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Aspergers was actually quite a useful term, we should replace it.

Peter

So I've changed my mind, or at least reconsidered it, that doesn't happen very often.

Let me give you an example. In my area there was a social group for adults with Aspergers. I say was because after repeated attempts to contact them I can't get a response. They seemed to go inactive over the pandemic but briefly went active over the last year only to go dark again after I noticed. Here's the thing. I only found them by searching 'aspergers <name of area>' in google. And why did I do that? Well because if you search 'autism <name of area>' you are inundated by services for children or adults with sevear learning disabilities. I'm afraid the retirement of this term Aspergers may lead to the erasure of high functioning autism as a focus of intervention. Charities, councils and community projects will say 'what do you mean there is nothing suitable for autistic people here we have tons of activities / outreach for autistic people,' when what they really mean is they have things aimed at low functioning autistic people.

There needs to be a word for high functioning autism. Something that we can take to councils and charities etc and say 'yes but you'r not doing anything about this.' And unfortunately it can't be aspergers. Partly because there are just too many people with a paranoid fear of offending people by using what some call a politically incorrect term. But more because if you say aspergers people are so trained now to think aspergers = autistic that an bureaucratic official will respond by telling you 'oh aspergers is part of our autism work, people with aspergers are free to use these services,' missing the point that these services have not really been designed in a way thats suitable for them.

We need a new term that references it self as being different to standard autism. Something with autism in the name but with something extra added to indicate that you can't equate it with all autism. That it in some way stands apart a needing special treatment. I agree in principle that there is no hard and fast line between low and high functioning autism but in terms of the kinds of services that are needed there is a clear distinction which requires a clear distinction in terminology.

TLDR: we need a quick and easy term to use to point out charities and local authorities are completely failing to address the needs of high functioning autistic adults. Any ideas?

  • High and low functioning are also labels that are out of fashion. The reason being that they say relatively little about the autistic person's well-being, but rather describe how irritating we are to other people. People can also function higher or lower in different aspects of their lives, or at different times during their life.

    I think the term you are looking for is autistic people who do not have intellectual disabilities? I agree, it's not very snappy.

  • in reply to Glitter

    The problem is that you search "autistic people without learning disabilities" and you'll get a load of results for autistic services / resources etc aimed at low functioning autistic people. The search engine kind of ignores everything after the autism and to be honest so do a lot of people brains. We need something punchier. Like AltAutism or Autism+ or maybe a portmanteau like Highftism.

    So this group I was looking at ran regular social events for people with Aspergers or high functioning autism.I've been involved with meet and greet type groups for people with autism generally but the other people are frankly just not my cup of tea. Nice enough but it's hard to have a conversation with people who can't understand what you are saying half the time.

  • in reply to Glitter

    Education mostly affects knowledge, rather than the ability to employ it or to solve problems. Cognitive disability is available, if you do not like the term intellect. I imagine you see my point though. I have almost zero abilities at mental arithmetic, which is a form of dyscalculia, but I'm only disabled by it if I don't have access to a pencil and paper or a calculator. I do not have any level of cognitive disability, though.

  • in reply to Martin

    I have issues with where on the scale someone's supposed "intelligence" or lack thereof becomes a disability.  So much depends on the education you've received and the opportunities you've been given in life.

  • in reply to Glitter

    I would rather term it 'intellectual disabilities', as there are many intellectually bright autistic people with dyslexia and dyscalculia, which are specific 'learning disabilities,  or who are non-verbal.

  • I think that the distinction is autistic people with or without learning disabilities. 

    But I concur that we need more services.  I have so far managed to dig out one (1) support group for autistic adults in my city, and it runs on a weekday morning when I would be at work.  The question is what kind of services or support are you looking for, and why is what is currently available unsuitable?  

  • It was certainly useful when I was trying to get statistics for Level One specifically - employment rates, living situations, etc. Aspergers was the one very specific qualifier that would help me source stuff to offset the otherwise too general stats across the whole spectrum. 

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