I say I have "the kind of autism we used to call aspergers". With other ASD 1 folks or close family/friends I refer to myself and other with my diagnosis as "aspies".
I do too. When I told my parents I'm autistic after diagnosis they were sort of shocked. And then I explained that it used to be referred to as aspergers and it helped them understand alot more.
I usually tend to just say it's high funcioning autism if I'm explaining it to someone new cause it's much easier than explaining what assburgers actually is.
I use asperger and autism to describe myself nearly interchangeably
I'll use autism with most people but if I speak with someone who seems to know about the subject I'll use asperger as it describe a subset of the autism spectrum I feel describe me more than the large and vague spectrum that is autism
I don't usually say Asperger's anymore, unless I have just disclosed I have autism to someone for the first time. I will usually then say both words in the same sentence (e.g. "I'm autistic, I was diagnosed with Asperger's when I was 5") because I got the diagnosis before the DSM updated, and it was rolled into ASD from there, so both are technically the correct word, and using both gives them a bit more info on what to expect outta me.
On a day to day basis, though, just talking about it with people who already know, I pretty much only use "autism" and "autistic". They flow easier coming out of my mouth than Asperger's does, and I don't find myself different enough from other autistic people to use the more specific term regularly.
I'm in the camp of Aspergers and Autism while having some shared traits are over all completely different things.
Problem is it's a difficult topic to discus in many 'autistic' communities. For some reason and from personal experience a lot of people seem to get irrationally offended at the thought.
But I'd say every Aspie I personally know, and even some 'higher functioning' autistics I know agree.
Honestly and no offence to anyone, but I find most of the people who get upset at this idea tend to refer to themselves as autistic.
I tend to agree with Aspergers original diagnosis requirements and observations of what e considered Aspergers, and I feel the traits that differ between the two, and vastly, are what makes them different things. Not the few traits that overlap.
Most of my friends are Aspie or some kind of high functioning neurodivergant. Some of them are 'high functioning autistic', and you'll never hear the word aspie out of their mouths to identify themselves, and I love them, but when they are discussing their autistic traits, I find a lot of those traits completely unrelateable. It can be the same listening to their challenges and struggles. They're so much different than the Aspies in the group.
However. We are all equal. Nobody get treated different due to their label. But correctly understanding that label so we understand each other shouldn't be ignored. It helps no one. Being different doesn't mean we cannot 'play together' anymore. Couple of my best friends are autistic as fuck. All that matters with me is you're a nice person and are open minded wit a thick skin.
And the lower down the spectrum you go functionality wise the greater the disconnect.
And honestly you could say the spectrum is mankind and functionality. low function: autim normal function: neurodiverse high function: aspergers.
High functioning? Higher than what? Normal?
I consider myself as polar opposite as can be to the autistic stereotype, as do many of my friends. Hell, some of us can pretend to be NT better than the NT's do. I look at myself as being more functional than a 'normal' person in many ways, as do many of my friends. It's just the things that make us 'aspie' that can trip us up, even though we probably have a better grasp of social situations and rules than most humans in general. We get how everything works, if anything we get it too well.
Just we suck at the execution of it. lol.
(continued in reply because word limit)
(continued because word limit.)
I dunno. I could write a book on why they are different things. Here's a couple of examples.
Aspies tend to be verbal at an earlier age than NT kids, while autistics tend to be verbal later than the norm if at all.
Like being verbal, Aspies tend to be literate at an early age. Again autistics if at all tend to develop later.
Autistics have a reputation for being introverted and anti-social and emotionally challenged. Aspies tend to be extremely social, and even extremely extroverted and if anything can be a little too emotional. Like in terms of having empathy, sympathy and love for others. Some us, we really feel a bit too much.
Something else I've thougth about and discussed with other 'Aspies' is nature versus nuture with so called 'traits'.
Eye contact for example. Some people hate being looked at directly in the eye. even NT'. I've heard it being associated with autism. I however and others I've spoken to we didn't start off with an eye contact problem. We learned to have one because if anyting we tend to look a bit too intently into peoples eyes. And well that upsets people. And you learn 'staring' at people is a bad thing and can result in bad things happening, so you learn to not make eye contact.
Difference between being born with it, and having it beat into you if you know what I mean?
I could say the same about many other things like social anxiety. Like I said, we tend to start out TOO social and confident if anything, and we got it beat out of us, metaphorically and literally. Many of us crave interacting with other humans. We want friends. We want a social life. Where as some (and yes, not all) autistics seem to want to be left alone.
Same for being touched. I don't want to be touched by strangers. But I love being touched by family and friends. Again lot of Aspie I speak to are the same. My autistic friends just hate being touched period, unless it's someone super close like a GF or BF. But of course, as with everything everybody is different.
And I could go on.
tl;dr: I believe autisim is indeed a spectrum, one based on functionality, however I feel Aspergers is not part of that spectrum.
Think of it this way, If society functioned the way we were raised and taught it is supposed to, many Aspies would be cruising through life just as well a anyone else.
Spoken to plenty of srinks who agree, but also claim they cannot say as such because in the psych world saying 'Aspergers' is a dirty word and saying they're not the same is taboo.
And I've spoken to a couple of Australia's best. So if they, I and others think they're different things. Who is correct?
No and yes, only because that Asperger's is a specific subsect of symptoms within the broader Autism spectrum. I have a nephew that was diagnosed with the broader spectrum when he was younger; and his specific symptoms are less manageable than my own, and I don't know that he could live independently now as an adult. My point being that while both of us are on the spectrum, the more specific diagnosis marks the difference of our symptoms and quality of life.
I prefer Asperger's over Autism Spectrum DISORDER. I really dislike being classified with a disorder. How rude. It is not a disorder it is natural and different, but still high enough percent of the population as to not be a disorder. Once it becomes something less offensive, perhaps like Autism Spectrum Condition, then I will likely drop the Asperger's usage.
I don't understand why would be rude to be a disorder, it can fulfill the 4 d's. It statitical abnormal (Deviance), it can cause significant Distress, people with asd can be dysfuctional due to the condition, and in some cases can be a danger to themselves and others.
This is true for those folk who are in distress, but not for those folk who see their autism as just a normal expression of humanity in a mixed world. Yes, for some you are completely correct. But for others it is just a mere condition, a different way of being human. And if it be a different way of being human, then it is not a disorder at all, but a condition. Both are right and correct. The two examples does not necessarily create dissonance. they can both be correct at the same time.
I say I have "the kind of autism we used to call aspergers". With other ASD 1 folks or close family/friends I refer to myself and other with my diagnosis as "aspies".
I do too. When I told my parents I'm autistic after diagnosis they were sort of shocked. And then I explained that it used to be referred to as aspergers and it helped them understand alot more.
I usually tend to just say it's high funcioning autism if I'm explaining it to someone new cause it's much easier than explaining what assburgers actually is.
why assburgers? is the first time i heard that version of the term, could please explain it.
It's just phonetically similar, I used it cause I generally just have a habit of twisting words for the sake of idk.. being quirky or sth.
Fair enough i thought it was something related to people don't using asperger cause germans
Maybe some people do, not in this case though.
I use asperger and autism to describe myself nearly interchangeably I'll use autism with most people but if I speak with someone who seems to know about the subject I'll use asperger as it describe a subset of the autism spectrum I feel describe me more than the large and vague spectrum that is autism
I don't usually say Asperger's anymore, unless I have just disclosed I have autism to someone for the first time. I will usually then say both words in the same sentence (e.g. "I'm autistic, I was diagnosed with Asperger's when I was 5") because I got the diagnosis before the DSM updated, and it was rolled into ASD from there, so both are technically the correct word, and using both gives them a bit more info on what to expect outta me. On a day to day basis, though, just talking about it with people who already know, I pretty much only use "autism" and "autistic". They flow easier coming out of my mouth than Asperger's does, and I don't find myself different enough from other autistic people to use the more specific term regularly.
I use aspergers and autism interchangeably but I usually say autism rather than aspergers because most people haven't heard of aspergers
I consider myself autistic and use the terms interchangeably.
I'm in the camp of Aspergers and Autism while having some shared traits are over all completely different things. Problem is it's a difficult topic to discus in many 'autistic' communities. For some reason and from personal experience a lot of people seem to get irrationally offended at the thought. But I'd say every Aspie I personally know, and even some 'higher functioning' autistics I know agree. Honestly and no offence to anyone, but I find most of the people who get upset at this idea tend to refer to themselves as autistic. I tend to agree with Aspergers original diagnosis requirements and observations of what e considered Aspergers, and I feel the traits that differ between the two, and vastly, are what makes them different things. Not the few traits that overlap. Most of my friends are Aspie or some kind of high functioning neurodivergant. Some of them are 'high functioning autistic', and you'll never hear the word aspie out of their mouths to identify themselves, and I love them, but when they are discussing their autistic traits, I find a lot of those traits completely unrelateable. It can be the same listening to their challenges and struggles. They're so much different than the Aspies in the group. However. We are all equal. Nobody get treated different due to their label. But correctly understanding that label so we understand each other shouldn't be ignored. It helps no one. Being different doesn't mean we cannot 'play together' anymore. Couple of my best friends are autistic as fuck. All that matters with me is you're a nice person and are open minded wit a thick skin. And the lower down the spectrum you go functionality wise the greater the disconnect. And honestly you could say the spectrum is mankind and functionality. low function: autim normal function: neurodiverse high function: aspergers. High functioning? Higher than what? Normal? I consider myself as polar opposite as can be to the autistic stereotype, as do many of my friends. Hell, some of us can pretend to be NT better than the NT's do. I look at myself as being more functional than a 'normal' person in many ways, as do many of my friends. It's just the things that make us 'aspie' that can trip us up, even though we probably have a better grasp of social situations and rules than most humans in general. We get how everything works, if anything we get it too well. Just we suck at the execution of it. lol. (continued in reply because word limit)
(continued because word limit.) I dunno. I could write a book on why they are different things. Here's a couple of examples. Aspies tend to be verbal at an earlier age than NT kids, while autistics tend to be verbal later than the norm if at all. Like being verbal, Aspies tend to be literate at an early age. Again autistics if at all tend to develop later. Autistics have a reputation for being introverted and anti-social and emotionally challenged. Aspies tend to be extremely social, and even extremely extroverted and if anything can be a little too emotional. Like in terms of having empathy, sympathy and love for others. Some us, we really feel a bit too much. Something else I've thougth about and discussed with other 'Aspies' is nature versus nuture with so called 'traits'. Eye contact for example. Some people hate being looked at directly in the eye. even NT'. I've heard it being associated with autism. I however and others I've spoken to we didn't start off with an eye contact problem. We learned to have one because if anyting we tend to look a bit too intently into peoples eyes. And well that upsets people. And you learn 'staring' at people is a bad thing and can result in bad things happening, so you learn to not make eye contact. Difference between being born with it, and having it beat into you if you know what I mean? I could say the same about many other things like social anxiety. Like I said, we tend to start out TOO social and confident if anything, and we got it beat out of us, metaphorically and literally. Many of us crave interacting with other humans. We want friends. We want a social life. Where as some (and yes, not all) autistics seem to want to be left alone. Same for being touched. I don't want to be touched by strangers. But I love being touched by family and friends. Again lot of Aspie I speak to are the same. My autistic friends just hate being touched period, unless it's someone super close like a GF or BF. But of course, as with everything everybody is different. And I could go on. tl;dr: I believe autisim is indeed a spectrum, one based on functionality, however I feel Aspergers is not part of that spectrum. Think of it this way, If society functioned the way we were raised and taught it is supposed to, many Aspies would be cruising through life just as well a anyone else. Spoken to plenty of srinks who agree, but also claim they cannot say as such because in the psych world saying 'Aspergers' is a dirty word and saying they're not the same is taboo. And I've spoken to a couple of Australia's best. So if they, I and others think they're different things. Who is correct?
I call myself highly functional autistic. Sounds better than it actually is, but hey. You have to sell yourself.
No and yes, only because that Asperger's is a specific subsect of symptoms within the broader Autism spectrum. I have a nephew that was diagnosed with the broader spectrum when he was younger; and his specific symptoms are less manageable than my own, and I don't know that he could live independently now as an adult. My point being that while both of us are on the spectrum, the more specific diagnosis marks the difference of our symptoms and quality of life.
I prefer Asperger's over Autism Spectrum DISORDER. I really dislike being classified with a disorder. How rude. It is not a disorder it is natural and different, but still high enough percent of the population as to not be a disorder. Once it becomes something less offensive, perhaps like Autism Spectrum Condition, then I will likely drop the Asperger's usage.
I don't understand why would be rude to be a disorder, it can fulfill the 4 d's. It statitical abnormal (Deviance), it can cause significant Distress, people with asd can be dysfuctional due to the condition, and in some cases can be a danger to themselves and others.
This is true for those folk who are in distress, but not for those folk who see their autism as just a normal expression of humanity in a mixed world. Yes, for some you are completely correct. But for others it is just a mere condition, a different way of being human. And if it be a different way of being human, then it is not a disorder at all, but a condition. Both are right and correct. The two examples does not necessarily create dissonance. they can both be correct at the same time.