When AS merges with HFA, will you still say Aspie?

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I've never used "Aspie" and I never will. I say "a person with Asperger's Syndrome" or "a person with autism" or even "an autistic person," but never "Aspie" or "autie." I think both sound ridiculous.

Well, I guess if you say "I have autism" in the future, people will treat it more recognizably. Though, some people might treat you "Like...you...do...not...understand...anything...so...they...talk...to...you...like...this." However, I think I'll still call myself an Aspie (although I don't actually call myself an Aspie, I say "I have Aspergers.") after it merges, because it's the same with any other disorder/disease, whatever. Example: cancer is a broad category, but there are multiple types of cancer. Same applies with autism... Aspergers is on the autism spectrum. If someone says they had cancer, you'll likely hear someone ask them what type (leukemia, hodgkin's, non-hodgkins, melanoma, etc.). Just because we're gonna be merged with the autism label doesn't mean we can't specify what TYPE of autism we have, just like with anything else.

It really depends what you want to say.

If you want to describe your level of autism then you either have to say that you're autistic - and give a rating, or you use a "shortcut" word like aspie.

LOL I can just imagine it. "Hi my name's Bob and I'm a huffah"

Oh and I was answering the question in the title, not in the poll. The poll asks whether I call myself an aspie, and I never would because that isn't the particular label I was given. I thought it was about whether we used the word at all on anyone.

I still say I have ADD even though it's officially merged with ADHD now. On the other hand, I say Bipolar instead of manic-depressive.

Who knows...

I never liked "Asperger's Syndrome" to begin with. It sounds kind of pretentious.

Agreed. I try to not use the term. It's too cutesy - it makes me imagine a furry animal with large eyes. Which I think I should be getting as an image result when I punch it into Google Images. But no... I am only getting Asperger's Syndrome, faces of random people, and Aspie-quiz graphs.

Well, I don't tend to call myself Aspie anyway. Sometimes I say I have Asperger Syndrome, and other times I say I'm on the autistic spectrum. It depends who I'm talking to and what they understand of the autistic spectrum, and I imagine this will always be the case. If the label is dropped (I'm assuming it's still an 'if' and not definite yet) I imagine lots of people will still use the term 'Asperger Syndrome', so I'd use it with them. I tend to take my lead from the language that others use - even how they pronounce 'Asperger'! - because I think it aids communication if you are using the same language.

MathGirl, I don't see how you can feel that way about Aspie (maybe Autie), given the hissing S sound and the unvoiced P. The A is a really harsh sound, followed by a hissing S, then a sound that requires he same mouth movements you migh make out of disgust. The IE then vaguely resembles the annoying sounds to which one of us might be sensitive. Having a short, ugly word whose ending suggests a diminutive gives me an impression of a skinny warrior woman.

Which I don't mind in the least. Though of course, Aspie is red and Autie is pinkish, so they're annoying on that basis.

I use the term Aspie. I am not "a person with Asperger's;" I am an Aspie. It's the only noun that I can think of that affirms that this is an essential part of me. I don't want people putting the word "person" first and making it out to be that I'm a person and Asperger's is just some random component that fits in like a puzzle piece. No. It's not some part of me that could be removed without affecting other parts. It's a way of being, a descriptor for a bunch of different parts that take the place of parts NTs have that serve the same function, sometimes in similar ways.

We need to find another good word for it if Aspie goes away. We need a word for ourselves. I don't like the word Autie; it's hard to say and sounds awkward. And I can't say "autistic," and I very definitely absolutely cannot describe myself as a "person with autism."

Actually, if the proposed changes to the DSM are instituted, I won't be a person with autism, an autistic, a person with HFA or any of those things. I won't be on the spectrum anymore if these criteria go through. I haven't exactly deliberated at length, but I think I would then have ADHD, OCD and social anxiety. And after a while, I'd probably become depressed as well.

Since Aspie was never a nickname for those diagnoses, I guess I wouldn't use it.

I would definitely feel too self-conscious to presume to claim a diagnosis from the DSM-V, especially one I don't think I would fit the criteria for, but I might call myself an Aspie to those people who would know what it meant. It would be sad.

Yes.

"Absent minded", "ASD", "crazy", "alien", who cares. When you tell someone "asperger's", they tend to giggle a little bit because it sounds like two words put together. I'd rather not bring it up, just let people come to their own conclusions.

As long as the general consensus states that I have a different state of mind, I'm good.

I absolutely loathe the word "Aspie" and it fills me with an indescribable rage whenever I see or hear it.

I'm just going to stick with "ASD".

I'll simply call myself unorthodox yes, that's the main technique for, I've always done things of a untraditional manner..Lastly, labels are on products not people..

While I think there may indeed be a difference, or really, even, more differences than that, I think the current diagnostic criteria don't get at those differences, and that if there is a difference associated with the labels (as opposed to differences not covered by label differences), it's because of how they are subjectively used, rather than the actual diagnostic criteria.

So, while I think there's a difference, at the same time, I think that, as far as the diagnostic criteria go, there isn't a real difference, and so it's correct to merge them. And then, continue researching (not just genetically) about the differences within the spectrum.

Except you can't take the milk away and get just egg. Though I suppose that's not really relevant. True, though.

But, it's not the same as eggs and milk. Eggs are things. When you talk of merging them, you are talking about merging physical substances. Something real. Not the idea "egg" and "milk", but the things. And we now have an egg/milk mixture.

When we talk about Asperger's and Autism merging, we are talking about two labels merging. It's more like, if instead of saying Macintoshes, and Jonathans, and Golden Delicious, etc, we are just going to call them all apples. Except that, with autism, the new category has the same name as one of the old, narrower, categories.

Except, with the apple categories, we know the differences between varieties is real. With Autism and Asperger's, the reason for merging them is because there seems to be no definitive distinction between the two.