers to aspies or aspergers, as I'm not diagnosed with that. Though I just replace it with autistic or autism and post anyway, even though it feels a tad strange.

Spectrumite is probably the best term.

Ezra should never feel left out--he has one aspect of the Spectrum. Aspies should never feel left out--they have another aspect of the Spectrum.

It's all one Autistic Spectrum.

Full on rant

They should have never used functioning labels instead should have used mild, moderate, severe etc, and if they were going to use functioning labels they should have made it literally about ability to function in society instead of intelligence levels, if they were going to divide by intellengence levels that it would have been better to label it that way, it if they were going to honor Hans Asperger and it was damm right thing to do for his heroic role in saving autistics and discovering the spectrum they should have never, never, never made it a seperate diagnosis from autism since that is what he called it after all. Once they made the diagnoses that helped a lot of people by getting milder/high functioning people diagnosed, helping thier self confidence and yes in some cases by people forming an identity with the label (And I do not care how many people are pissed off about that because it helped people) they should have fixed the very real flaws instead of yanking it away from people in part because some Aspies became Supremacists in part because they made Aspergers a seperate diagnosis and without evidence assumed there was massive over diagnoses which if it did occur, occured because of the language they used.

In short they have created mass confusion and have hurt a lot of people.