Most people on this forum don't have Asperger's Syndrome

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I don't like this thread, but I'd thought I'd point something out. Aspergers Syndrome was not "eliminated", it was assimilated into Autism Spectrum Disorder as far as I know. It exists in essence, it's just under the umbrella of ASD. This could be wrong, I'll let you guys know actually after this upcoming Tuesday when I due to get a reevaluation of my diagnosis.

Experts were not reliably distinguishing between autism and aspergers and yes, folded them together in the US, but this has been very divisive. I think limited resources contributes to that and yes, the "needs support" clause is offensive and disturbing whether about oneself as an adult or about one's child for whom one hopes for a happy independent life. And after all, people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, dyslexia, blindness etc and even ADHD all need support of one kind or another. In fact, we all need support whether we admit it or not.

It seems like a needless jab at vulnerable people that makes some of those (me too) on the spectrum feel bad and we don't deserve that simply because experts think they should discourage people from wanting to be diagnosed.

I wonder sometimes, though, do we have to let this issue be divisive? Maybe there could be a way to use it to emphasize commonalities and work together? Sometimes that happens where we refer to a spectrum.

If autism is a spectrum, then why have a separate category for high functioning people?

Yes, I've noticed that as well.

What would you suggest we instead go by? The ICD? It's the way autism is diagnosed, so does it not make sense to go by it when talking about autism?

...Keep it real . Yo . 'Homes . KnowwhatI'msayin ' ?



uote="DeepHour"]

Yes, I've noticed that as well.[/quote]

In terms of DSM 5 diagnosis, there is no such category. There is one diagnosis of ASD with severity levels. There are three levels: requiring support, requiring substantial support, and requiring very substantial support.

But why do people continue to use the term high functioning?

You might as well ask: if electromagnetism is a spectrum, then why have a separate category for x-rays?

The obvious answer is: because such categorization is sometimes useful.


So many points of confusion and error there, it's hard to know where to begin.


As has been pointed out, it wasn't "eliminated" but rather merged into the Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis along with several other deprecated diagnoses like PDD-NOS and Autistic Disorder.


An ASD diagnosis indicates nothing about intellectual impairment. Stigma around autistic behavior is not generally about intellectual capacity but rather unexpected and socially unacceptable or undesirable behavior or difference.

But in some cases, the support that some autistic people will require consists of tolerance for their differences and perhaps slight modifications to school or work situations to allow them to function at their best. The need for support and for acceptance of differences are not in any way mutually exclusive. In reality, they work best together.

Absolutely untrue. Autism is defined behaviorally. What the DSM 5 ASD diagnosis indicates is that you exhibit behaviors that require support. There is nothing in this to say that any kind of modification to your brain is needed or helpful.

What may actually be helpful is tailored accommodations to afford the autistic individual the opportunity to live and work in ways that make the most of their unique combination of strengths and weaknesses coupled with a societal attitude that encourages greater acceptance of human diversity in a variety of contexts.

Autistic people need to challange conventional autism wisdom at times. Sensory overload was added to the diagnostic criteria in part because Autistic people kept on saying it is an important part of their lives. The idea that autistics have no empathy at all is changing to autistics have an issue with a certain type of empathy is based on autistics challenging the conventional wisdom(I hope the idea currently popular in the community that autistics have no empathy issues does not become conventional wisdom).

well that solves that then.




i did not read any post before i posted mine. i looked at the first sentence of the OP, and i thought "nup" and scrolled to the reply button and posted. even if there was anything of substance in the OP, i will not agonize over never knowing. i do not really have time to read stuff that is not a response to me or a relative extension of what i say.



it is all well then. it was interesting to read the analysis that you and the starkid person discussed about what i posted. i thought "whatever....why do they care?", but the starkid person was correct in his or her reasoning that i was not influenced by the contents of the OP's post.


they are not of interest to anyone i am sure. they are associated with 3 dimensional fractals and morphological fractals, and their similarity to possible traffic flow dynamics in a perfectly complicated system of transactions.
it is not possible for me to verbalize or even communicate them in detail. sorry.

The fact that the OP has not logged on in over five years (since Jan 04, 2010, at 1:25 am), seems to imply that even he has lost interest in discussing this topic.

The horse is dead. Let's bury it.

The fact it changed does show that the manual is receptive to advances in research though, does it not?

This actually sounds very interesting. I hope this line of thinking is fruitful for you.

I am as frustrated as you when it comes to people becoming armchair psychologists and diagnosing themselves and others without proper training

Do you mean, "Poseurs"?

According to Merriam-Webster ...

poseur (n): a person who pretends to be what he or she is not; an affected or insincere person

it is not important when the topic was started. there are questions asked by people who have been dead for thousands of years that are still interesting to ponder. ideas do not die with who had them if they can stand on their own. it is equally unimportant to consider the origin of an idea that is worth contemplating.

In that case, move over. There may still be a spot or two on this horse that have escaped a good beating.