I have to say that since I first read Steve Silbermann's book 'Neurotribes' about a year plus ago, I have been wondering if it was entirely the case that Asperger tried to keep his subjects away from the Nazi euthanasia programme. This morning's headline is thus no great surprise. And as Sachs-Cohen and Silbermann have already indicated their belief in the emerging facts, I'm not about to get too emotive about it. Regardless of DSM-5, my diagnostician decided it was still a valid term for an older adult who had lived for some years with some knowledge of that label. And I'm not about to avoid that label, myself. I suppose I might as well be the first person on the forum to ask what happens next, because I would guess that not everyone will be quite so philosophical about it as me. I have to admit, I have never really taken very kindly to 'aspie'. I find it a bit patronising; but I'm now wondering if some of that discomfort is down to the fact that I have sort of half expected that the hero thing was not quite the full story. And Kanner, for all his input, wasn't beyond criticism either.
''Carol Povey, director at the National Autistic Society in the UK’s Centre for Autism, said: “We expect these findings to spark a big conversation among autistic people and their family members, particularly those who identify with the term ‘Asperger’. Obviously no one with a diagnosis of Asperger syndrome should feel in any way tainted by this very troubling history.”
