Do you prefer the term Autism or Aspergers

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Do you prefer the term Autism or Aspergers and why? When telling people your diagnoses, do you tell them you have Autism or Aspergers?

For those for whom the descriptor is accurate, I prefer Asperger's Syndrome because Hans Asperger was the first researcher to recognize the array of characteristics that make up the syndrome. And, because "[i]n a society governed by the Nazi eugenics policy of sterilizing and killing social deviants and the mentally handicapped, Asperger's paper ["'Autistic psychopathy' in childhood"] passionately defended the value of autistic individuals, writing "We are convinced, then, that autistic people have their place in the organism of the social community. They fulfil their role well, perhaps better than anyone else could, and we are talking of people who as children had the greatest difficulties and caused untold worries to their care-givers" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_o ... sychopathy . He certainly didn't do all that just to get relegated to the margins of neurological history.

I use the descriptor for myself, though I am equally willing to use phrases similar to "having ASDs."

I would state that I'm on the autistic spectrum, and that I have many aspects of Asperger's.

For high-functioning autism (like my son's) I prefer the term Asperger's, because sometimes when I describe him as high-functioning I feel:
a) that I'm bragging, or implying he's "better" in some way than others on the spectrum
b) that people will dismiss his autism altogether as being an insignificant issue, which could result in unsafe situations and unreasonable expectations.

I prefer Aspergers

Why? Because Autism sounds more severe than Aspergers. When a lot of people think of autism, they think of some special kid who flaps his hands around and isn't very social. If I tell them I have autism, they will probably think that of me. I'm not going to tell anyone what I have anyways but if I ever do, I tell them I have Aspergers, not autism.

I like autism spectrum disorder.

I think it sort of depends on who I'm talking with. Different people have different perceptions of what each term means, and I get uncomfortable about being misunderstood. With my wife I use Aspie, just because it feels more casual and I like the way it sounds, and she understands what I mean regardless of what term I use.

Online, usually in autism/Asperger's forums, I tend to use autistic. I don't have a specific reason why, it just feels more natural in that context. Plus, my official diagnosis is ASD, so using Asperger's feels a little weird in a setting where people are talking about diagnosis a lot.

With most other people, I probably say "on the autism spectrum" or something like that. I think a lot of people have poorly understood stereotypes about what Asperger's and Autism really mean, so putting the word spectrum in there feels necessary to have a constructive conversation.

I prefer autism because I don't have Asperger Syndrome, nor do I fit the criteria for it either. I was diagnosed with an autistic disorder at the age of twelve. I had language delays as a child as well, which I heard aren't always common for people with Asperger Syndrome.

I use autism because I am more severe than Asperger's, which was stated by neurologist (he puts "autism" on my medical letters anyway).

According to DSM IV, in order to have Asperger's, you have to have had NO SIGNIFICANT LANGUAGE DELAY.

This is something I disagree with. I think it's possible for somebody to be essentially "Aspergian" even in the presence of a language delay.

I see myself as having many Aspergian traits. I had a severe language delay (didn't start speaking until age 5 1/2).

When I first heard about Asperger's 20-25 years ago, I thought: "Hey, this is me!" When I read about Nonverbal Learning Disability a couple of years ago, it rang a bell as well.

I find it best to say that I'm on the autistic spectrum.

Hm. Interesting idea. So, do you believe that an individual with AS who had significant speech delay had that delay for other reasons unrelated to the AS? Makes sense. We see Wrong Planetians all the time saying that they have more than just one ASD or characteristic. Why wouldn't speech delay be something that the individual could have apart from AS?

I think, from a personal standpoint, that my language delay was related to the autism.

I believe I'm Aspergian, essentially, because I tend to do much better on verbal tasks than on tasks requiring excellent visual-spatial skills.

There are some people who believe:

HFA=relative strength visually-spatially
Asperger's=relative strength verbally; evident weakness visually-spatially

Cool! I hadn't known that before.

I prefer the term Asperger's, but since it is no longer a diagnostic category, I will say Asperger's/ HFA. Unfortunately most people don't get high functioning autism, so I generally just do what I need to do to blend in to the "normals'" world. If I don't need to explain why I am the way I am, that just makes things easier for me to navigate- until I need to drop off the planet for a day or two here and there to preserve my sanity, that is.

When I tried to explain the fact that I'm Asperger's/ HFA to my mother all she could say is, "I know you're not ret*d. You have to be ret*d to be autistic." One of the many things my parents did with me when I was a child- because they knew I wasn't "normal," but didn't know how or why I was so different- was to have me evaluated by every psychologist or educator they could convince to do it. At age 6 I was tested as having an IQ of 157 and considered to have reading ability comparable to a college freshman. But I had no idea how to interact with my peers, and (unknowingly) intimidated many adults. I didn't know I was HFA until I was 35 years old, although my parents and various teachers, psychologists, etc. identified and tried to work with some of the pieces of HFA, such as social ineptitude, gross motor deficits, and anxiety and depression.

After I was diagnosed and began to learn more about ASDs myself, I told Mom that she needed to get some fresh information on autism and hyperlexia. Now I think she gets it that people on the spectrum can have below average, average or even above average IQ's. Many NTs will make the mistake of thinking that just because a person who is HFA has a high IQ or who can "act normal" that somehow that makes them "normal." Believe me, it doesn't. A high IQ just gives one the capacity to get in more trouble. It makes you less "normal," although you can use your intellect to compensate for the things you know are not really connected, and you can compensate for the skills you don't have. Age and time and experience are great allies in this experience. I'm a lot more comfortable in my own skin at age 45 than I was 10 years ago or 20 years ago.

I'm hyperlexic, so I have a different experience with language than most. I am adept with written language, but not so much with conversational skills. I'd much rather text than talk.

I like to think of my wiring as an alternative road map. I can usually get to the same places as NTs but I have to take different paths. I can take the freeway to a lot of places most people can only get to through the back roads- but I have to take the back roads to a lot of places that others can access from the freeway. Over the years I've learned to make it work.

I would use "autism" because most people are probably more familiar with it although most of them may have a wrong idea about it. So I may qualify it with "high-functioning". But I don't think I would tell anyone about my autism any way.

None of the above. I prefer the term 'Person'.