Can we drop the D?

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Of course not. Being eccentric is more accepted there, it's less accepted in the states so autism is more diagnosed here. I now understand why some autistic people say it's not a disorder.

I think the D should have been dropped years ago. If not, than Disorder should be changed to Difference.

Only the DSM refers it as a Disorder, being US based, Insurance companies wouldn't give cover unless worded this way, hence it is different wording to the ICD that is mainly adopted in Europe or depending on what the psychiatrist decides to follow. But again will likely change again on their next change and subsequent changes!

Well if it wasn't classified as a disorder, I wouldn't get any financial help for the aspergers interfering with my ability to work. Also whilst sometimes I even get to wondering if it really should be considered such or not, and then I experience parts of it that convince me it certainly is a disorder. Like when I am at the grocery store/gas station and I end up standing there like an idiot for 10 minutes trying to decide which cold drink to get because my brains decision maker is broken or something.

A similar situation may sometimes exist in some European countries, including the UK, because a diagnosis usually entitles you to government-funded support of some kind. But from what I've seen there's no hard and fast rule, and psychologists tend to have more leeway over the use of the word 'condition' or 'disorder'. Quite a lot still diagnose Asperger's Syndrome, which isn't in DSM-V.

It is a D as in disadvantage and disability. A lot of my so called disabilities are really the disadvantages of bieng a small minority. That said nobody can convince me that my Executive dysfunctions would not be disabling in any society, anytime.

Condition is an accurate description I use a lot.

Yeah, I get hung up on DSM wording here and personally, have no problems with the word disorder. To me, disorder is a thing that causes significant impairment, distress, limits on what you can or cannot do... and it can't be a response to something like a divorce or death or some single event... rather the disorder/condition/whatever is something that is there regardless of life being cooperative or not so much.

I'm not a person who views being autistic as the end of the world or anything. Personally, I would not take a 'cure' if one existed. I am who I am and I am okay with me. I get a little crabby when my local grocery store does that whole 'raise money to cure autism'... the cashiers finally stopped asking me to donate a dollar because they got sick of me telling them I don't want their damn cure. Heh. I also understand that not everyone feels the same way. To each there own, you know.

That said, some days I really do feel this is a disorder for me. I have days where I cannot cope due to sensory overloads, for example. The things I deal with go way beyond issues with social interactions... if that was the only thing I had to deal with, life would be cake for me. I don't give a damn about social impairments most of the time. I do care about not being able to function because I can't stop hitting metaphorical glass walls in my head. I am a person who has been carried out of stores before because the sheer volume of chaos surrounding me made me hole up into myself and shutdown. Things like that are problems to me. Lucky for me, I am afforded the luxury of not having to live in constant chaos. I have the room to hole up in my house most days and shun the outside world for months at a time if that is what I need to go to get and keep myself internally okay. Times like that though... that is when it feels like a disorder to me.

I dunno. At the end of the day, it does not matter to me what word is used... condition, disorder, difference (personally my favorite one tossed out in this thread) it still impacts me the same whatever it's called.

I'm personally not downplaying the impact that autism can have on people in the slightest. I know from personal experience how difficult it can be to live with it. All I'm personally saying is that the terms disability and disorder are loaded with negative and judgemental associations, whereas the word condition, which fits just as well, isn't.

yes i think certainly in part your are correct.. When looking at the psychology surrounding the wording used, i think a majority of the populous would view the term 'Disorder' in a negative term, Also often with many aspies, is not the 'Aspergers; itself but its the co-morbids that come in association due to their environment, Syndrome is used often, i know we have had similar discussions in the past and they will keep coming back but i still think its important to discuss these things in an ongoing fashion to get the thoughts from all different areas of the spectrum.... Even the term 'Difference' has a better positive vibe to that of 'Disorder', but then again, what seems correct in my mind and ears on said matter wont be agreed with by everyone. We all have our own experiences and differences of being on the spectrum and as much as we are learning about 'The outside world' we are also learning from each other here... just wished more 'presessionals' that write up these DX's would spend more time visiting sites such as this to get a more honest and direct view of those on the spectrum, they would soon learn that many of the theories are incorrect... As they say, to find the truth of something then you should go to the source!' Why is it one of the spectrums that they don't seem to want to listen to? or are they and i just don't see it?

I really agree with most of this. Are you sure you have not been obsessing over my posts

I put out this theory on all sorts of comment sections but are usually ignored and when I am not disagreed with. The only environmental factor people want to consider is toxins.

Hi I'm Jay
I'm still trying to figure out what this is, and if I can be labeled that way ( no matter what letter is used) lol

I would think they could learn a lot from this sight or sure. I am.

Again i agree.. The wording for me doesnt matter at all, its just a damn relief that there is something that explains what i deal with daily... however words have a huge impact and that impact on the public is part of the issue to get the correct message across in a more positive and understanding manner in an informative way ... and the term 'Disorder' , isn't aiding that cause... Thats the angle im viewing it from

I am sure you were just joking when you said if I am sure if I have not been obsessing about your posts. No my perspective changed when I read Back to Normal and The Difficult Child. But however I still don't understand how someone can struggle and still not have a disorder. From my understanding a diagnoses is made when there is an impairment so how can something not be an impairment if the child is struggling and it's putting a strain on the family and the marriage and also it's alienating the child from their peers and affecting their self esteem? But not all doctors believe in labels, it doesn't mean they don't think conditions such as autism or ADHD exist. They only like to focus on behaviors and try and change it and see what works to get rid of that behavior like maybe they need a different approach, maybe they need the right environment, etc. The author of The Difficult Child does not believe in labels same as the other author of Back to Normal. On his website (the one who wrote The Difficult Child) it said he believes someone can have poor social skills and be eccentric and not have Asperger's. So that means someone with an ASD diagnoses can walk into his office and walk out being told they don't have it if they are really that high functioning. How many times have I seen people here say they were told by a doctor they don't have AS or autism despite having a diagnoses? A lot. But like I say, what would these doctors call it if a person was struggling in society? Sometimes a person needs a diagnoses because you can't force society to do things to suit their needs just like how my mother couldn't force everyone to treat me like to make me feel normal and not make me feel I had something wrong with me. But if a kid mysteriously grows out of their disorder, it means they never had it to begin with or they learned to adapt. Plus adults can pick their own environments and their own peers and groups so it might make their problems disappear, a kid doesn't have that choice. I also believe now someone can have a difficult personality. That is when someone doesn't have anything "wrong" with them but they still struggle in life so some of them might get a diagnoses if it holds them back due to society just like how some difficult children get a diagnoses for the sake of school. Some parents might choose to homeschool than getting their kid medically labeled.

I can understand how a death in the family or financial issues or abuse can make a kid act out so they are mimicking symptoms of other disorders which is why doctors look for this first before they rule it out so they can focus on the behavior now and figure out why the child is having it.

During the 2015 IMFAR conference, it was briefly discussed how the inclusion of the term "disorder" in diagnostic criteria was intentional because of a U.S. law or regulation which required diagnoses to be termed disorders if the diagnosing physician or diagnosed individual wishes to apply for cost reimbursements from their insurance policies (it is worth noting the U.S. President Reagan signed into law amendments which practically changed insurance "companies" into insurance "banks" replete with the ability to earn profits). Many insurance banks, which are based in the United States, also do business in other nations under different names. So, we have seen the U.S. invention of the term "disorders" has now been adopted in the European Union, too.

During the same IMFAR conference, Roy Richard Grinker, Ph.D., argued with Simon Baron-Cohen, Ph.D., somewhat with the idea of substituting the term "condition" instead of "disorder." Baron-Cohen supported the term "condition" while Grinker supported the idea of simply returning to the original diagnosis of Autism. While the audience applauded loudly, the panelists on stage seemed slightly uneasy about the ideas ... probably because they knew of the legal backlash that any terminology changes would provoke.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/blo ... r-disorder

I don't want anybody to lose funding over mere semantics.