If AS was called Mad Chicken disease, seek diagnosis?

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If Asperger's Syndrome was called something like Mad Chicken Disease or something else that sounded very unsavoury, do you think people would be so keen to be diagnosed with it?

This is a serious question after an interesting conversation I had with an ADHD friend on the telephone last night.

Lots of labels to do with mental health and disorders don't sound very nice, like shizoid or manic-depressive. Some of the labels previously and currently used have all kinds of connotations associated with them like being dangerous or beyond help and freak or other horrible things.

Do you think that people prefer saying and would prefer to be diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome because it doesn't sound as awful as some of the other labels?

Possibly true in some cases. But I know that what got me on the path to the term of AS was conceptual features congruent with me and the life I have lived. I didn't care the label.

I will guess that is true for most of us. And I don't care too much about poseurs - if any - among us.

Asperger's = Ass burgers. That sounds nice? I think Asperger's is one of the worst syndrome names out there already.

I pronounce it aspurjers, so it doesn't sound so bad to me.

I agree that the ASS-Burgers pronunciation certainly doesn't make it sound chic or glamorous. Ted Danson's sitcom Becker had a field day with it in more than one episode, which was actually rather insulting, since they never once identified what it was, just ridiculed the name.

In fact, it's a pet peeve of mine that so many use the spelling Asperger's Syndrome, instead of dropping the unnecessary apostrophe S, and just going with Asperger Syndrome. I think the extra S elongates the overall pronunciation, making the ASS-Burgers sound almost inevitable. If you drop it, it shortens the aspirants so the P sounds more clearly. ASPerger Syndrome.

The meaning remains the same either way.

If AS was called Mad Chicken Disease, I would have been diagnosed anyway as it wasn't me who initially seeked a diagnosis for myself.

I haven't heard anyone in NZ use the ASSburgers "joke", so the name isn't such a bother for me.

I pronounce it the same.

The first time I’d heard it was when my psychologist mentioned it to me. I had a mental double-take - for a moment I thought I was listening to a bathroom humorist. “Asperjers” sounds less bad so that's what I use when discussing it with her. That word is still not ideal though.

Thankfully, there's no need to say these words in public or amongst people who aren't already familiar with what they mean.

Last edited by Flismflop on 21 Apr 2008, 9:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Really. It is pretty bad.

And the worst part is that people act like they are so witty/creative when they use that joke. More than once people have made that joke around me when when they are talking about anyone who is mentally ret*d (they don't know I have it).
Do they feel cultured or intelligent about knowing the name of such a funny sounding diagnosis? Are they trying to diagnosis 'name-drop'?
I roll my eyes at their ignorance.

When I hear Asperjers I think I myself would be tempted to make the joke Ass Purgers. I guess I have a dirty mind but I doubt I'm the only one who would make that connection.

Yuk! A little bit funny though.

I think I would have been more careful about telling my friends if the name sounded really, really bad. Its hard to say in retrospect.

Are you kidding? It'd be great saying "I suffer from MC" and "I am an MC!".

Get it?

You can all kiss my ASSperger's. I'll wait.

So you're a Master of Ceremonies who suffers from ...

male cruelty? Male charm? Ming's Crotch?

Is it ignorance or a sense of humour?