How to save Asperger's in DSM-V

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do you mind if i ask what it is?

With all of the fuss, I would think that people should be looking at the criteria themselves rather than the removal of a simple name.

I mean, I see a lot of people on the 'net who proclaim they have AS say they have appropriate peers relations and spouses.... I don't, so it doesn't affect me, but how are these people prior going to take it now that they don't have an ASD anymore?

In Israel it is used, at least by some - as a guideline, not as a bible, from what I see.
Many distinctions that the DSM makes aren't really relevant.

When people ask me for my mood-disorder-diagnosis, well, I just don't have any - I had depression with OCD - got pills for OCD - cured depression. Does it really matter if it was dysthimia or major depression, or both at different times? Later I got benzo's, second option was Lithium but preferred trying benzo's, because I had hypomanic situations, sometimes irritating. So I don't fit the Bipolar II definition (no major depression/dysthimia distinction, and wasn't seen hypomanic before pills, as no doctor saw me) - yet I experienced both conditions, and am treated accordingly. What do I need an official diagnosis for?

AS can be omitted, because if someone is "treated" for AS alone, we're going backwards here. We're ignoring the similarities of AS people and "classic" autists. Our "problems" are autistic traits. More than one of them. So we're autistic, as I understand it. Of course it should be treated differently - any individual should be treated differently. Not only on the autistic spectrum. But if we find a connection that's only between those spectrum disorders, and we want to study and research autism - we can't drop AS people out. I'm not even sure it's about a milder autism, it perhaps is the same autism, just with other conditions.

The question I have, is how many of these people would have been diagnosed Asperger Disorder under DSM-IV in the first place? According to DSM-IV they never had an ASD then anyway so what is the difference? Unfortunately Asperger Syndrome has come to mean a lot of different things to different people. It was very usefull to increase our understanding of ASD by challenging our understanding of where the limits lie but what we need right now is a more consistent single category which can be used to guide future research.

Good question. They say that if you were diagnosed with either AD, AS, CDD or PDD-NOS with the DSM-IV-TR, you'll be able to be diagnosed with the proposed DSM-V.

I think some professionals used AS as a basket for some individuals who display symptoms of an ASD to a subclinical level, as they had nowhere else to go in regards to labeling these people who sought out help in some way or their children were diagnosed and they saw symptoms in themselves and they wanted a label for some reason.

The unseen Autism, wears a diaper, sits, must have all services.

Group Home Autism, needs constant reminders to wear clothes, bathe, brush teeth, eat.

Mild Autism, presents traits, can interact with the world to some degree.

Mild ranges from almost group home material, to almost does not meet DSM criteria.

As improvment is common with ageing, educational support of the mild, economic support where needed, can lead to no longer meeting DSM criteria. While they do show a developmental delay, they do progress and often find a place in the world.

End, DSM, State Funded Social Services.

Autistic Psychopathy, as documented by Hans Asperger, named after him some fifteen years later.

Some normal children, lived at home, went to school, showed a strong focus to a narrow subject, reaching a university level of knowledge, his "Little Professors."

In other subjects they were in the normal range, but their social development lagged.

Asperger correctly said they had autistic traits.

None of his subjects would seem to meet current DSM criteria, as they finished school and went on to lead normal lives.

Asperger made the connection between gifted, and gifted in a narrow range with loss of other functions, social skills.

All gifted students tend to focus on a narrow subject, a Doctorate, Asperger's types just do it sooner.

Gifted students do show some autistic traits, at a sub clinical level.

What Asperger documented, Autism, can be a total disabling condition, yet it is seen in a range, from a total disability, to being a mild trait most common among gifted people.

This insight opened the field to study. Same factors found in disabling autism and in highly gifted people.

To put it on a working scale, it is rare.

1 in 10,000 will need total lifetime care.

1 in 1,000 will need to live in a supported system.

1 in 100 will need educational and economic support.

1 in 10 are just Geeks, Nerds, with comic books and Lego. Broader Autism Phenotype.

1 in 1 think they are in the top 25% of all people.