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What's an Aspie? -school project-

NAS65050

Hii,

We have this thing at school: in your final year of high school you need to make a big ass research project (like at least 80 hrs) on a topic of your choice. I chose ASD. 
I have autism myself so I though it'd be cool to make my research project all about autism and how the general public doesn't know enough about the bright and beautiful side of ASD.
I do have a question though... How would you define an Aspie?
I know an Aspie is typically someone with Asperger's Syndrome, but since the DSM-V quit diagnosing people with Asperger's, PDD-NOS, ect. and ruled it all under Autism Spectrum Disorder... What does that mean for the term Aspie? Is it for people who were diagnosed with AS before the DSM-V put a stop to it, or is it a term for autistic people in general?
I'd love to hear your opinions on it. 

- Alex Slight smile

(Oh also, if you think like 'oh she should definitely include this or that in her research project, go ahead and tell me because I'm open to all new ideas)

  • I think it's a term for self identification, for people who are on the autism spectrum who feel that they fit the picture of Asperger Syndrome (which, although not currently used as a diagnosis, still exists as an idea). But not everyone on the autism spectrum who has the Asperger's profile will choose to use it, and it's probably best not to assume that someone would be happy to describe themselves with that label.

    I think that if people were diagnosed after Asperger's stopped being diagnosed, but they find the label helpful, then it's ok to use it. I could use it but choose not to. Many autistic self advocates and people promoting neurodiversity use the noun 'autist' instead. I don't really use a noun form, I just describe myself as autistic. I feel that I don't want to distance myself from the autism spectrum which is what using Aspie/Asperger's might do.

    I would not say that it's equivalent to a noun for all autistic people: Asperger's was brought in as a way of expanding who could be given a diagnosis, and allowed people with no language delay or learning disability to access a diagnosis. I think allowing that greater access to diagnosis was very important but it came at the expense of drawing a line and effectively saying "we're autistic, but we're not like *those* autistic people that you think of when we say autism". Some people argue that that has the effect of reinforcing negative stereotypes about autism as a whole, and I would tend to agree on that point.

    And also, the people who didn't have an intellectual disability but still had language delay couldn't have the Asperger's diagnosis and I think that's where the 'high functioning autism' diagnostic label came in. But these different labels didn't really tell the whole story, functioning labels are seen as stigmatising and inaccurate now, and so then the single autism spectrum disorder diagnosis came about.

    Another difficulty with Asperger's is the Hans Asperger may have some connections with Nazi eugenics, which is understandably problematic.

    Autism is still a relatively young concept. If you look at autism history, for a long time children might be recognised with symptoms of autism but it was seen as a psychotic disorder and the label childhood schizophrenia was used. Neurodiversity is an even younger concept, so terminology will be constantly changing to fit the changing understanding of autism.