I think aspergers was dropped because of the government

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I truly believe that the government is seeing more and more people diagnosed with aspergers, thus creating more SSI files. Aspergers was dropped so the government could save money. It's just my theory. What's your take?

In terms of the DSM V, yes I do think the government, or more specifically the nefarious APA is behind the decision to delete Aspergers. But I doubt the reason is due to social security (which may not really be applicable for many/most AS cases). The APA is motivated by other reasons. They take bribes from drug companies too.

Aspies have been deemed as the "bad boys of the mental health system." Frankly, I think we all should be proud of that distinction. APA's just running scared.

I would have thought that sickness benefits aren't automatically granted because of Asperger's anyway. They can always refuse. The onus is on the applicant to demonstrate they are sufficiently affected to obtain it.

In the UK it's called DLA (althought changing name soon to PIP) and the DWP frequently refuse people or give them a lower rating because either they don't read the applicant's information given on the form fully or are trying to dissuade people. Often they will correct the rating on appeal. This happened to us with our daughter recently and we didn't supply any additional information to get them to change it, it was changed because I rang to query it.

Our original application was turned down just before we had her diagnosis, even though I explained all the problems she had and they were no different at that time, I just had trouble knowing how to quantify it and explain it (I think forms like that are a nightmare for an Aspie). Because you don't need a named condition to apply for sickness benefits over here - although it helps, if you can show you have issues and if you have documentation from professionals it really helps, it's not necessarily the name you can give it.

I think the fact that they make is so hard to get puts a lot of people off claiming, the fact that the forms are terrifying puts a lot of people off anyway.

So overall I can't see that the DSM (we use the ICD10 - pending revision to V.11) is about stopping people claiming benefits because the system is so obstructive anyway.

Last edited by whirlingmind on 16 Jun 2013, 12:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.

They are not dropping Asperger's. They are renaming it 'Level 1 Autism'. If anything, that should get AS people more services, because an autism diagnosis qualifies you for some things that an AS diagnosis does not.

Also, it may help mitigate the assumption that an Asperger's diagnosis automatically means "Level 1 Autism" or rather its equivalent before there were such scales.

Cute theory ... who else do you think is in on the conspiracy?

hahaha i am laughing at you now you fool
Why don't you look up how many people will have their disability revoked?

I also have that same impression.

AS wasn't dropped; it was merged with the rest of the spectrum.

Mild AS usually doesn't make you eligible for disability because you can still work. And if you can work, why in the world would you want to try to get SSI? It's below the poverty line, you don't get anything fun, ever. You get to eat and have shelter. That's pretty much it. Every day you wonder if you're going to get chucked out onto the street. Why anyone would want that kind of life, except to escape starving to death, is beyond me.

Most high functioning / people with Aspergers won't qualify for sickness / disability benefits. The diagnosis generally makes no difference either.

It's not that simple. Especially if you have severe sensory issues alongside.

Why don't you provide a link to real-world data regarding how many people will actually have their disability status revoked?

Or isn't there any such data?

It is my understanding that AS was not an automatic qualifier for disability determinations by the Social Security Agency (SSA) before DSM-5 was released, so while I have disagreements with the DSM-5 process, I don't find it likely that SSA was a driving force behind the changes.

If there is a case to be made that SSA was lobbying the APA for the change, I'd like to see the supporting evidence.

I wouldn't call it mild AS if you had severe sensory issues. When you answer the question, "Can I work?", you have to look at the whole picture. You can be pretty good at socializing, for someone with AS, and still not be able to work because of executive functioning and sensory issues.

Of course there is the fact that some people with AS who are capable of working are not working because of barriers facing disabled people, especially those with invisible disabilities. Getting past the job interview can be a struggle no matter how great a worker you would be once you got in. For those situations, we need to be advocating for reasonable accommodations for autistic workers.

Aspergers was merged into "Autistic Spectrum Disorder" I repeat they did not drop it. They dropped the label as a diagnoses and they also dropped the label PDD-NOS and classic autism" and called it autism spectrum disorder making it tighter.

People who were wrongly labeled with AS but had an impairment have something else so they will be labeled with that instead and still get the help they need, even get SSI benefits still.

Nothing has changed.

I still got disability with mild AS. Well you did say "usually."

If you ever do get anything fun, people will endlessly criticize you for spending your SSI money on frivolous things.