[georgestephanis]

Yes hi, "aspergers" is an unfortunate nomenclature and many autistic folks (myself included) strongly resent it. It was named after a Nazi doctor (Hans Asperger) and used to classify autistic folks into "useful" and "non-useful" people -- as Nazis and Eugenicists are known to do. When you think of it, if you could refer to folks on the spectrum as such, without referencing the outdated nomenclature (the DSM-5 replaced it for diagnostics, now everything falls under the Autism Spectrum, rather than viewing the "higher functioning" folks as having a distinct diagnosis)

Thanks!

[wavegeek]

> Nazi doctor

Asperger was never a member of the Nazi party.

I invite everyone here who has stood up against a murderous totalitarian dictatorship at the likely cost of their life to tell us how Asperger should have done better.

> now everything falls under the Autism Spectrum

This is only true in the US. And people who were previously diagnosed as Aspergers retain that diagnosis, even in the US.

[m_fayer]

I want to strongly second this. Asperger was a complicated person with a complicated story in a brutal context, but ultimately a sympathetic and insightful man. His story is told in "Neurotribes" which is a thorough history of autism, and highly recommended.

[overboard2]

Yes hi, why is the category of those with Asperger's syndrome not useful for the further understanding and communication of information.

[georgestephanis]

What information do you feel can be communicated and understood with that moniker that is not served by Autism Spectrum? And why do you feel those distinctions (if any) merit a wholly distinct diagnosis?

[howinteresting]

Please ignore AussieWog93. georgestephanis is correct: autism politics are indeed messy but as an autistic person who in a different age would be classed as Asperger's, I detest the term for the same reason georgestephanis does.

[IAmEveryone]

A perfectly acceptable term outside some circles is, by definition, not acceptable, at least not “perfectly”.

And the (undisputed) fact that Asperger was quite the Nazi should, just by itself, disqualify the term. OPs comment linking the dual terms to the similar binary classification into useful/useless human beings goes even further by showing that usage of the term doesn’t just glorify someone who doesn’t deserve it, but shows how that practice derives from and continues the namesake’s hateful ideology.

[fao_]

Sorry... are you arguing for a term that separates autistic people into "productive" and "non productive" that was created by a literal Nazi?

I am autistic, pretty much all of the people I know are autistic, and even most of the people I know through my workplace are autistic (it's explicitly a neurodiverse workplace), and I've pretty much never seen anyone need to use the term "aspergers" in general conversation. As in, when talking about symptoms, when talking about diagnosis, when talking about anything to do with it, people just talk about the thing, rather than branding it as "aspergers versus autistic". I'll go further and say that, not only is it not in general parlance, but also that if you used the term "aspergers" in or around these circles, you would be lightly corrected, looked on disfavourably, or given a side-eye, at the least.