Aspies-- does it bother you to be called autistic?

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But you are right. It means anyone on the spectrum. AS people are autistic. In medical terms, it is right. It is just the perception is often bad.

Really? I haven't ever noticed a negative perception of autism. People who are informed about autism are usually very tolerant about it, and people who aren't informed usually just ask "Autists? Aren't that those people who are really good at maths?", because apparently some autist wrote a book about his maths obsession and it was all over the mass media. (I haven't read it.) To equate autism and idiocy would be rather dumb, and around here, I doubt anybody would. It's rather shocking to read what some of you guys on WP have to put up with.
But I don't think that has anything to do with where Hans Asperger was born. It's more like a cultural thing. Didn't you know that in some rural areas around here autists are still considered "god-touched"?

And yes, NTs have problems too, they're just usually better at hiding them.

This rather rare condition was described many years before autism (Heller, 1908) but has only recently been 'officially' recognized. With CDD children develop a condition which resembles autism but only after a relatively prolonged period (usually 2 to 4 years) of clearly normal development (Volkmar, 1994). This condition apparently differs from autism in the pattern of onset, course, and outcome (Volkmar, 1994). Although apparently rare the condition probably has frequently been incorrectly diagnosed.

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Several different patterns of onset and course have been identified. Patterns of onset include gradual vs. insidious, while patterns of course/development include progressive deterioration, developmental plateau with little subsequent improvement, and (much less frequently) marked improvement. The available data suggest that generally the prognosis for this conditions is WORSE than that for autism.

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John's early history was within normal limits. By age 2 he was speaking in sentences, and his development appeared to be proceeding appropriately. At age 30 months he was noted to abruptly exhibit a period of marked behavioral regression shortly after the birth of a sibling. He lost previously acquired skills in communication and was no longer toilet trained. He became uninterested in social interaction, and various unusual self-stimulatory behaviors became evident. Comprehensive medical examination failed to reveal any conditions that might account for this development regression. Behaviorally he exhibited features of autism. At follow-up at age 12 he still was not speaking, apart from an occasional single word, and had been placed in a school for the severely disabled.

And ***THAT*** is what we have to contend with here.

In other words, we learn to hide those stims because it doesn't "look right/normal". I agree though, that the pure variety of AS people tremendously clouds the entire vision.

Autistic Disorder differs from Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, which has a distinctive pattern of severe developmental regression in multiple areas of functioning following at least 2 years of normal development. In Autistic Disorder, developmental abnormalities are usually noted within the first year of life.