No more Aspergers in the DSM V

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I agree that we're at the mercy of the diagnostic professionals, I've met several that probably either completely missed or discounted ASD over the last 10 years and that was using the current criteria. I don't think the DSM is to blame for this, that's a training issue....although, of course, there will always be some doctors who are better than others.

I think this is better solved by advocacy. The more people who understand what ASD involves, the more relevant information will be passed on to the doctor. I realise that not everyone is aware they have issues in the first place or are even capable of putting the pieces together for themselves, but someone, somewhere, must have realised something was up, or they wouldn't be talking to the doctor first place.

I think many of us have had to diagnose ourselves. and then sought out a professional knowledgeable in AS to confirm. So I absolutely agree with you that advocacy is the way we need to go, rather than waiting around for the profession to get its s**t together.

I have been seeing therapists and psychiatrists for 20 years and none have ever suggested AS. I read a book review in 1997 and that was when the penny dropped for me, but even then I tried to find someone who knew something about AS and couldn't. I saw a doctor who specialized in children with autism but he said I couldn't have AS because I don't have a monotone voice. Even as recently as last year, I brought up AS to my then therapist and she told me I was schizotypal, which doesn't fit at all. I had to go see an AS specialist on my own (and pay out of my own pocket) to get any sensible explanations.

At least we have the internet now. But there are probably many out there who know there is something odd about them but don't know where to look fro answers.

I think it is a bad idea to get rid of the aspergers label. It is different enough from autism to warrant its own classification. I have worked around autistics, and the language problems and extreme stimming is very pronounced. The only thing I see approaching this level of disabilities in AS is the social problems. AS individuals are far higher functioning within society than a low functioning autistic ever could be. There are many subtle distinctions involving clinical AS that lead me to conclude that the neurology is slightly different from autism, although I am not a professional in the field. There must be a reason that the psychiatric profession is going to eliminate the term. But I don't see how being lumped in with much lower functioning, clearly debilitated individuals, can do us any good.

I'm sure you didn't mean it to, but your last sentence seems rather arrogant.

I'll drink to that.

I'm all about advocacy. I've already started an ADHD support group for people on my local area and I've just extended to include ASD. The first three adults who joined the group were also diagnosed with either PDD-NOS or Asperger's, so it seemed like a natural thing to do. I've actually started to get calls about referrals from local psychologists and the local health service.

I'm also trying to find out how to do something similar on campus when I start university next year.

The more of us that get out there, the more people we can help and awareness we can raise.

I'm not always what you would call "high functioning," but then in some ways I'd bet I'm "higher functioning" than some of you are. It really depends on the minute of the hour of the day. I'm upset that some of you would not want to be "lumped in" or "categorized" with me when we have so much in common. There are truly more similarities than there are differences.

^ I agree, totally.

Not all of us feel that way. People will be people even within small communities like this though.

Let's take an analogy - a blind person with average intelligence probably will also be "far higher functioning within society" than a mentally ret*d blind person (for exmple, learning braille probably will be much more easy to the first). Do you think that "blindness-without-mental-retardation" should have a different name than "blindness-with-mental-retardation"?

And note that comparing AS with LFA to decide if AS and Autism are or not the same thing does not make much sense - you have to compare apples with apples; and the question is "there is any relevant difference betwenn an Aspie and an Autist in the same intellectual/cognitve level?"

Only in English speaking countries and only because English speakers promounce it wrong. It took me some time to even get the "assburger" thing at all.



I never liked the name Asperger (correctly promounced) because it sounds so harsh. No-one else in my environment use the word aspie, (a term I like), they use that harsh sounding 'aspergere' in stead, which I don't like at all. Aspie is so much easier IMO and a nice nickname for a group.

The alleged differences between HFA and AS seem to be fairly evenly distributed within the two groups. The more I learn the more I recognise that AS is autism. I see myself as being autistic, and it's part of my identity.
So to me it sounds like a good idea to just say HFA.

I agree, SuperTrouper.

I thought that was just the Americans who say assburger? I must admit, it makes me giggle like a child when I hear that.

Nah, Tony Attwood mentions it in one of his books (as a possible stigma), although he used the tamer "arseburger", so it's obviously in Australia, too.

I still don't know how it's supposed to be pronounced. I've heard it as ass-pergers or aus-pergers. I smirk when I see people type it out as Asperger's presumably because of the assburgers coinage.

Austrian, right? My guess is "ahs," since it's European and similar to German.

The only problem is that around here, anyway, if you go around saying "I have ahs-per-jers," no one will know what the heck you're talking about!

A lot of us didn't know that pronunciation, until now. Thanks!

So if they take the name Aspergers out, are we going to be called HFA's or be classified to the severity types of Autism, Mild, Moderate, to Severe?