Death of the Syndrome

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6 days left until the official death of aspergers syndrome, its usurpation by a code of severity of autism. not sure what else to say about it, kinda interesting the end is near

I sense that this change in terminology is not to your liking.

I discussed this with several specialists during my recent quest for diagnosis. They all said that Asperger's was not really going away because it does really mean something. One neuropsychologist said that she would diagnose ASD with a severity indication and the note (Asperger's presentation) -- She also said that she believed that the term would be restored as a result of research in the future.

Another view is expressed here: http://richardperrymd.com/AspergersDSM.html

So, I don't really believe it's going anywhere.

But if it does, and some other way of talking about this neurology and way of being emerges that helps advance understanding, fine. The label is not important.

I was so amazed when I read about Aspergers to keep reading things that seemed like descriptions of my life. I don't see quite the same degree of commonality with some others on the spectrum, though I also feel we share certain issues. But if killing the label means diluting understanding, then it won't work--I think the label will live on or be replaced by something new with a similar meaning.

As per Adamantim:

I occasionally go to a support group run by University psychologists. They said while the named diagnosis name has changed, the word Asperger's is already too deeply ingrained in text books, reference material and research papers. It'll always be with us.

I've been thinking about this question for the last several months. I've read the DM-5 documents on how they came to this conclusion. I tend to agree with them, personally.

I also think this move will help people with Autism in general. The name Autism has a bad rap in society and I think adding a large portion of functional people (Asperger’s is supposed to affect 1:100 or 1:250 people), will lift its reputation on a social level. I think this is a good thing. And the more I learn about Autism, the more I associate with it. I personally am not ashamed to call myself Autistic, I think the title helps me more than hinders me.

Society knows what Autism is; they don't know what Asperger's is. This move will make the point that Autism is in fact a spectrum disorder, and many Autistics are functional people. A good outcome in my opinion.

I think we should view it as advancing the conversation a step, and thus view it as a positive.

It's always been my understanding that asperger's IS autism, just "Highest functioning" and personally I think it'll be easier for people with AS to get more help and funding with a diagnosis of autism, as people take it for more than "Oh, you're just socially awkward" like everyone seems to think is the only problem with you when you have AS.


When I got diagnosed a year or two ago, my therapist diagnosed it as Autism Spectrum Disorder (Asperger's) on all of my official papers. Not once was it questioned. The only time I've had any issues with it written that way was with a potential new GP (who is no longer on that list) who said it's not autism, that they're both pervasive developmental disorders, but they're different ones. BUT she also refused to believe I was a virgin because of my age, didn't know what asexual referred to, and accused me of being a drug addict because I said nobody was helping me find a neurologist to address some chronic headaches and whenever I go to the ER they give me pain killers and send me home instead of trying to find an explanation or sending up a referral for me. I didn't go back to her.


Also, like it's been said, just because it's written out of a book right now doesn't mean it won't get put back in, and it certainly doesn't mean it dies. It's just one book.

That bolded bit is part of the problem - it's not really accurate.

We should all at least be aware it's problematic. I don't especially like those words or believe in such a dichotomy either from my own experiences, but they are what's used. I know what you meant was that it was problematic to call us higher functioning as it isn't true - but I am honestly interested in what words you propose we should use when talking about those of us that society deems "higher functioning" even when were not.

Anyway, I actually used the word "high-functioning"(/more NT) today which is an even bigger fault really, but what I meant was "seemingly more NT", which many of us look like, unrelated to functioning.

What is the name of the disorder that the other 99% have? The ones who embrace pop-culture and are happy with capricious social norms dictating their puppet actions? Talk about neuro-reflexive disorders! LOL!

These are people who schedule their time around television shows! People who don't know how to dress "socially" until they see what to wear from a magazine cover or a movie. People who don't know what to say except that "Friday is the new Monday" or "I'm just sayin'" or whatever other socially irresponsible cliche is today's favorite flavor.

There are 300 Million undiagnosed deviants in America trying to drive our national bus in different social directions and they are all fighting for control of the wheel at once. It's no wonder the 1% of Aspies are huddling at the back of the bus wide-eyed and fearful of such social "norms."

There has apparently been a lot of criticism of the new manual by doctors.

personally I can see how they can combine the diagnoses.Compared to person with HFA people with AS
1)have higher verbal IQs
2)form obsessive interests
3)have no language delay
4)They seem to be prone to language issues more so than people with AS

heres a link the list in the first section http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-functioning_autism

Personally I also find that people with HFA have different personalities than people with AS.They seem to follow more of the pattern of Classic Autism than AS does.They also seem more severely affected and less able to learn communication skills.

The words used were "highest functioning." That is significantly different from "high functioning" or even "higher functioning" (although the latter is also problematic). One of the issues I have with the AS label is how it is often perceived as "mild," even though one can be diagnosed with it and not be mild at all.

I also dislike functioning labels for other reasons, although I don't object to others using them.

I don't care.
I'll just be "HFA and ADHD" instead of "AS and ADHD".

Nothing will change for me.

The term might be used in a lesser frequency in a professional context, but I think it will take much more than a changing of the DSM-V to remove it from informal/social contexts. Like some have said, the name itself is already ingrained into the heads of most who don't know about the spectrum as a whole, and there are still fictional characters being diagnosed with it in an informal context, rightly and wrongly so.

It's all a bit problematic, I find myself resorting to such reductive language when I don't have time to think of a more appropriate way to say things. However, I'm always careful not to use the word 'mild', (either mild autism or mild Aspergers). It might be 'mild' compared to a more 'severe' autism (I'm being reductive again..), but it sure as heck isn't 'mild' compared to someone without an ASD at all.

I just hope the DSM V doesn't give more people the idea that AS is "just mild Autism"...

Semi-death at most. My diagnosis (made by an American psychologist living in Germany) is based on the ICD-10. If they decided to remove AS as a separate diagnosis in the new ICD-11 I would agree with you. But it still wouldn't 'die'. Most people would keep calling is Aspergers, if that's what you meant by 'death of AS'.

I'm not having a crisis over it, but as AS is supposed to be a variation of traditional autism, I feel it is an injustice to not keep it as a separate Dx.