Where did the term Aspie come from?

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I've been using "autistic" to describe myself since being told of my diagnosis in the mid-80s; given the likely changes upcoming in the DSM-V, I suspect many of you may find yourselves doing the same thing. But please--"autistic" not "autie" (a parent-driven label if ever there was one).

Personally, I do not understand the term "Aspie". Is there more to it than just a "pet-name" for people with what we know as Asperger's Syndrome (which is completely wrong, as Asperger never was diagnosed with said "syndrome")? What about the picture of a snake and a comment about "Aspies"? It is quite confusing. Maybe this shoud be sticky (if it isn't already so)?

Likewise, there is Barnard's Star and E.E. Barnard was never there, never had title of ownership to it, etc.

Dr Hans Asperger documented the symptomology to categorize this particular "syndrome", so his name is attached to it. In the same way Down's Syndrome was named after Dr John Down - who also was not afflicted with Down's Syndrome.

This is in contrast to Lou Gehrig's Disease - which Lou Gehrig actually had.

My feelings precisely.

However, others do not always see it as so simply black-and-white. It disturbs me deeply that so many (and especially bureaucratic paper pushers) seem to have a tendency to classify anything treated as a Mental Health issue as a Mental ILLNESS.

I am not ill. I did not catch AS. I AM Aspergian by nature.


And since Hans himself was never diagnosed with AS, it is not Asperger's Syndrome (possesive), but Asperger / Syndrome (designation).

It's a fun word, it's all happy and fun and stuff . Better than saying the full title anyway, I hardly ever use the full title because it makes me feel all weird and unconfortable, even to type.
I wonder how many people in austria/germany actually have the second name "asperger", they must get alot of stick for it. LOL I would not want that second name

Actually, Willard, the possessive does apply - since Asperger was the first one to describe the symptoms of the syndrome, it gets named after him as if he had invented it. Similar reasoning applies to Down's Syndrome, Barnard's Star, Xeno's Paradox (not a pradox regarding Xeno, but rather regarding a mathematical concept, which paradox existed before Xeno - he was just the first recorded as pointing it out), et al.

So how come diabetes isn't named after a person who described it?
How come cerebral Palsy isn't named after someone who described it?
How come cancer isn't named after anyone who described types of it?
How come Schizophrenia isn't named after a person who described it? Was his name Schizophrenia?
Why is ADHD called ADHD instead of named after someone who described it?
Why are any personality disorders not named after someone who described it?

Well, this has been discussed on WP a lot, and people have different takes on it. I personally choose not to call myself an aspie, but here on WP I do sometimes refer to the fact that I suspect I'm on the spectrum, or that I have certain traits and experiences that are consistent with AS. So those words and phrases come up, even if I'm not flat out saying, "I am an aspie" or "I have asperger's." Perhaps, "half-aspie" would be good, but it's kind of silly.

Why do we drive in a parkway, but park in a driveway? Why are they called "apartments" when they're all stuck together like that?

Cancer is named what it is because in its advanced, untreated stages, a victim can come to resemble a crab. The first descriptions of diabetes come from ancient Greece and India, and I suppose the folks who wrote those up just didn't want to be associated with it. Schizophrenia, as a diagnosis, has been kicking around for almost as long as there have been psychiatrists; originally, disorders were named in Latin and Greek so as to sound more like the respectable physicians, and as a sort of "appeal to authority" argument - it sounds better if it sounds like something an ancient authority might have said. (That's also why autism is called what it is, even though the name, with its implication of extreme self-involvement, would apply better to catatonia.) ADHD is still evolving in name - once it was "hyperactivity", and was presumed to be due to poor parenting; then it was "attention deficit disorder"; then "hyperactive" was reinserted, once it was realized that someone could have ADD without being hyper at all...

Mostly, it's because language as a concept is not always rational in its treatment of its roots. However, when the discoverer's name is appended, it takes the possessive form (Hudson's Bay, for instance, not Hudson Bay).

Potayto potahto, that rule doesn't always apply. At least half of the examples of those types of possessives I see in print as often as not without the apostrophe Ess - (in fact, I've never seen or heard Hudson Bay said or spelled with an apostrophe Ess) it seems to be matter of preference more than a rule of standard English. Personally, I feel the extra Ess sound in AS just adds to the Ass Burgers pronunciation and is therefore not only unnecessary but mildly offensive.

As we are sliding towards the language topic, I would like to mention there are many differences between English (British), English (USA), English (Canada), and English (Australia).

Slightly earlier - 97-98 - I was on Martijn dekker's INLV list at the time - I remember Liane and all of us discussing it. I also remember contributing a borrow from James Brown - "Say it loud, I'm Aspie and proud".

Conditions named after people is a long standing western tradition.

List Of Eponymously Named Diseases