"Aspergers" - Should the name be changed?

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Should aspergers be called something else?
What are your thoughts?

Yes, I don't like the phrase " have Asperger's " because it implies disease. Maybe N.D. for neurologically divergent?

Changing the name would be disrespectful to Hans Asperger, he deserves better than that.

No! No! No more changes, please! Dubai is suddenly Mumbai! Angelfish are now Monkfish! Oceania is Australasia! I can't keep up with any of it!

It's getting real bad nowadays. Click.

I'm not bothered by it. In fact, I don't even believe that "Asperger's Syndrome is a separate disorder, it's just another word for high-functioning Autism. I've got a few good reasons, but I don't feel like giving a full outline at the moment.

I don't like the name of the disorder. The term "aspie" sounds even worse.

The title "Aspie" sounds juvenile. I prefer "Aspergian."

I feel it as vice-versa.

No.

I think it's cool to keep Asperger's name.

He understood the syndrome better than most people these days.

Me too.
But I have nothing against the word asperger's, nor aspie.
But I have a funny sudden jump everytime I hear the word autism, I don't know why.

People aren't making fun of us because the name sounds like ass-burgers, they're making fun of us because we're different and it's easy to. Changing the name will accomplish nothing, plus as has already been stated, it would be a little disrespectful to hans asperger.

Is it really pronounced ASS-BURGERS? I always say ASS-PURGE-ERS, my Asperger's specialist just says "Autism", the person who diagnosed me called it ASS-PURGE-ERS too, and I've never actually heard anyone else say it

Neither do I.

This is one of the reasons so many people have misunderstood me in the past, because this seemed imply (to them anyway) that I could "get over" it.

It generates semantic misunderstandings.

You can't get over "it" like an illness, you just adapt as how you are.


If it's something to do with identity, it should really be "I am".

As in: "I am an individual".


I don't think I've ever "had" anything in this respect.
I've always been me though and there's not a lot I can really do about that!

Saying "have" or "had" Aspergers, I find upsetting because it's so non-sensical.
Yet people, in including those in the public eye, still continue to label themselves and others in this way .

How can you "have" something that's invisible that experts have trouble defining and measuring anyway?

It's misleading.

There's this paper "Relationship between Asperger Syndrome and High-Functioning Autism" by Susan Dickerson Mayes and Susan L. Calhoun (Penn State) that argues as one of its points that Hans Asperger's description of the disorder as actually that of classic autism and that Lorna Wing's criteria for AS (which is more of what we use today) is very different. Since Wing was the one who coined the term "Asperger syndrome" and not Asperger, we shouldn't have to worry about any hard feelings.

Last edited by introspective on 01 Jun 2009, 9:06 am, edited 1 time in total.

But you also say 'I have Down's Syndrome' or 'I have Cerebral Palsy' and I have the impression that people don't think you can get over these. Same with 'I have autism'. I experienced that few people believe you can get over that.

I like the name Asperger's, also. It is better than calling it something like technical or a medical technical term(example schizo disorder) that sounds scary to people with it, especially people without it. I am glad I have Asperger's, because the name asperger's sound less threatening to other who do not have it, than schizophrenia.

***NOTE: I DELETED THE REST BECAUSE IT CAUSED TOO MUCH CONFUSION FOR ME, ESPECIALLY, SO I DELETED IT. THANK YOU ALL FOR UNDERSTANDING.

Last edited by Psygirl6 on 03 Jun 2009, 7:33 am, edited 2 times in total.